Just so we’re clear, it should be stated that I’m an avid comic book geek. Not cosplay at the convention geek, but passionate enough. So, when I tell you that I’ve waited my whole life for the cinematic special effects technology to catch up to the content, I mean it.
It’s 2016 now. It’s been a long time coming, but I can finally say this: I win. Like shit.
Batman vs Superman is flawed. It’s rushed at points. It’s not fleshed out at other points, but it’s a great movie for the geek. I win. We win.
Batman vs Superman: The Dawn Of Justice is DC comics’ way of trying to catch up to their rivals Marvel as fast as they can, and at any cost. It must be said that to truly understand this movie, you should probably watch Man Of Steel first because the events of that movie play directly into this one.
What’s supposed to be a Superman sequel is actually a soft Batman reboot, a Wonder Woman soft intro, and a faint attempt at alluding to the 2017 Justice League movie. Objectively speaking, the movie is all over the place and at times feels like it was made by a guy who had a gun to his head and an hour glass on the table in front of him. But it was still damn good.
Cavill’s Superman is nailed as the best Superman we’ve seen in film, with all due respect to Chris Reeves. Affleck’s Batman had a tougher hill to climb but scores high marks. His Bruce Wayne is a brooding, angry, and vengeful accurate portrayal of a man that has tragedy in his past, and is now faced with an alien that all but destroyed Metropolis along with killing people he loved and cared about in his battle with Gen Zod (see “Man Of Steel”). We can now put those Daredevil jokes to rest. With Affleck signed on to cameo in Suicide Squad and also to direct at least the next two solo Batman movies, you’re about to be treated to the best version of the Dark Knight that you’ve ever seen. Gal Gadot gives you the most dead on portrayal of the savage that is Wonder Woman that you’ll ever see. The battle scenes are really something to behold. The CGI in this movie is a geek paradise. Sweet victory.
The Dawn Of Justice it is not. With what can only be called as faint cameos by the rest of the JL (Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg), this is where the movie pissed me off the most. They’d be better off just calling it BvS and allowing all the other cameos serve as icing on an already beautiful cake. A multicolored, multi flavored, multi textured cake, but beautiful nonetheless. I digress.
As I write this, it’s only been out for two days and I’ve never seen a movie so divisive in opinion in all my years of loving movies. My opinion is, it’s great. Falls a few beats short of being perfect and that’s ok. As much bad movies I’ve had to suffer through, this is all counted as progress. By light years. But I get it. The geek goes in and totally enjoys it. The casual fan goes in and complains about running time and dialogue. While the person that knows nothing of the characters trash it completely. It’s almost unprecedented.
Best advice? Go see it for yourself.
Wait til it comes on Netflix, Cable, TBS, or just don’t see it at all.
As I get older I realize that needing to have an opinion on things that aren’t in my wheelhouse of understanding is as useful as a screen door on a submarine.
Richard Donner’s Superman. Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher’s Batman debacles. Punisher. X-Men. Fantastic Four. The bargain bin of shitty comic book movies is bountiful. So, excuse me if I applaud Batman vs Superman for getting it mostly right. Hell, we could finally be at a point where the mediocre to good comic book movies are still leap years better than Superman III starring Richard Pryor. Yes, I’m still salty.
It’s 2016 and movie wise, I’m entering the best time of my life. My only regret is that my sons will never know what a bad movie is. They have no idea how much I had to endure for them so that they could enjoy Batman vs Superman. Ungrateful crumb snatchers.
