A Batman vs. Superman Review that May Make Ben Affleck Proud
This review is from Guest reviewer Thomas.
After viewing the movie BATMAN V SUPERMAN: Dawn of Justice, I have decided that enough hate has befallen this movie. I will, therefore, give as positive a review as possible. (and as spoiler-free as possible.)
First off, I want to say; Henry from Eureka created Cyborg! Whoah!
Now that I have gotten that off my chest, Director Zack Snyder apparently deduced that DC fans really wanted a movie based on Superman/Doomsday, The Dark Knight Returns, and World’s Finest. Therefore, he did them all in one shot.
The movie opens right about where I expected it – A year or so since General Zod dropped in to give Kal-El a big hug. As the battle left buildings destroyed and people lying dead, the public started to wonder if having a powerful alien floating about is such a good idea.
At the top of the anti-Superman Facebook page is Bruce Wayne, with a grand portrayal by Ben Affleck. Still haunted by his parent’s death, and hardened from a life of crime fighting, Wayne is an older, angrier Batman, who has obviously seen the worst and long since dispatched the likes of The Joker and Riddler. Now, he wants to rid the world of the ultimate menace; Superman.
Working in his cave, he procures information that starts to change his thought he was playing (and some “you’re not alone” epiphanies). A video showing how Dr. Silas Stone (played by Joe Morton, or Henry from the TV show Eureka!) created the DC character Cyborg (Ray Fisher).
Alongside Batman is his faithful servant/ friend Alfred, played by Jeremy Irons. Only Micheal Cain made a better Alfred and made me want to see a Batman movie with him and Affleck all the more. (Editor Note: I kept getting distracted as Irons looked like a slightly older version of Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark.)
Meanwhile, a very quirky Alexander Josepth “Lex” Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) has been busy with his own plans to put both man of steel and bat of Gotham in check. He would need to procure the largest sample of Kryptonite ever discovered to make the plan happen. As the character, Eisenberg was a complete surprise playing the role to a level of clumsy that befit the mad genius character.
Luthor’s other foil seems to be Elastigirl – who has apparently left Mr. Incredible and denounced supers. Actor Holly Hunter played Senator Finch who tried to stop Luthor from making a “Silver bullet” with Kryptonite, but also was on a crusade to put Superman on a short leash. Luthor plays to her cause so he can access the off limits remains from the Superman/ Zod war – including Zod himself and the ship.
Other parts include Superman going on a vision quest, Batman decrypting additional information while getting confronted by a mysterious someone with a cryptic message to make this plot a little more confusing. Add in Luthor, a battle royal (sans coliseum pay-per-view) and , oh, how about Doomsday? Yeah! These two can’t take that behemoth on all by their lonesome! Good thing Wonder Woman was watching TV on a commuter plane! Where’s her invisible jet upgrade?
For a 2 1/2 hour long movie, it tried to fit as much geek content in as it could. Gal Gadot role potrays a strong Wonder Woman. We barely got a glimpse of other heroes in Aquaman and Flash. If that was any indication, the upcoming Justice League movie may have one of the best casts out there.
In the meantime, this movie seemed to be a disjointed ride. A “Joyful Mess” as some have called on Twitter. If the franchise is to continue, they need to put this movie in the past and focus on how to improve the storytelling for a successful conclusion.