Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
Fair to middling.
Let's face it, this film was never going to please everyone. There have, by now, been so many film and TV incarnations of DC's two most famous superheroes that everyone has a favourite, and no one likes to risk having to change their view. As such, this film was always going to divide opinion. And wow. What strong opinions they are. For months before the film had even been finished, there were as many people determined that it was going to be shit as there were people hoping that it would be great. So, never one to skirt controversy, I went along to take a look.
So, what did I think? Well, let's start by saying that it wasn't shit. It's a good story, and it's well directed by Zack Snyder (300), who himself is no stranger to pissing off comic book fans following such adaptions as Watchmen and Man of Steel. Has he succeeded where he has previously fallen short? Well, it takes a while to get going, but then this is not a pub fight that just blows up suddenly over a drunken bet gone wrong, it's the story of how two of the most powerful beings on the planet - both of whom believe that they epitomise justice in their own way - are nearly manipulated into destroying each other. This isn't the '70's anymore, and an anonymous tip off on the Bat-phone that maybe Superman might be a bit of a twat under his red-and-blues just won't pass for character motivation these days. The idea that power can corrupt runs steadily of not subtley throughout as the two cape wearing caper stoppers are drawn steadily ever closer to a face off by the evil Lex Luthor.
This brings me onto the casting, and with that, I mean that it's time to talk about Ben Affleck, because he's really rather good. I'm not saying he's my favourite version of the Bat, but he's definitely the one that Gotham needs right now.
This version of Batman has already fallen foul to the enemy that gets us all. Time. Still waging war on crime, but bitter about its endless nature and haunted by past traumas. He is a Batman with little to lose and much still to prove, both to himself and to the city he loves. Affleck brings this fractured-bat to the screen well, and plays off against Henry Cavill's dark-as-he-can-be-whilst-still-being-an-intergalactic-goody-two-shoes Superman nicely.
Speaking of ol' Supes, we soon realise that in a complicated world, even doing your best for truth, justice, and a secret dream to be a newspaper journalist can leave a trail of collateral damage behind you, and that was also nice. I mean, not for the people buried alive under tons of rubble at the end of Man of Steel, but, y'know, a nice touch in this movie.
So, problems? Well yes. There are some of those. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) feels shoehorned in purely as an intro to the justice league, which I found a bit disappointing as she's a character who deserves more. And what the living fuck was Jesse Eisenberg doing as Lex Luthor? Holy shit balls, Batman, that performance was cornier than an explosion in a Kelloggs factory. The cornflake one. Plus, I'm not going to lie, they're were a couple of bits that were a bit, well, boring, and a couple that didn't make a lot of sense.
Overall, however, I liked it, I had fun watching it, and I thought it was good. Put it this way, it was much, much better than the third Dark Knight movie. You remember the one. It made no sense and had Tom Hardy doing his best Kenneth Williams impression into a kettle. This film is fair to middling, which means that everyone who had an opinion on it - good or bad - can pick bits of it as examples to spout shit about how they were right all along. Secretly though, they all know the truth.
7/10
