RATING: C+
People have been clamoring for a cinematic standoff between the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight for some time now. It's pretty clear that they hadn't exactly thought the whole thing through, because a fight between those two goes only one of two ways: either Superman kills Batman with a flick of his finger, or Batman kills Superman... but only because he had Kryptonite. In other words, there's not much you can do with this story. But Zach Snyder and the DC Extended Universe decided they wanted to do it anyway.
The story they come up with in the background is actually decent; Superman is dealing with a world that is concerned about him and his all-powerfulness and his battles which sometimes lead to deaths of civilians; one of them being Batman, whose company and employees were pretty much obliterated in the climactic battle in Man of Steel. Concerned about the unchecked power that Superman has, Batman decides he has to destroy him.
Now where exactly do I begin? Because there is a *lot* to cover when talking about this movie. And that's part of the problem. Unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which took multiple movies to tell its story leading to the Avengers, this movie tries to cover all too much. There's of course, the battle between Batman and Superman to deal with, but they also try to set up for Justice League by giving us little very brief intros to the other guys (Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg) while giving us a full intro to Wonder Woman; who really doesn't have much of a reason to be in this movie... she just is. (Not that I'm complaining; she's actually one of the brighter spots of the movie.) Not to mention all the suggestions of interesting stuff that happened *before* this movie regarding Batman that is unexplained, trying to set up for the future of the franchise in general with teases at future villains. Oh yeah, and there's Doomsday to deal with too. Even though it's only our second movie in this series.
Perhaps we should start with the big fight itself. Which actually is arguably the dumbest thing about this movie. As you might expect, the only way they can make it an even fight is to weaken Superman with kryptonite; the effects of which sometimes randomly wear off, of all things. So ultimately the big fight is rather anticlimactic; but then again, if you think about it, you were probably expecting it.
The story following Superman is actually pretty interesting as he struggles with a world that doesn't entirely accept him. But there's really not much else to say about it; the character that requires more conversation is Ben Affleck's Batman. On one hand, a couple of the action sequences involving him are some of the best parts in this movie; a fight scene in a warehouse, and a car chase scene. But on the other hand, this Batman is totally out of character from what we've seen in recent years. This Batman actually kills. This Batman doesn't want to kill Superman because he thinks he has to; he wants to kill him because he *wants* to. Despite how the ending ultimately pans out, he seems borderline psychotic at times.
And then, of course, there's the Doomsday conundrum. On one hand, the fight with Doomsday is actually quite awesome, and we get to witness Wonder Woman in action in it, which also turns out quite well. What's the problem, exactly? The fact that he's in this movie at all; considering he's pretty much one of the biggest (if not the biggest) juggernaut of the DC Universe, why are you bringing him in this early in your movies? Save him for later.
As you can see, I have very mixed feelings on a lot of facets of this movie. And I haven't even started on Lex Luthor yet. I enjoyed Jesse Eisenberg's performance more than most; but sometimes it's just a little too goofy and over-the-top. One thing I don't have particularly mixed feelings on, though, is the ending (destroying Doomsday, and the aftermath). It's just stupid, plain and simple. I won't say anything as to not spoil it, but if you *have* seen the movie, you probably know what I mean. And it leaves me wondering just how they're going to handle certain things in Justice League.
So what exactly about this movie does stand out? Well, visually, this movie is a work of art (kudos to Zach Snyder). Filled with brilliant scenery, cool camera angles and shots, and (in a dream sequence) some awesome post-apocalyptic imagery, and the action scenes (save for the main fight) are incredibly appealing visually and exciting. The acting is, for the most part, quite strong (though Laurence Fishburne is poorly used).
Quite simply, this movie, despite driving you crazy at times and occasionally making no sense (even though I found out a few certain things are explained in the Ultimate Edition), is quite entertaining and fun to watch at times. This movie is loaded with some well-done action, and much of the plot itself that sets certain events into action is quite competent (even if the fight it's building up to is dumb).
The movie is often pretty stupid. But it's also often pretty entertaining. It's entertaining stupidity, you see? And it is possible to enjoy entertaining stupidity to a certain degree. Now, as for the future of this franchise, I am rather concerned. Although I am looking forward to the Wonder Woman movie, I am more concerned about the Justice League movie and how they intend to follow up certain events that happened at the end of this movie and how they intend to raise the stakes after Doomsday. There is definite reason for concern regarding this franchise. Hopefully they can manage to at least keep it entertaining.
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