BATMAN v SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE is pretty good… until the end. Snyder has actually just about redeemed himself IMO from characterization mistakes with Superman, and this new version seems to have grown into the role pretty well. This is perhaps the best Batman to ever appear on screen; very true to the comics. Wonder Woman is great, but underused.
Jesse Eisenberg plays a weird Joker/Riddler type character that is called Lex Luthor. This is a horrible mistake, the character is nothing like in the comics. He’s twitchy and psychotic, rather than cold and sociopathic. It’s a good character, but it’s the wrong character.
The ending just about ruins it all. It’s dramatic, and it’s emotional, but it doesn’t feel earned. The fact that Doomsday looks as fake as he did in that one trailer doesn’t help. The ending seems to try to adapt (or cram) a certain comic story arc (that I won’t spoil here) into just a few minutes, and it doesn’t feel earned. I wish that story was left for later in this movieverse; especially since the next film will likely undo it immediately.
Weird choices were made that hurt the movie, but I don’t hate it like many of the critics seem to.
C+
Thanks for the write up. On the basis of your feedback, I’m going to watch it in a few hours at my local cheapo cinema. It’s worth remembering that the first Star Wars film received a number of bad reviews back in 1977 and that apparently, Pauline Kael hated TESB. Citizen Kane was effectively dismissed by the Academy…
You might be interested in this:
http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/23/batman-v-superman-r-rated-home-video
http://filmratings.com/search.html?filmTitle=batman+v+superman&x=0&y=0
Perhaps the extended, R-rated home version will address some areas that left you dissatisfied.
“JEDIT”
Ok… Just come home from the cinema and I’m glad I that caught the early morning screening: when I was leaving, I saw the crowds waiting for afternoon showing and they were huge.
Totally agree with you about the ending and thank you for not spoiling it for those who haven’t seen DOJ yet. I’ll do the same. Definitely enjoyable but disappointingly doesn’t quite reach its potential - some of the writing is messy, particularly regarding Luthor’s motives and there’s several elements that really deserved to be fleshed out more. The rivalry and battle between Superman and Batman isn’t the epic contest that the trailers lead you to expect and the trailer also misleads you about a few other things that leave you feeling cheated.
Nonetheless, on the whole, I did enjoy it, despite the reservations. I’m going to wait for the R-rated version to arrive in a few months. I’d like to see what Snyder excised for the PG-13 release and to see how much of a difference they make. Also, how many more Batman related films is Senator Pat Leahy going to receive cameos in? 😃