Movie: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
My Rating: 2 stars
I don’t really have much to say about this movie. And, that’s because I had a pretty hard time following what was going on. The pacing is so strange. I think the filmmakers must have been trying to cram a lot of material into this thing, and they just ran out of space. So, nothing that happens in this story is ever entirely explained. Characters enter the story unintroduced. The same goes for key plot points. And, the audience is supposed to somehow understand everything. It’s a very vexing movie. But then you already knew that. This is one of those movies that has been so universally panned that everyone went into this thing expecting a stinker.
I guess my chief complaint is that for a movie that’s titled “Batman v Superman” there is very little actual conflict between Batman and Superman. Superman is spending most of his time trying really hard to save the world (although humans just can’t seem to stop finding new ways to endanger themselves). And, Batman reads about it all on the internet and steams. I’m not entirely sure why. Frankly, it seems like a bit of a one-sided rivalry. For someone who loves meting out vigilante justice, Batman sure does hate it when others engage in the same behavior. Batman also spends a good amount of time online, creepily checking out surveillance videos of Wonder Woman too, but that’s beside the point. Her character isn’t ever developed, and it’s not entirely clear why she’s in this story at all (unless she’s launching a new line of rockin’ evening gowns—yowza!). But, back to the point. Even when Batman and Superman finally come face to face, they don’t really fight very much. They wrestle around an abandoned lot for about three minutes before they brush themselves off, shakes hands, and agree that they really are better off being friends. It’s super dumb.
It’ll come as no surprise that I do not recommend this movie. I don’t have anything against superhero movies or anything. I get around to watching most of them eventually. It’s just that this particular one is poorly conceived. I supposed there are a few things to enjoy about the film. I’ve already mentioned Wonder Woman’s covetable wardrobe. And, Jesse Eisenberg does a great job of portraying the sociopathic, criminal genius, Lex Luthor. That guy is weird and twitchy, and that’s just what this character called for. However, there weren’t enough interesting things to salvage this movie for me. Be warned.