Hey guys, it's Jan here!
I've been to see Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and I've got lots of thoughts on the
movie.
But before I get to those, I wanna let you know about a great giveaway I've got for a
very cool Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: The Art of the Film hardback book.
It'll be on my BvS Easter Egg video, so make sure you subscribe and I'll add a link to
that video here when it's ready!
Ok, the big-screen schedule that DC has set themselves, with solo movies and team-ups
like Justice League, is very ambitious, and before seeing Batman v Superman I did wonder
if DC was trying to run before they could walk, and whether they were rushing too much
to keep up with Marvel, who took more time to build up their big-screen empire with a
shed-load of movies and a massive universe of characters and worlds.
However, now I've seen Batman v Superman, I feel that DC's ambition looks like it could
pay off rather nicely.
In BvS, they successfully introduce Ben Affleck's Batman, and they give us a taste of what we
can expect from Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman movie too.
There is certainly a hell of a lot to fit into this film, what with all the elements
we expect of a Superman movie and a Batman movie having to have their moment.
Not to mention the pointers to various members of the Justice League, which are somewhat
shoehorned in.
Still, DC's world and franchise-building feels like it's off to a decent start and I have
my fingers crossed that will continue in future films.
I can definitely get on board with Ben Affleck's believably world-weary rendition of the Dark
Knight, and it will certainly help wipe his Daredevil a little further from my memory.
In fact, Affleck's presence on screen puts Henry Cavill's Superman firmly in the shade.
I look forward to seeing Batfleck in a solo movie, along with more of Jeremy Irons' sardonic
turn as Alfred.
As for Gal Gadot, I enjoyed her appearance as Wonder Woman and it's certainly piqued
my interest for her solo outing next year.
But when it comes to Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor, I am not a fan.
It feels like he's taken his Social Network turn as Mark Zuckerberg and dialled the tics
up to 11 in the misguided hope of pulling off a performance as memorable as Heath Ledger's
Joker.
Sadly for us, he does not.
Cuts could definitely have been made to the film's 2 and a half hour runtime, including
one especially ridiculous cameo, a plot-holey subplot, and a needlessly-repeated flashback
that feels like the director and writers shouting to us, 'hey, idiots, I know you have the memory
of a goldfish, so here's that bit you saw earlier that you need to remember now to understand
this bit!'
Having said that, the script by Argo screenwriter Chris Terrio and David S Goyer mostly moves
along well, and they deal with Batman's already super-familiar origin story very neatly indeed.
And I really liked the way the film cleverly links back to the events of Man of Steel,
giving us a completely new angle on what happened.
But overall, I felt that the reasons for Batman's dislike of Superman were better established
than the reasons for Superman's dislike of Batman.
There's no denying that BvS is a dark and gritty film, but compared to Man of Steel,
you can sense they've made a concerted effort to include more humour in the script.
Some of those efforts pay off nicely, though a number fail to land, just as they did in
Superman's first outing.
Let me be clear on this: I do not need or want DC to replicate Marvel's formula, but
remember that even amongst the darkness of Nolan's and Burton's Batman movies, there
was still a spark of wit.
There are some incredible and exciting action sequences throughout, and director Zack Snyder
takes his time to build up to the big battle advertised in the main title, which for me
was a plus as it allowed time to build both tension and the characters' antagonism rather
than racing to the main event too quickly.
Props to stunt co-ordinators Damon Caro and Tim Rigby and their stunt teams for their
work throughout, as well as sound editor Scott Hecker and his department especially for their
standout work during the action sequences.
How much you enjoy a certain part of the action will depend on what you think of wholly CG
creations that feel like riffs on the Hulk meets King Kong via Godzilla and Ray Harryhausen's
creatures.
BvS is pretty quickly cut by editor David Brenner who keeps the pace up nicely through
most of the movie.
And there's some interesting use of slow-mo, though in a few scenes it gets taken a bit
too far.
Still, I was glad that this time there wasn't so much shaky-cam or the incessant zooming
in, zooming out, and zooming back in again we had in Man of Steel, which at times in
that movie made me feel like I was watching an episode of 24.
In terms of the look of the film and its sets, I can't fault the work of production designer
Patrick Tatopoulos, Art Director Troy Sizemore or Set Decorator Carolyn Loucks and their
teams who manage to create distinctive environments for Batman, Superman, and Lex Luthor.
One of my biggest bugbears about BvS though is the music.
It's incredibly overbearing and bombastic, and feels like it's constantly trying to take
over each scene, especially during dramatic moments and action sequences.
The score's by Hans Zimmer, who scored Nolan's Batman trilogy, and Junkie XL, who composed
the scores for Mad Max: Fury Road and Deadpool.
As fantastic as their work is on other movies, what they did here just does not work, to
the point where it takes you out of the film and endlessly batters you about the head.
I really hope they change things up for future DC outings.
So, to sum up, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a super-powered, super-packed affair
that brings plenty to the comic book movie table.
Is it perfect?
No, of course, it's not, far from it.
But it's also far from being a disaster, and there's definitely much to like about it,
not least Zack Snyder and cinematographer Larry Fong's visual flair, some incredible
action sequences, Ben Affleck's Batman, and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman.
In fact, I much preferred it to Man of Steel.
Overall, BvS gives me hope for the nascent DC Extended Universe.
Fingers crossed they live up to that.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice gets 3 out of 5 Flicks.
Now, I'd love to know what you think of Batman v Superman!
Do you think DC got it right?
And are you excited for the Justice League and Wonder Woman solo movie?
Let me know in the comments below!
Coming up next will be my Batman v Superman full easter egg video, my spoiler review of
the top 5 WTF moments, and some cool behind-the-scenes secrets about the making of the movie.
Those videos and more will all be in my Batman v Superman playlist, which you'll find a link
to here.
And you might also want to check out my Daredevil Season 2 videos with easter eggs, top moments
and review here too.
Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!