Gryphos
Auror
So Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has become one of the more decisive films of the past few years. Some hate it, some love it, some feel it was disappointing, some think it's everything they wanted.
Personally, I probably fall somewhere in the middle. I'm not a fan of numerical scores, but if I had to I'd give the film a 5/10, possibly a 6/10: average. While lacking in many areas, it was saved somewhat by the quality of its action sequences.
One of the main things I liked was Batman. For the most part I think this is a really compelling depiction of the character which focused on his brutality. That sequence where he's taking out the thugs holding Martha Kent is easily my favourite action scene in the film. One of the more controversial decisions the filmmakers made was to have him kill people, because there ain't no way everyone made it out of that car chase alive, and he was straight up blowing up trucks with machine guns. Some people say it's sacrilege, some say it fits with this older Batman who's become disillusioned after years of vigilante-ing. Personally, I can't help but feel it's hypocritical of Batman to hate Superman because he's accidentally caused the deaths of people, while at the same time killing people! I mean, yeah, the people Batman kills aren't exactly 'innocent' per se, but it's still something that should be questioned. But the film never does question it! If Batman's killing was actually explored and elaborated upon (perhaps with a scene of Alfred talking about 'how did it come to this?'), then I would be a-okay with it — in fact I would embrace it as an interesting and original take on the character. As it is, the lack of explanation adds to the film's clumsy storytelling.
As for Doomsday ... nah. He suffers from the syndrome a lot of big tough bad guys suffer from, that being that literally his only purpose is to be a big tough bad guy with no personality. He only enters the film in the final act and therefore there wasn't any time to build a connection with the audience. He's just a featureless villain that can be swapped out for any other big tough bad guy. Thus, there's no emotional payoff once he's defeated. Definitely one of the weakest parts of the film.
Also, I for one am disappointed with the lack of Batman vs Superman. I mean, that's literally the name of the film, and the advertising promised a spectacular battle with creative set pieces, but in the end we got like one fight that wasn't even that great. To be honest, I feel as though the film should have been called 'Dawn of Justice: Batman v Superman' because there was a massive focus on trying to establish the DCEU, imo to the detriment of the film. The most egregious example of this would be that seriously out of place dream with (I think) the Flash in the portal doing some blatant future film foreshadowing.
But, as I said, what stops this film being 'bad' is the quality of the action and a few genuinely great scenes. While I have mixed feelings on Jessie Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, the 'Grandma's peach tea' setup and payoff was excellent.
So yeah, with all the fantastic potential this concept had, I can very much say I was disappointed with the film. But at the same time, I do have to admit that I was entertained, and I certainly don't regret watching it.
Personally, I probably fall somewhere in the middle. I'm not a fan of numerical scores, but if I had to I'd give the film a 5/10, possibly a 6/10: average. While lacking in many areas, it was saved somewhat by the quality of its action sequences.
One of the main things I liked was Batman. For the most part I think this is a really compelling depiction of the character which focused on his brutality. That sequence where he's taking out the thugs holding Martha Kent is easily my favourite action scene in the film. One of the more controversial decisions the filmmakers made was to have him kill people, because there ain't no way everyone made it out of that car chase alive, and he was straight up blowing up trucks with machine guns. Some people say it's sacrilege, some say it fits with this older Batman who's become disillusioned after years of vigilante-ing. Personally, I can't help but feel it's hypocritical of Batman to hate Superman because he's accidentally caused the deaths of people, while at the same time killing people! I mean, yeah, the people Batman kills aren't exactly 'innocent' per se, but it's still something that should be questioned. But the film never does question it! If Batman's killing was actually explored and elaborated upon (perhaps with a scene of Alfred talking about 'how did it come to this?'), then I would be a-okay with it — in fact I would embrace it as an interesting and original take on the character. As it is, the lack of explanation adds to the film's clumsy storytelling.
As for Doomsday ... nah. He suffers from the syndrome a lot of big tough bad guys suffer from, that being that literally his only purpose is to be a big tough bad guy with no personality. He only enters the film in the final act and therefore there wasn't any time to build a connection with the audience. He's just a featureless villain that can be swapped out for any other big tough bad guy. Thus, there's no emotional payoff once he's defeated. Definitely one of the weakest parts of the film.
Also, I for one am disappointed with the lack of Batman vs Superman. I mean, that's literally the name of the film, and the advertising promised a spectacular battle with creative set pieces, but in the end we got like one fight that wasn't even that great. To be honest, I feel as though the film should have been called 'Dawn of Justice: Batman v Superman' because there was a massive focus on trying to establish the DCEU, imo to the detriment of the film. The most egregious example of this would be that seriously out of place dream with (I think) the Flash in the portal doing some blatant future film foreshadowing.
But, as I said, what stops this film being 'bad' is the quality of the action and a few genuinely great scenes. While I have mixed feelings on Jessie Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, the 'Grandma's peach tea' setup and payoff was excellent.
So yeah, with all the fantastic potential this concept had, I can very much say I was disappointed with the film. But at the same time, I do have to admit that I was entertained, and I certainly don't regret watching it.