I wasn’t a huge fan of Man of Steel, but I didn’t exactly hate it either. If anything, I didn’t like how Man of Steel used the dark and gritty style of the Christopher Nolan Batman movies to create the Superman universe, a world where dark and gritty had no business existing.
Now here we are with the sequel or spin-off or whatever you want to call it, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Part sequel to Man of Steel, part prequel to Justice League.
The movie has problems and DC and Warner Bros. have GOT to learn how to have fun with their universe without making it too corny (here’s a clue, guys, watch your television shows!), but I actually thought it was passable.
As far as movies go, Batman v Superman is the ultimate in empty-calorie entertainment. It’s not intellectually deep and it’s not incredibly well-written, but it’s characters are treated with respect despite some liberties taken that I wasn’t completely okay with (that’s the nerd in me talking. Excuse me while I shove him in a locker), but it does tell a competent story and finally kick starts the DC Cinematic Universe into something that I am actually looking forward to seeing develop.
Henry Cavil is excellent as Superman as he was in Man of Steel. Ben Affleck, despite two years of baseless internet nerd complaining, is a more than worthy Batman.
The true breakout here is Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Gadot’s Wonder Woman was an amazing tornado of awesomeness. She does not spend the majority of her time in costume and really only shows up at the end battle, but my gosh… what an impression. Her theme song, her joyous zeal for battle… My fellow nerds, they’ve got our princess right!
Wonder Woman is actually the DCCU movie I’m looking forward to the most at this point.
What Batman v Superman didn’t get right was Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. I like Eisenberg just fine as an actor, but he was not an effective Luthor. He lacked the presence, the age, and the danger… in Batman v Superman, Lex Luthor comes off as an over-privileged little college nerd on Adderall instead of an honest threat and I could not take him seriously. It was a major casting mistake and I still have no idea what Zack Snyder was thinking on this one.
It doesn’t help that the movie reflects more of Zack Snyder’s love of drab pallets and muted colors making the movie seem artificial and ugly.
This movie is going to be a divisive film, but I tend to measure my enjoyment of films in raw emotion and, as I’ve said before, despite the counterproductive gloom radiating from this movie and the muted color scheme that really annoys me… despite the bad casting of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and despite some character liberties I didn’t like… I enjoyed this movie enough.
I say this knowing that people are going to dislike it and, if you did, good for you. I didn’t. Good for me.
Jason Gaston 