Batman v Superman

I finally saw Batman v Superman.  I've been waiting a long time for this.  I almost went on opening day, but since it was Good Friday I thought that wasn't the most appropriate thing.  Since then I have been waiting for a chance, and finally got it.

I went into the movie with mixed feelings.  At first I was very excited at the chance to see the two biggest superheroes on screen together.  Add Wonder Woman and you've got a very compelling opportunity.  I was not the biggest fan of Man of Steel, and certainly not of the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight series, but I still had hope.  Then the reviews came out, and I got worried.  So I went with a mixture of high anticipation and weariness.

I am not an expert of the comics, but I am a big fan.  Batman has always been my favorite major character, and DC much more than Marvel.  I have read most of the major stories for both Batman and Superman, so I think I have a pretty good idea of what the characters should be.  In short: I love Batman: The Animated Series, really like Michael Keaton, think Val Kilmer was better than his movie, George Clooney was a joke, and Christian Bale was more Bruce Wayne than Batman (the complete opposite from the way it should be and a critical miss).

Let me start with the good, and there will be spoilers.

Ben Affleck was great.  I was not one of the those who feared his casting.  He has been great recently, and I liked the idea of an older Batman.  He was miles better than Christian Bale, though his Batman was pretty bad.  Of the live action versions, I'd say he fell just short of Michael Keaton, but better than the rest.  He was definitely more gritty, brutal, and was Batman more than Bruce Wayne, fixing the problem with the Dark Knight series.

Gal Gadot was very good.  I do not know Wonder Woman nearly as well as the other two, but it was very cool to finally see her on the big screen.  I very much look forward to seeing more of her in the future.

Overall the casting has been great.  Henry Cavill has a very good Superman in him, I just think the way he has been written has been a little off.  Jesse Eisenberg was fine for how they went with Lex Jr., but he was definitely the weakest link.

I am ashamed to admit it, but I never realized Martha was the name of both their moms.  That was an interesting bit, and was a smart way to turn Batman to realize Superman's humanity.  Great job there.

Now, some problems.

I thought the "can we trust Superman?" part of the story was great, which only left me wanting more.  I guess my biggest problem with the movie is they tried to bite off more than they could chew.  As someone else said, there were about five potentially great movies crammed into one.  If they would have focused on the big question about Superman, and the distrust between Batman and Superman, it probably would have been a better picture.  Keep in Lex pulling the strings, keep Wonder Woman doing her thing, all that is fine.

Adding to my biggest problem was the ending.  The fight between Batman and Superman was fantastic.  You could really feel the two titans beating each other up.  Either one could win.  It was balanced very well.  Then, they added one of the greatest Superman villains, and it all seemed rushed.  They fell prey to the problems of Venom in Spider-Man 3 and Two-Face in The Dark Knight.  Throw in one of the great villains at the end and use him up.  That should have been a movie all on its own.  Then they could have properly introduced the entire Justice League to band together to take him down (which I suppose they are waiting to do for Darkseid).

Speaking of the Justice League, what about those non-cameos.  You hype the heroes, especially Aquaman, and then show them for about thirty seconds total?  It's like a worse version of Luke in The Force Awakens.  That was disappointing.

The death of Superman.  Look, I get it, Doomsday means Superman has to die.  I just thought it was a little weak, which comes out of the rushed feeling of that final fight.  Again, it should have been a movie unto itself.  And please do not get me started on the completely cliched bagpipes for the funeral.  I literally rolled my eyes when they started up.

The score.  I have learned to temper my expectations any time I see Hans Zimmer's name attached to a superhero movie.  Clearly the best parts of the Dark Knight series came from James Newton Howard.  He completely botched Man of Steel.  The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was a travesty.  Here, we get more of the same.  It's basically just noise.  There's a reason Danny Elfman's Batman and John Williams' Superman remain the best superhero scores.  They were epic, with instantly recognizable themes.  The Superman theme, like the Batman theme before it, is minimalist and underused.  I will admit I liked what I'm guessing is the Wonder Woman theme that kicked in when she showed up, though again it pretty much devolved into electric guitar noise.  I could not be more happy with his announcement that he is "quitting superhero films."  Someday I will rank the superhero scores just to show how bad his have been.

End rant.

All that being said, I liked the movie.  Similar to The Force Awakens, it made me excited to see more from the universe.  I cannot wait to see more Batman and Wonder Woman in particular.  If they want to, the DCU can be immensely better than Marvel.  I just hope they can tighten the stories a little more.

7.5/10