So going into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I was aware that it wasn’t getting the greatest reviews. Actually, the reviews were saying that it was pretty bad. And after seeing it myself, I would say that it’s just okay. I definitely wouldn’t call it bad. But I wouldn’t exactly call it good either.
So the film starts off with introducing our new Batman, who is surprisingly played pretty well by Ben Affleck. It’s not an amazing performance, but it’s about as good as Christian Bale’s in the Nolan trilogy. He does a convincing enough job in the role.
After not too long into the story, we start to learn a little about Zack Snyder’s take on the classic superhero. Bruce Wayne/Batman in this film is basically a vigilante superhero. He’s very rough around the edges. He doesn’t seem all that concerned about following the law. He even calls himself a criminal at one point.
Now look, I’m certainly no expert on the entire history of this character, but this just doesn’t feel right. Why does one of our main heroes in this film feel more like an anti-hero at best? It just doesn’t feel like Batman to me. I’m not saying that Batman has never hurt anyone before. But this just seems like a little bit much.
And of course, we also get reintroduced to Superman. And I like the Superman aspects of this movie for the most part. Henry Cavill gave a solid performance as Clark Kent/Superman. And as usual, Amy Adams did a good job in her role as Lois Lane.
Speaking of the characters, let’s talk about the film’s villain Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg). Considering the task he was given, I thought that Eisenberg was pretty good as the film’s antagonist.
Having said that, I’m wasn’t crazy about the way they wrote the character. This version of Lex Luthor is a very strange character. He kind of reminds of the Joker from the Batman franchise. I don’t really like this change to the character. It’s just . . . weird, and kind of stupid.
Then there’s the big fight between Batman and Superman. I was actually kind of disappointed that it didn’t really take up that much of the movie. I mean, this is Batman v Superman after all.
Having said that, the fight scene itself was an entertaining one. As short as it was, it pretty much delivers everything the fans would want from this sort of thing. And I appreciate how they were able to give our two protagonists a believable motivation to fight.
Overall, I can somewhat recommend Batman v Superman despite of some of it’s problems. If it’s sounds like something you’d enjoy, then maybe give it at least a rental.
John D’Amico
Image Credits: Warner Bros