Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice

Every year we get new comic book film adaptations. And every release always have a great cast, and a big budget. While some releases are really good, there are those who fail to make a comic book character feel interesting on screen. One of the films i am thinking about now, is Green Lantern. At the time, when we found out Ryan Reynolds will play the Green Lantern, i was still curious to see if he could pull this off. The final result proved what many people expected, that it would be a failure. I would not say that Ryan Reynolds was awful, but his performance did not deliver much, while the CGI was really bad. Combine this together, and you realise that this can not be a good combination. But there are comic film adaptations that proved to be better than many of the old film adaptations. Just think about how Christopher Nolan proved himself, with Batman Begins, back in 2005. This was the best Batman film, compared to the early films. Until we got the sequel The Dark Knight, where Heath Ledger made a fantastic performance as The Joker. I would also say that The Dark Kight felt very majestic, both in cinematography, and really good acting. When Chrisopher Nolan announced that his last Batman film would be The Dark Knight Rises, we all understood that things will never be the same again. He did something that most directors can not do, make comic books films better than almost every adaptation so far. And i have to say that Christian Bale as Batman is still the best choice, as the iconic superhero. Another iconic comic book character that people all over the world is of course Superman. The comic books is still today enjoyed by people of all ages. When Christopher Reeve made his debut as Superman, in his first performance as the classic hero, i think most of the world was very pleased. Christopher Reeve proved himself to be really good, and perhaps thanks to Gene Hackman´s brilliant performance as Lex Luthor. Even if i enjoyed the first film, i loved the sequel even more. Superman 2 had both great action scenes, and some really well made battle scenes, where Superman fights against General Zod ( Terence Stamp ) and his evil sidekicks. There were 2 more sequels released, and to be honest, i feel that this would have been enough with the first 2. Superman 4 - A Quest For Peace is one of the worst films i have seen in this genre, and it is such a shame that Cannon Films choosed to do it. When Christopher Reeve passed away, there was a big silence in who would become the next Superman. Not until 2006, when Bryan Singer directed Superman Returns with Brandon Routh as Clark Kent / Superman. The detail i enjoyed mostly on this film, was Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. He did a really good job, taking over for Gene Hackman. Even if the film failed a the box office, i did enjoy what Bryan Singer tried to do with the film. Most of you might have seen Man Of Steel, that came out in 2013, with Henry Cavill in the lead role as Clark Kent. I have mixed feelings for this film, but i did not expect to see Henry Cavill in a new film, where Batman is included ? Especially suprised that Ben Affleck would take over the role as Batman. Director Zack Snyder, who directed Man Of Steel also, is now back into the superhero gerne, with a film that combines 2 of the most legendary comic book heroes. Is this one of the best films in this genre, or is this project a proof of a failure from start ?

18 months have passed since Superman ( Henry Cavill ), stopped General Zod ( Michael Shannon ) from destroying the world. But Superman have left a lot of damage, both in Metropolis, and many people were emotionally hurt by his actions. Daily Planet´s Clark Kent ( Henry Cavill ) have now moved in with Lois Lane ( Amy Adams ). In Gotham City, Bruce Wayne ( Ben Affleck ) is also one of those who is critical to Superman´s behavior. Bruce is informed that weapon-trafficker Anatoli Knyazev ( Callan Mulvey ) have contacted Lex Luthor ( Jesse Eisenberg ). It seems as they are working together on a project. To find out more information, Bruce attends Luthor´s party at LexCorp, hoping to get some information through data of the company´s mainframe. Here he meets mysterious antiques dealer Diana Prince ( Gal Gadot ), who steals the data drive from Wayne. At the party we also find Clark Kent invited, as he is listening in to what Wayne is doing. Diana return the data drive to Wayne, telling him that she can not decrypt the data. Wayne realise that Lex Luthor is not only experimenting with kryponite, but also investigating metahumans. Wayne admits Alfred Pennyworth ( Jeremy Irons ), that he plans to steal kryptonite, to use it against Superman. The idea is to let the convoy White Portugese ship, carry the kryptonite, and ship it to LexCorp. The plan fails, as Superman interferes. Since Superman have caused so much damage, he is ordered to go to a congressional hearing, where Senator June Finch ( Holly Hunter ) will be questioning Superman for his actions. A bomb goes off and kills everyone, including Senator June. This makes the situation even worse for Superman, since he could not save anyone. Batman ( Ben Affleck ) continue with his plans to steal kryptonite, to build weapons. Lex kidnaps Martha Kent ( Diane Lane ) and holds her hostage. He tell her that it was his plan, to make Batman and Superman fight against each other, so he can go on with his own plans. Is this the end of Superman and Batman, or is there any other way out, before the end begins ?

When i heard about the idea of Batman and Superman, fighting against each other on screen, i was not sure what to think. Since Christopher Nolan left Batman series after his third film, The Dark Knight Rises, i had a feeling that things will never be the same again. Man Of Steel was at least a Superman film, that had some interesting ideas, even if the film failed to reach nowhere near Christopher Nolan´s brilliant direction. As i finally got the chance to see Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice, in the cinema, i have to be honest. This is not what i expected......

There are some epic fight scenes, and some massive action scenes, where you at least feel some entertainment. But eventually this film feels like a big mess, with different ideas just smashed into each other. And one of the biggest problems i have with this film, is that there is too much of everything here. We have the 2 different stories here, that includes Bruce Wayne, how he is struggling with life, and we also follow the life of Clark Kent. This could have worked if we had some depth in the characters. We don´t really get that here. Instead, it is more focused on the major action scenes. Some of these action scenes looks good, while some does not feel very interesting. I would say that Ben Affleck as Batman, is better than i expected. I was worried he would do something different with this character, but he manage to pull it off. Henry Cavill as Superman is not bad, but maybe a bit stiff in the acting area. And now we get to one of the problems i can not lie about. Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor was not a good idea. I like some of his films in the past, and if he gets the right character, he can be good. As Lex Luthor, he simply feels wrong for this iconic character. He is probably trying to expand his acting career, and i don´t see a problem with that. I just don´t see him as Lex Luthor. Director Zack Snyder have made some very different films in his past. I did enjoy his film Watchmen, because it had a very cool visual style, and some great characters, based on the DC Comics characters. I also enjoyed his remake of Dawn Of The Dead, where he managed to bring the zombie genre back to life. Then we have Sucker Punch, a film i can´t really say is that good. I did enjoy some of the action scenes, but the acting is awful, and some things in the plot does not make much sense. I suppose Man Of Steel proved that at least Zack Snyder had some good ideas, but maybe did not managed to pull them out correctly. Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice proves that he still have problems to structure a film correctly. He have so many ideas, and when he tries to put the pieces together, it is clear that the film have problems. One positive detail is Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. When she steps in and introduce herself, the quality of the film raises a bit higher. But still, with the problems that are seen in different parts of the film, i don´t feel pleased with this film. If it was supposed to be more about the battle between Batman and Superman, the film should have focused more on that part. I can imagine myself to see Ben Affleck in his own Batman film, until that happens, i hope Zack Snyder takes a break from this genre, and do something else. I know he can deliver, but this is not the right place to do it.

Rating: DD