BvS Batman v Superman - Reviews Thread [TAG SPOILERS] - Part 1

[Bren]

5 /10 for this MOS Defender.
I just don't know how I feel about this, but I'm feeling a tiny bit more glass half empty at the moment.

Still waiting for 'my' Superman film. Hope I get one before I die.

 

[spiderral]

2.5/10

Spoiler

+ Affleck looks the part
+ Wonder Woman was great, despite a small screen time
+ Superman was much more likeable in this compared to MoS
+ Batman's warehouse fight scene was pretty good
+ That shocking moment at the hearing

- Affleck's Batman feels very out of character
- Unnecessarily convoluted plot; the film jumps incoherently from scene to scene
- Poor editing / pacing (the film moves incredibly slow in the first two acts, especially with those slow-mo transition shots)
- Incredibly jarring + shoe-horned moments/elements (the Knightmare sequence, Flash's proceeding cameo, the JL video files, the death of Superman)
- Eisenberg's performance of Luthor (Jr) was completely unnecessary
- Brief "Batman v Superman" battle
- Gaping potholes (e.g., so Superman can hear and locate Lois screaming and banging on debris whilst trapped underwater but doesn't think to listen out for Ma Kent so he can find her himself? Or, the public suddenly loving Superman after dying defeating Doomsday, even though everyone seemed unsure about Superman during the film?)
- Final action scene with Doomsday feels very lacklustre; simply masked with excessive lightning CGI, smoke and fire
- Very little surprises left in the film, even after avoiding watching the final, Batman-centric trailer and the various TV spots released
- The score felt extremely obnoxious at times, attempting to make the events on screen much more epic than they actually were

Overall, I often found myself questioning how this film felt so bad during my viewing. I simply cannot trust Zack Snyder with the Justice League movie after this, and I'm particularly skeptical about how future Batman movies will turn out considering Affleck's Batman felt so out of character.

Snyder has made "Batman v Superman" look like an extremely high budget, yet poorly made fan film.

 

[chaseter]

Everyone's entitled to their opinion my sophisticated and verbose friend

I do enjoy Snyder's visual acuity for scenes. However, he needs script oversight and that seems to always be his crux.

 

[hitmanyr2k]

is that why there are pages of people explaining to others what is what ? I think you were expecting a typical "turn your brain off" film, but got something completely different.

Nah, my brain was on and I went in with rock bottom expectations expecting something at the very least coherent and somewhat logical but that wasn't to be found. I figured they would have enough time to come up with some good reasons for a Batman and Superman conflict instead of

Spoiler

"Lex kidnapped my mommy"

. And their encounters leading up to that fight were so enthralling....

Spoiler

"The bat is dead, bury it." "Do you bleed?" "Whatever dude, now excuse me while I look cool and fly off....and btw, those guys you were chasing around that was blasting everything in site with the mini-guns? They were obviously just looking for kicks on a Friday night so they get a pass."

There were illogical moments like that littered all through this film.

Spoiler

Stuff like trying to frame Superman for escalating the African terrorist incident and having a senate hearing over it when Pulitzer prize reporter Lois Lane could easily testify and say "hey it wasn't his fault, they were blasting away before Superman even got there". Turn your brain off.

Let's have the government giving Lex all of the freedom he wants with Zod's corpse and dangerous Kryptonian tech with no supervision whatsoever so he can create Doomsday. Yeah, it's really stupid. Turn your brain off.

You guys can project your hidden meanings onto this film until the cows come home. It's not going to excuse how stupid and horribly executed this flimsy story was.

 

[FlawlessVictory]

9/10

I'm a big fan of MOS but was unsure of and had mixed feelings going into BvS. But, the movie totally worked for me and I am excited for the prospects of this shared universe now. I had serious reservations about Lex but I ended up really enjoying the character. I've seen a lot of complaints about Batman killing but for me, for this Batman, it made sense. This was a much older, weathered Batman who has had his losses over the years(most noticeably Robin). And because of this, being so long in this war, he had lost his way. The branding of criminals and kills along the way for me illustrated this. The fact that he was making front page news for these methods showed me that this extreme behavior was a recent occurrence, because why else make the front page now if you had been branding and killing criminals for 20 years. I really appreciate the flawed nature of both Batman and Superman. And I appreciated that Superman restored a chunk of Batman's humanity by the end of this film, proven by not branding Lex at the end.

I also love the approach taken to Superman going back to MOS, that if this being ever existed, so many would be fearful of what he is capable of. That it is not easy being Superman. I like that the story played off the collateral damage that was caused by his actions from the first film. He seemed to have learned his lesson though from MOS too with taking the fight to Doomsday to space. But clearly, in these films, it's not easy being Superman. I see in these movies a real world approach to these characters from the reactions by certain characters to the superheroes own doubts and troubles assimilating themselves at times into this world.

It's not a fun movie but one I found quite enjoyable. The JL cameos were great as well, particularly the Flash appearing in Bruce's dream. Very excited to see how this all plays out.

 

[Rowsdower!]

2.5/10

Spoiler

+ Affleck looks the part
+ Wonder Woman was great, despite a small screen time
+ Superman was much more likeable in this compared to MoS
+ Batman's warehouse fight scene was pretty good
+ That shocking moment at the hearing

- Affleck's Batman feels very out of character
- Unnecessarily convoluted plot; the film jumps incoherently from scene to scene
- Poor editing / pacing (the film moves incredibly slow in the first two acts, especially with those slow-mo transition shots)
- Incredibly jarring + shoe-horned moments/elements (the Knightmare sequence, Flash's proceeding cameo, the JL video files, the death of Superman)
- Eisenberg's performance of Luthor (Jr) was completely unnecessary
- Brief "Batman v Superman" battle
- Gaping potholes (e.g., so Superman can hear and locate Lois screaming and banging on debris whilst trapped underwater but doesn't think to listen out for Ma Kent so he can find her himself? Or, the public suddenly loving Superman after dying defeating Doomsday, even though everyone seemed unsure about Superman during the film?)
- Final action scene with Doomsday feels very lacklustre; simply masked with excessive lightning CGI, smoke and fire
- Very little surprises left in the film, even after avoiding watching the final, Batman-centric trailer and the various TV spots released
- The score felt extremely obnoxious at times, attempting to make the events on screen much more epic than they actually were

Overall, I often found myself questioning how this film felt so bad during my viewing. I simply cannot trust Zack Snyder with the Justice League movie after this, and I'm particularly skeptical about how future Batman movies will turn out considering Affleck's Batman felt so out of character.

Snyder has made "Batman v Superman" look like an extremely high budget, yet poorly made fan film.

Agree with you about Affleck's Batman. Yeah, he looked cool and the warehouse fight scene was well-choreographed (the fighting in the Knightmare sequence was awful though). But overall, he just seemed disengaged to me, like a guy showing up for work. I'm not interested in seeing a solo Batfleck film, though maybe I will be if he can direct a good performance out of himself, because Snyder sure as hell can't.

 

[ArkhamMadness]

There was a great movie somewhere in this incoherent mess. I think a fan edit might be able to fix a lot of this films problems, that is if the directors cut doesn't.

So obviously my main gripe is the editing/pacing and things that had no place in this movie. I feel like there were entire missing scenes, little to no transitions between scenes, and jarring hard cuts. For example the movie jump cut to the Batman and Superman fight out of no where and no explanation was given on how this was orchestrated. We see Batman on top a roof turning on his signal. What if Superman never showed up? Why did he think he would? Batman would have been looking like a dummy just standing there all night. Somehow Lex knows this means its time to kidnap Martha to make Superman fight but how does he know what Batman is up to?

Some of my other problems were the Lois/Lex Africa bullet subplot. So so so stupid and a waste of precious film time. Almost all the Lois stuff shouldn't have been in this. She should have been a small background character at most. Lex taking over Zod's ship as simple as the AI asking if he wants to take control and he's like "why, yes I do". He cuts off Zods fingerpints when he has the body with him to put in the chamber. Just put his hand on the damn panel. I hated Jessie Eisenberg and this retake on Luthor. Doomsday looked like crap and shouldn't have been cheapened to a ending fight scene at the backend of the movie. Then they had the gual to kill Superman which just came off as cheap and should have been saved for a real death of superman movie.

Things I like were the acting, score, effects, fight choreography, cinematography where all 10/10. Best Batman by far and the best thing about the film. Wonder Woman was great. The editing and storytelling/script really hurt this movie.

6/10

 

[Cats]

Some people don't seem to believe me that other sites, out of Hype, have been raving about BvS. Here's a random screenshot to prove otherwise - response to a review on FB. (this is just one of the pages I'm subscribed to. Loads on youtube as well)

 

[DeadPresident]

If you Google all those names you'll find they're employed by WB and on the payroll

 

[Lily Adler]

I did and they are...

 

[Angel0fDeath]

You're lying. I know, because that's actually me with all those fake profiles.

 

[OutOfBoose]

They clearly hate Superman and Batman. No way anyone with respect towards these characters would appreciate this filth of a movie.

 

[Kane52630]

I still dont understand why a movie making so much money has anything to do with the actual quality of the film. If I recall correctly Transformers make big bank at the BO but I'm sure most people here probably despise that film series.

 

[KalMart]

In a lot of ways I appreciate them taking a more 'mature' (for lack of a better term) approach to Superman....touching on many of the discussions we've had in a place like this in regards to a more 'realistic' reception that Superman would have...the fears and implications, etc. Much of which would understandably be rather ponderous in a film that's meant for wide audiences, so you don't want to spend too much time on it.

Maybe it's a matter of style rather than content when it comes to Snyder. He undoubtedly has a fair for visuals. But...and for those familiar with comics...it's almost like hiring Simon Bisley as your lead artist on a whole new origin series with Batman and Superman. Sure he has some outstanding visual work, but style-wise I don't think I'd pick it for everything, and for this particular story. It'll probably come off as garish in places where it shouldn't be and give you this feel....like a bitter or toxic taste in the back of your throat.

At some points it felt as if the movie was trying to out-Nolan Nolan...and you could tell there were parts where Terrio set his phasers on kill. It's definitely not a kid's movie (not that it should be)...but when I look at eh trailer for Capt America Civil War, it feels as if that's the kind of movie BvS should have been. I'm all for taking the kiddie-gloves off....but I at least hope that the hands underneath don't have any dried vomit stuck to them.

I'm kind of divided...I can see comic fans, especially those used to more mature and alternative stories, appreciating a lot in this movie. I can also see some movie fans appreciating that it's not your standard-fare, cereal-box material. But metaphorically...it's as if musically (not speaking of actual score, which I think was good), there's something a bit too loud and grating on the ear. And maybe that just style...and maybe because I'm of an age now tat I have lot's of friends with kids, I think more of them and what's bordering on appropriate more than I used to.

 

[OutOfBoose]

I still dont understand why a movie making so much money has anything to do with the actual quality of the film. If I recall correctly Transformers make big bank at the BO but I'm sure most people here probably despise that film series.

What's an "actual quality"?

 

[Kane52630]

What's an "actual quality"?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=quality

 

[terry78]

People feel that if something does well financially even though they find it deplorable, it invalidates their opinion. That's when you get the "people are sheep/people are idiots" rants in order to try and justify it.

 

[OutOfBoose]

I'd prefer to her it from you, if you don't mind. Judging actual quality of an art piece.

UPD. Or no, don't. It will end up with a lengthy discussion where in the end everyone will stay on their initial points.
Financial success isn't representative of anything, except for popularity and demand.

 

[C. Lee]

This is a review thread.

That means people can post their reviews of the movie.

Whether they liked it or didn't like it....they can post their review here....without having to be attacked for posting that review.

 

[Enriquespy]

I really enjoyed the movie, its a tremendous experience worth rewatching.
It's also a tremendous mess. It's like that hot chick you shoudn't be dating because she is crazy as F* yet there you are.

Im on the fence about Batman's [BLACKOUT]love of manslaugther akimbo abandon. I mean, does the things he did still count as not quite murder?[/BLACKOUT]

I also didn't quite get who is Clark Kent, we barely see him and when we do he is just a thinly veiled Superman.

Spoiler

Mercy died, its bad because I wish I could see more of her.

Also, I don't really bought Batman rationale to kill superman, yet the fight was excellent, and the whole use of the name Marta was beautifully poetic.

Didn you knew Jimmy Olsen was in the movie? He is the photographer killed at the begining

WW was great, Choping DD arms like it's nothing.

The whole movie was poorly edited, and drowns you in style and slo-mo instead of engaging you in storytelling. Altrough there are an enormous amount of details that make it dense and worth rewatching.

6/10 in filmaking, 8.5/10 on biased-as-a-fan ejoyability.

 

[KalMart]

edit: wrong thread, sorry.

 

[WeTheNorth]

6.8 / 10

Movie could have been put together a lot better, but it had a good basis.

Any movie that is just based on a simple good guy vs bad guy premise is trash. The development of the themes and ideology behind the Dark Knight movies is what made it so better better than the kiddy Batman movies of the past.

B v S easily takes the cake against those movies as well and is so much better than something like Age of Ultron where it's "oh look, there's a bad guy who wants to destroy the world"..30 min fight scene..the end. I prefer this movie over Deadpool as well, where it's essentially "look for the bad guy and kill him" in a comedic and bloody fashion.

It's just unfortunate that BvS was put together so poorly:

1) Mis-portrayal of certain characters
- Lex
- Bruce being dumb, easily manipulated by Lex, not listening to what Sups had to say and just going..Batman angry, Batman smash! World's greatest detective? yeah right. None of the movie portrayals of Batman so far give me the sense that he's even above average in intelligence.
- Batman seems closer to the Thomas Wayne Batman..killing people and using guns.

2) Lack of flow and poor editing

3) Unnecessary and random scenes
- Camoes
- Kevin Costner
- Knightmares
- One too many Martha scenes. The audience isn't stupid.

4) Unnatural situations or portrayal of characters to help the storyline
- Superman being unable to explain to Bats about the situation leading to an unnecessary fight. Yet, when he's about to die, it takes 1 second for him to get through to Batman.

- Saying Martha instead of mom/mother

- Fighting for 10 minutes, then Batman looking like a fool and suddenly having a change of heart in a split second

- 10 minutes left to save Martha. Batman returns home, changes suits, hops in his plane and flies there in 10 seconds. Heck, taking off that armor looks like it would take 10 minutes.

- Doomsday releases a nuclear blast and Batman hides behind a piece of rock.

- Batman stands around picking his nose while Sups and WW are fighting. Maybe look for the Kryptonite?

- did no one see the soil rising at the end of the movie? So Sups comes back to life despite there being no sunlight in the coffin and somehow that makes the soil rise?

5) Lack of scenes that help connect the dots or enhance the storyline/characters
- More Bats/Sups interaction could have been had
- Could have shown Bats/Sups figuring out each other's identities
- Could have had Lex interacting with Mercy (no real point in casting her in the movie)..showing his reasoning/thoughts/distaste for Superman

Despite all that, I enjoyed the movie. Not just a typical conflict between good and evil, but there's more of an emphasis on the question of what IS good and on how to deal with power. Of course, other superhero movies consist of themes with power, good/evil, chaos, anarchy..etc. But the ones that create controversy/discussion and go in depth are the ones that appeal to me.

 

[Marvel Knight]

Some people don't seem to believe me that other sites, out of Hype, have been raving about BvS. Here's a random screenshot to prove otherwise - response to a review on FB. (this is just one of the pages I'm subscribed to. Loads on youtube as well)

You could just as easily, and likely much easily, find loads of negative comments about the film as well. Especially on RT and other sites.

Good films don't have a Cinemascore as low as BVS.

BVS's low Cinemascore is on par with Elektra and Catwoman.


Cinemascore demonstrates Word Of Mouth. BVS is forecasted to have poor Word of Mouth based off it's CS.

That really says it all. No random sample of giddy comments will change that.

 

[The_Manhunter]

Lol the haters have flocked in in full force I see. My review is coming up shortly.

 

[The_Manhunter]

Batman v Superman Review (with possible spoilers)

OK, so here we go. As you all know, I’ve been heavily anticipating this movie ever since I saw Man of Steel in 2013 and loved it. I’m going to start by saying my overall feelings right off the bat (pun intended): the critics are off their rockers for this one; Dawn of Justice is an amazing film!

The story was a good one. It seamlessly combined two of the most iconic story arcs from the comics – [BLACKOUT]The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman[/BLACKOUT] – while hinting at the Darkseid invasion for the Justice League movie. But with a storytelling team composed of Zack Snyder, David Goyer, Chris Terrio, Geoff Johns, and Christopher Nolan, I am hardly surprised at how great the story was.

First, let’s get in to the catalyst of the story – Superman. He may not have the most screen time, but the movie revolves around him. Henry Cavill does an excellent job – he feels more at home in the role than he did in Man of Steel, which is appropriate since Superman is now, well, Superman. But not everyone is in love with Superman like the amazingly-good looking Lois Lane is. Batman, Lex Luthor, and Wonder Woman all fear the damage that Superman could cause to the world, and so the main plot of the film revolves around these two characters trying to stop him.

Ben Affleck is the best Batman ever. When I looked at him on screen, I didn’t see Batfleck, I saw Bruce Wayne personified. As good as Christian Bal was in The Dark Knight Trilogy, Affleck is better. You can see the weariness the years have taken on him – he is no longer as concerned with saving every thug as he is the overall end game with Superman. [BLACKOUT]The end of the film, where Superman’s decision inspires Bruce to return to his old idealistic ways, is truly a great touch.[/BLACKOUT] And of course the combat is brutal. Straight out of the Arkham games, it is the best live action depiction of the Caped Crusader in action yet.

Not to be outdone by Affleck, Jesse Eisenberg (or, as I call him, “Facebuthor”) delivers the best performance of the movie in his turn as Lex Luthor. He is cocky, arrogant, and also sinister, something I wasn’t sure if he could pull off. All the time though, he was convinced he was doing what he was doing for the right reasons. What an amazing follow-up to Michael Shannon’s take on General Zod, which definitely left big Kryptonian shoes to fill in the villain department.

Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman is a real scene stealer. Just enough action to get me (and the crowd I was with) excited, but still she was basically a teaser for her solo film next summer, which I am absolutely fine with. And her theme is one of the soundtrack’s best parts (along with Batman’s theme).

All in all, BvS presents a great introduction to the trinity and a great expansion of the world created in Man of Steel. I’m not going to go into heavy spoiler territory – you need to see this movie for yourself. It was well worth the three year wait. Now bring on Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, and Justice League!

10/10, favorite CBM of all time