I didn't have high hopes for Batman V Superman. I expected it to be mess with too many new characters introduced for Justice League movie. That was not problem. New characters were introduced but it only took couple minutes. We were only shown them. Movie concentrated on Batman and Superman. Wonder Woman was there to support them.
Some say Gal Gadon was great as Wonder Woman. I don't agree. Her action scene felt more like she was posing than fighting. Like watching moving painting. Some other scenes felt like that too. She was ok as Diana but we has seen similar thing done better before. I am not saying she did bad job or character was bad. She only felt too much like she was posing. I got same feeling from promotional pictures too.
Ben Affleck was good as Batman if you are ok with Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns version of Batman. This Batman kills and brands ones who he let live. He uses guns. I am not biggest Superman fan. This movie made people react him somewhat realistically which I liked. It how ever didn't go far enough in it. Superman was guy who wanted to be good guy. Other times he did what he wanted and pushed others around because he was stronger than others. If scene required he was ready to die to save others. There was no consistency in his character. It is like they added too much into one movie and didn't have enough time for Superman's story arc.
Movie is big mess. One reason for it is Lex Luthor. I didn't get what he was supposed to be. It was like he was several Superman and Batman villains at once. There was one scene where he was like Joker. He didn't have any reasons for what he did. He was just evil and he made most of the build up for later movies.
Spoilers from this point on. Story is big reason why Batman V Superman is big mess and I can't explain it without spoilers.
Lex Luthor knew every superhero's secret identities. Lex Luthor knows who every superhero we have seen in DC Cinematic Universe is. Batman and Wonder Woman learns about other Justice League members after Batman decrypts Luthor's secret files. Luthor knows Batman is Bruce Wayne and Superman is Clark Kent. Movie don't think this is big issue. Luthor just uses this knowledge against Batman and Superman but after Luthor is behind bars it is forgotten. He won't use this knowledge in future.
Lex Luthor not only is the father of Justice League. He also called Darkseid to Earth or something like that. He knows about Darkseid. If he knew Darkseid is coming why he wanted Superman out of the way if he is not on Darkseid's side. Nothing in Lex Luthor makes sense.
Batman V Superman starts with Bruce Wayne at ending of Man of Steel. We are shown the destruction from normal people's point of view. We see how destruction has consequences. This turns Batman against Superman. This movie ends with even worse destruction porn than Man of Steel had. At least they don't tear down half of the city this time. They forgot what they told at beginning of the movie.
Batman is against Superman because he thinks Superman can destroy mankind and he has to be stopped. When Batman is about to kill Superman he learns their mothers are named Martha. This stops Batman and he becomes Superman's best friend. Superman is no longer threat to mankind because his mother is named Martha. This really happened. If this is not enough Batman promises to save Superman's mother he knew nothing about before this in ten minutes he has.
Superman dies twice in this movie. First time he and Doomsday are nuked. He wakes up from that. Doomsday kills him second time but he doesn't wake up from that right away. He gets buried but something starts to happen to his casket. I really hated this. They killed Superman but it didn't have any impact because we know Warner Bros have announced upcoming DC Cinematic Universe movies and we can be sure Superman will be in Justice League movies. I hate this underestimating of audience. Nobody thinks he really died. It only felt stupid. From now on what stakes does Superman have? He has already died twice.
When people say Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman was best part of the movie it is because her character was most consistent and didn't have these stupid moments. Some could say it is because she had so little screen time.
Batman V Superman was too long. There were scene which didn't bring anything other than show how dark and gritty everything was. Action scenes didn't tell story. They were just there. One action scene which could have had some story telling in it was cut away. I guess Batman fighting regular people doing their job was too much. The action scene could have showed how far Batman could go to stop Superman and maybe have some internal struggle.
There is rumor of over three hour rater R directors cut. I don't know what it could bring. Theatrical cut was already too long and at times boring.
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