This was a tough one. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (henceforth to be known as BVS) has me at an impasse. There is a good movie in here somewhere. But the movie is deeply flawed and needs a lot of work.
This movie takes up in the immediate aftermath of Man of Steel. Metropolis is leveled after Supes (Henry Cavill) had his big dustup with General Zod. With all the destruction, an older and meaner Batman (Ben Affleck in a GREAT turn as the Caped Crusader) is horrified at the power Superman could wield if left unchecked. He teams up with Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg, in the worst take on any character ever, including Lord Dark Helmet in Spaceballs) to create Kryptonite or get some or something, to kill Superman. They fight. And Wonder Woman shows up. And Doomsday. And the rest of the Justice League. And...
If this sounds like a cobbled together summary, it is only reflecting the cobbled together plot, if you want to call it that, this movie has. I usually don't do this, but I am going to have to geek out a lot for this review, because that's who this movie was made for, die-hard geeks. The biggest problem with this movie (indicative with its 5+ screenwriters), is that it is a Batman/Superman greatest hits movie. The movie borrows elements from no less than 8 different good story lines in the comics. Chief among these include, but are not limited to: The Dark Knight Returns, Kingdom Come, The Death of Superman, Batman: A Death In The Family, Batman: Year One, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Final Crisis, and Flash: Rebirth. These all are good stories in themselves, but when you try to combine them into a cohesive whole with no context, the movie fails miserably. It jumps from point to point to point with no logical connectors anywhere. I have read most of these stories and I was lost multiple times in the movie. The movie jumps through time, has extended dream sequences, and nothing is explained. Unless you are a literati of the comics, you will be utterly baffled by a lot of what this movie has to offer. Worse, the whole purpose of the movie seems to be a setup for the upcoming Justice League of America movie. Way too many elements are in this movie in a cynical, hubris-filled expectation that you will come to the next movie. Marvel has done a fantastic job at slowly building their movies, methodically building a universe for over eight years so that their large event movies naturally flow. Outside of Christopher Nolan's awful Dark Knight trilogy, every DC movie has been made separately with no lines tying them together, and now BVS is rushing to catch up to sew up a unified universe. Because of this ad hoc storytelling, BVS seems forced and doesn't really work.
Now, let's move on to characters. Zack Snyder, apart from ruining the movie aesthetic with his slo-mo/ramp up/explosion style so evident in Watchmen and 300, should be sentenced to 300 lashes for allowing Jesse Eisenberg to experiment with the character of Lex Luthor. Luthor is an iconographic villain whose personality is very established. Eisenberg plays him as a cross between Ledger's unhinged Joker in The Dark Knight with his super-quirky and super-annoying portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network; the end result of which is a hot mess that comes off as incredibly annoying and unbelievable for one of the most intelligent and conniving villains ever written. He's an evil buffoon here, and it's horrifying that anyone thought this experiment was a good idea during filming. Also, both Bats and Supes have major personality changes as well. They kill several people, and despite both of their methods, that was a sacrosanct line they never crossed in the comics. It's as jarring as if Mother Teresa deciding to put on a miniskirt and becoming a streetwalker. Amy Adams, much as I absolutely love her, is totally miscast as Lois Lane, and doesn't even do anything except be a damsel in distress for Supes to save over and over again.
Despite all of that, there is material to like here that is genuinely good. Both Cavill and Affleck are great in their respective roles. Affleck, in particular, is amazing as an older, more bitter Batman/Bruce Wayne. I dare say he is the best Batman, I liked him that much. I was worried about the Doomsday character, but it was very well-realized, but doesn't make a lot of sense being in this movie. And kudos to the much-awaited and overdue Wonder Woman. Gail Godot was incredible as our Amazonian warrior, and her character was put to very good use at the end. The only complaint I have is that she is a bit cold, while the comics Wonder Woman is actually a very warm person. I hope her upcoming movie will delve into the born warrior/ambassador of peace dichotomy. Finally, the big fight between Supes and Bats lives up to the hype. It was exciting and fun. Unfortunately, all this good stuff gets overshadowed by its flaws. This is an imperfect movie, but is worth a watch. Keep your expectations low.
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