Batman > Superman: Dawn of Justice |OT| Enter the Knightmare
- Thread starter MisterHero
- Start date
- Status
This is actually a perfect early 90s Image comic brought to life; all style, no substance. Pretty visuals married to atrocious story telling and characterization. Sloppy editing. Uneven pacing.
Zack Snyder should really direct a Spawn or Youngblood movie. It would be right up his alley.
I need Harry Dent.
So I watched it
Yeah... sorry, it wasn't very good. The critics might have overreacted for a bit, but I can totally see their problems with this flick. I'll typ out a mini-reciew in this thread (the rotten tomatoes one seems a bit toxic now) but man, I'm really hoping they dropkick Snyder to the curb after this.
Yeah... sorry, it wasn't very good. The critics might have overreacted for a bit, but I can totally see their problems with this flick. I'll typ out a mini-reciew in this thread (the rotten tomatoes one seems a bit toxic now) but man, I'm really hoping they dropkick Snyder to the curb after this.
"Batman and Superman wouldn't fight"
Except for all the times they do.
Even when talking about superheroes Glenn Beck speaks nothing but bullshit.
Digital-Hero
Member
Coming close to spoiler territory.
The trailers spoiled more than that comment. I mean, the film is called "Dawn of Justice". It's got the subtlety of a hammer made out of hundreds of tinier hammers.
it's quite a fascinating anti-franchise blockbuster film for the first 90-120 mins. in the vein of only god forgives or quantum of solace. seeking to present a vision of the superhero blockbuster that's diametrically opposed to the dominant marvel aesethic. it's really punishing to watch, so noisy, brutal, ugly, horrible, you feel its weight. the director seems to hate both the characters and make the audience want to hate them too and be driven mad by how far removed they are from their popular identity. it subverts any clear narrative structure, nothing rises and falls, it's very hard to grasp clear story elements, grapple onto chains of events. it steadfastly refuses to take you inside the characters heads, giving it an elusive quality. the characters and story seem to exist as the world would really see them, chaotic, ugly and dangerous. it even revels in how contrived the the central conflict is, trying to mock the viewer for caring. i liked it. i like stuff that massively subverts expectations and is really weird and offputting though.
the stuff that's setting up the justice league feels like a 30 min advert tacked on to the end and more generic and blandly heroic, like the avengers with a muted colour pallete, which slightly soured me on it even if wonder woman and her guitar riff are undeniably cool. makes it feel deeply incoherant when the rest is so bold.
the stuff that's setting up the justice league feels like a 30 min advert tacked on to the end and more generic and blandly heroic, like the avengers with a muted colour pallete, which slightly soured me on it even if wonder woman and her guitar riff are undeniably cool. makes it feel deeply incoherant when the rest is so bold.
Yeah, this is why I liked it as well...
It's an ideological battle where both sides are ugly.
I get why people don't like this as entertainment, but it's a structurally interesting movie with some intriguing ideas and perverse attitudes toward audience identification.
The structure of the first act reminded me of The Dark Knight Rises, which similarly frontloads a series of scenes that don't seem especially connected until Bane's big plan becomes clear.
So... he just made "Watchmen" again.
BewareTheBatsie
Member
I'm just gonna be listening to "Is She With You" for the next while. It's an amazing piece of music, and totally sets the hype when it clocks in.
Just came back from watching it. What a weird-ass disjointed movie.
The good:
-Affleck and Irons steal the movie and make me really anticipate the next Batman film.
-Batman v Superman fight is amazing, as well as the Batman solo fights.
-The 3D was really cool and well implemented.
The bad:
-Eisenberg is a gigantic miscast, absolutely terrible in his role as Lex.
-Movie feels like 5 scripts all mashed together, very weird feeling.
-Doomsday, unnecessary and a waste of a decent villain.
-Waaay too much setting up for the Justice League Movie Universe.
-Waaay too many dream sequences.
-Waaay too much Lois, nobody cares about you, go away.
When it releases on vod, I'll just watch the Batman parts again, and I think someone can edit the film into a pretty good 30-40 minutes thing.
The good:
-Affleck and Irons steal the movie and make me really anticipate the next Batman film.
-Batman v Superman fight is amazing, as well as the Batman solo fights.
-The 3D was really cool and well implemented.
The bad:
-Eisenberg is a gigantic miscast, absolutely terrible in his role as Lex.
-Movie feels like 5 scripts all mashed together, very weird feeling.
-Doomsday, unnecessary and a waste of a decent villain.
-Waaay too much setting up for the Justice League Movie Universe.
-Waaay too many dream sequences.
-Waaay too much Lois, nobody cares about you, go away.
When it releases on vod, I'll just watch the Batman parts again, and I think someone can edit the film into a pretty good 30-40 minutes thing.
Well he's right that BvS (and by extension MoS) didn't feel heroic at all, and that Batman in TDK was actually heroic as fuck.
I find it funny that he lays the blame on Nolan though lol.
It's funny in that I can totally believe someone saying "it's a very anti-blockbuster" kind of film because that would be expanding upon the ground Snyder touched upon in Sucker Punch. Unfortunately for him, he did it really badly in Sucker Punch.
Major Gripex
Member
Very fun, especially if you love these characters. Big plot/pacing problems and I can see why critics hate it. But it's worth a watch to just get an opinion on it.
BlackGhost
Banned
cyborg was a cool scene reminded me of the Justice league war animated movie
BewareTheBatsie
Member
Not a reference. I thought it was Carol but instead it was Farris, not Ferris. Either someone fucked up the spelling, or it's just a coincidence.
One of the most boring Super Hero movies I have ever seen... but I still liked it! I'm just baffled by people saying the first half was better than the second half. The movie had terrible pacing throughout and Lex Luthor was horrible! If they would've made the movie an hour shorter by losing the dream sequences and cutting some of the needless dialog scenes; I think I would've enjoyed it more. At least that's what I plan to do when I watch it again on blueray!
Shamrock7r
Member
Just got back. I thought it was pretty decent actually, based on what they are trying to do in terms of this world. I will probably form more coherent thoughts later.
The only thing I strongly disliked was some of the interpretation of Batman.
The only thing I strongly disliked was some of the interpretation of Batman.
The problem with this, aside from it going against the mainline version of the character, is it really makes a lot of his more popular stories being unable to be told, because the fact that he doesn't kill is a central theme for many of these stories.
ShemhazaiX
Member
Eh. I'm a modern Image fan. Saga, Low, Descender, Rat Queens and so on. Never actually read Spawn.
Still loved this movie.
Well here it goes...
I find BvS a very, very messy movie. Scenes and cut-outs happen way to fast and it makes the pacing of the movie bug out enormously. As usual Snyder tries to stuff a lot of content in the movie, but eveything doesn't receive the time to shine if you understand what I mean.
Still, I liked several aspects; first up, Batfleck is awesome. He has the look, the suit and he feels like Batman. Jeremy Irons assists as a great Alfred and I find him funny. The movie is (in regards to special effects) pretty to look at, has some great action scenes which gave me a The Dark Knight Returns vibe and I did enjoy the OST.
But... the good doesn't outweigh the bad. Not by a long shot. I'll put this in spoilers:
Yeah, this movie has problems man. Felt really disappointed.
4.5 out 10 for me
I find BvS a very, very messy movie. Scenes and cut-outs happen way to fast and it makes the pacing of the movie bug out enormously. As usual Snyder tries to stuff a lot of content in the movie, but eveything doesn't receive the time to shine if you understand what I mean.
Still, I liked several aspects; first up, Batfleck is awesome. He has the look, the suit and he feels like Batman. Jeremy Irons assists as a great Alfred and I find him funny. The movie is (in regards to special effects) pretty to look at, has some great action scenes which gave me a The Dark Knight Returns vibe and I did enjoy the OST.
But... the good doesn't outweigh the bad. Not by a long shot. I'll put this in spoilers:
- While I did enjoy Batfleck, the material he has to work with is horrible. And my god, he looked angry all of the time. I feel like Snyder was asking him for a constant angry eyefuck face all the time. Kind of bugged me. Wayne is a pretty serious guy, but this was a bit overboard.
- Plus...what the hell at Batman killing bad guys in the car chase and branding them with a Batmark? Now Batman has always been on edge, but this just isn't my idea of how the character should be portrayed. Especially the branding felt extremely out of place.
- Superman was a nonfactor in this movie. Boring, very little emotion... he wasn't very interesting.
- Talking about non-factors... Eisenberg in his rol as Luthor totally flopped. Terrible choice and he came across as the crazy kid on the schoolyard trying to act like an adult. Luthor should be more menacing, using power! But no, he tried to give his Lex a Ledger-like flavour which doesn't work at all.
- Supporting cast was poor. Especially Lois. Didn't add anything.
- Dream sequences felt out of place. Especially the Desert Batman thing. Don't know what they were trying to do there.
- The Justice League thing was shoehorned in and felt out of place.
- Talking about shoehorned in... Gal Godot appearing as Wonder Woman was cool, but her introduction feels botched. Take in mind, I'm in the Netherlands which has no comic culture, but half of the audience in my theater were asking "wait who is the woman? She is the party girl which Bruce encountered and she's a hero, but who is she?" Poor introduction for non-knowledgable folks Snyder.
- Doomsday, lol. That was pretty lame.
- Ending felt empty bcause we all know that Clark is still alive.
- Plus...what the hell at Batman killing bad guys in the car chase and branding them with a Batmark? Now Batman has always been on edge, but this just isn't my idea of how the character should be portrayed. Especially the branding felt extremely out of place.
- Superman was a nonfactor in this movie. Boring, very little emotion... he wasn't very interesting.
- Talking about non-factors... Eisenberg in his rol as Luthor totally flopped. Terrible choice and he came across as the crazy kid on the schoolyard trying to act like an adult. Luthor should be more menacing, using power! But no, he tried to give his Lex a Ledger-like flavour which doesn't work at all.
- Supporting cast was poor. Especially Lois. Didn't add anything.
- Dream sequences felt out of place. Especially the Desert Batman thing. Don't know what they were trying to do there.
- The Justice League thing was shoehorned in and felt out of place.
- Talking about shoehorned in... Gal Godot appearing as Wonder Woman was cool, but her introduction feels botched. Take in mind, I'm in the Netherlands which has no comic culture, but half of the audience in my theater were asking "wait who is the woman? She is the party girl which Bruce encountered and she's a hero, but who is she?" Poor introduction for non-knowledgable folks Snyder.
- Doomsday, lol. That was pretty lame.
- Ending felt empty bcause we all know that Clark is still alive.
Yeah, this movie has problems man. Felt really disappointed.
4.5 out 10 for me
More_Badass
Member
Same. Lazarus, Walking Dead, Spread, Wytches, etc.
Only got deep into comics last year and Image just blew me away
good general rule is to ignore all reviews, at all costs.
Judge something your self and stop listening to other peoples taste
More_Badass
Member
Thinking more about the movie, as a not-completely-causal-but-not-hardcore comics fan, my biggest gripe was related to the BvS fight
I like Batman, he's my favorite DC hero, but him absolutely dominating the fight to the point of being moments away from literally killing Superman was some bullshit
What made their fights in the comics so exciting, in Hush, in Luthor, in N52 Justice League, was the David versus Goliath dynamic. Batman is always on the back foot, either just barely slowing down and distracting Superman or being completely ineffective against him. That's why the Hush fight is so memorable IMO. That "Not him, not now" moment when he realizes Ivy has him under her control. The fact that it's less a fight and more of a Terminator-esque escape of disabling Superman long enough to gain some breathing room. Bruce being on the defensive for 99% of it and only "winning" by going the dirty mind-games route of putting Lois in danger.
Having Batman weaken Superman and then just beat the crap out of him totally missed what makes their battles actually interesting and exciting
But I will say, that one moment when Batman is pounding on Clark's face and the punches grow less effective with each blow was my favorite part of the fight. I think it was the only part that sold the God vs Man billing by showing how ineffective the armor really is against Superman
What made their fights in the comics so exciting, in Hush, in Luthor, in N52 Justice League, was the David versus Goliath dynamic. Batman is always on the back foot, either just barely slowing down and distracting Superman or being completely ineffective against him. That's why the Hush fight is so memorable IMO. That "Not him, not now" moment when he realizes Ivy has him under her control. The fact that it's less a fight and more of a Terminator-esque escape of disabling Superman long enough to gain some breathing room. Bruce being on the defensive for 99% of it and only "winning" by going the dirty mind-games route of putting Lois in danger.
Having Batman weaken Superman and then just beat the crap out of him totally missed what makes their battles actually interesting and exciting
But I will say, that one moment when Batman is pounding on Clark's face and the punches grow less effective with each blow was my favorite part of the fight. I think it was the only part that sold the God vs Man billing by showing how ineffective the armor really is against Superman
Shamrock7r
Member
I will say, and I may be wrong, but the theme was that at no point was Superman really trying to win the fight. He was trying multiple times to talk and reason with Batman, and it wasn't until after that kryptonite gas that he went on the offensive a little bit out of desperation
BlackGhost
Banned
I'm still hungry for me. Burtons Batman is on Netflix. Gonna give it a watch. Really only seen various moments of it, never watched it in full
If I'm being honest I haven't even read any of the reviews posted. I'm aware of the scores and such, but I wanted to go into it without anyone's perceptions in my mind. I did, and I enjoyed the movie. Wouldn't mind seeing again, actually looking forward to that master edition
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
All I could think about during the cyborg scene is the Miles Dyson should not be let around cybernetics anymore.
Got back. It is indeed a hot mess, and pretty much the only thing I liked was the warehouse action scene.
Lex... where to even start. I don't know what they were going for there, but it definitely didn't work. Worst part of the movie.
In general the Batman part is decent, but it pisses on anything Superman. If you're a Supes fan, you're gonna have a bad time.
I may need to re-read All Star and For all Seasons to remind me what that character is all about.
edit: I also hated how they shoehorned WW in. Her character didn't work at all. Not to mention the horrible
Horrible.
Lex... where to even start. I don't know what they were going for there, but it definitely didn't work. Worst part of the movie.
In general the Batman part is decent, but it pisses on anything Superman. If you're a Supes fan, you're gonna have a bad time.
I may need to re-read All Star and For all Seasons to remind me what that character is all about.
edit: I also hated how they shoehorned WW in. Her character didn't work at all. Not to mention the horrible
JLA cameo roll call segment
Primethius
Banned
I really couldn't even get hyped up for the JL cameos.
With the way they tackled Batman and ruined Superman, I'm dreading the portrayal of some of the other JL members. Though the thought of this Superman leading JL is scary in itself.
With the way they tackled Batman and ruined Superman, I'm dreading the portrayal of some of the other JL members. Though the thought of this Superman leading JL is scary in itself.
I dunno, I found it very cool.
Gave me a Dark Knight Returns vibe and it's the reason why I liked it so much. Bruce getting slapped around, but landing some punches was great too. A onesided fight would be terrible too.
Nicest touch all around was when Supes was in outer space they hit him with the nuke. Him slowly regaining his strength reminded of that one legendary panel from TDKR where he falls from the sky after steering the nuke away
Nicest touch all around was when Supes was in outer space they hit him with the nuke. Him slowly regaining his strength reminded of that one legendary panel from TDKR where he falls from the sky after steering the nuke away
Came back from watching it. Wasn't a fan. I felt the movie was way too rushed, and they should have spent more movies to build up a more nuanced plot that I could've engaged in. The action was great, Affleck was a great Batman, but that's where the praise ends with me.
Major Gripex
Member
Emergency Awesome did a cool video about easter eggs in the films.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVDNUPmxs8E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVDNUPmxs8E
TheFuzz
Member
Thanks for this. I'm seeing it tomorrow and I'm a HUGE Batman fan. With my expectations in the toilet, these kind of reviews intrigue me. I'm going in with an open mind.
Sgt. Garlic
Member
I thought it was pretty mediocre. Over-dramatic and humorless. So basically it's a Zack Snyder movie. It was enjoyable to see Superman and Batman go at it though. Ben Affleck gave a good performance I thought but was not really a fan of Jesse Eisenberg as Luthor.
After reading this thread I am shoked that WB would shoehorn movies with such extra plot just to rush to JL.
I am one of the guys who thinks that you dont need every solo movie to start a shared universe but every movie should stand on its on at least. DC heroes are so recognizable that if they made a direct awesome JL movie audience would have no problem with relating to them. They could have made JL JL flashpoint ghost babel or kingdom come all with different actors still they would have been successful without confusing the audience
I am one of the guys who thinks that you dont need every solo movie to start a shared universe but every movie should stand on its on at least. DC heroes are so recognizable that if they made a direct awesome JL movie audience would have no problem with relating to them. They could have made JL JL flashpoint ghost babel or kingdom come all with different actors still they would have been successful without confusing the audience
well he was getting his arse kicked up until the kryptonite, for someone that doesn't read the comics it worked
E the Shaggy
Junior Member
Positive reviews on GAF for this, and in general, are so fucking odd.
"I don't understand these bad reviews. I mean they could have done away with half of the main characters including Eisenberg's Luthor, the dialogue was stilted, the pacing was all jumbled, the characters weren't really given any depth, but man what a tour de force!"
"I don't understand these bad reviews. I mean they could have done away with half of the main characters including Eisenberg's Luthor, the dialogue was stilted, the pacing was all jumbled, the characters weren't really given any depth, but man what a tour de force!"
manfestival
Member
WW's character was extremely forced. Every scene with her just felt awkward. I will say this though. If you do see the movie, see it in imax because it is just one of those movies that you really need to do yourself the favor and watch it on a huge bombastic screen
It's an alright movie. Overall enjoyable but not without flaws. Good action and some interesting ideas, but just not much cohesion holding it all together.
Maybe there needed to be separate Batman and Superman movies, one leading to the other. Maybe BvS needed to scrap the DoJ elements. Maybe the director's cut is a better movie and fixes the pacing and plotting issues of the theatrical version.
It makes me wonder if SS will be more successful introducing so many different characters.
Maybe there needed to be separate Batman and Superman movies, one leading to the other. Maybe BvS needed to scrap the DoJ elements. Maybe the director's cut is a better movie and fixes the pacing and plotting issues of the theatrical version.
It makes me wonder if SS will be more successful introducing so many different characters.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
There were three things I liked about the movie.
Batfleck
The actual Batman v. Superman fight
Spoilering this one, but it's in the trailer...
Batmobile chase.
"Things to do to improve BvS:
-Remove the character upon which the entire plot and motivations of every character in the movie depend on, and whose without his inclusion the movie as it is would literally not exist."
This is what I think every time I see one of those positive impressions that state they would remove Luthor from the movie to improve it. There would be no movie without this character.
I think some people either don't even know what they liked about it or why they like it the first place. Some people probably don't know how to dislike it.
I might be the least cynical human you will meet. I love superheroes. I liked the recent Spiderman movies; I actively loved Green Lantern. I love every Marvel Studios movie. I went in with lowered expectations, but still thought I'd get a thrill from seeing the dawn of the Justice League.
I didn't like this.
I didn't like this.
Sibersk Esto
Banned
I would just like to apologize beforehand. If you read the following review, and feel that my critique is in anyway cheapened by what you consider hyperbole, then the only explanation that I can give is that I am a very passionate individual, and this is just the way I express myself.
THAT
BEING
SAID
There's a Maya Angelou quote that I would like to bring up. "Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean."
That's what I hope to do today NeoGaf. To use this public forum as an outlet for my anger. In doing so, I hope to cleanse myself of all this, to regain some measure of power over this unpleasant experience. The biggest regret I have in all this? That I am not a good enough writer to give everything I have to say the voice it deserves.
FUCK THIS MOVIE
What an absolute fucking disaster of a film. What an infuriating assault on both the sense and the senses and sensibility in general. Zack Snyder was handed the fire of creation, and has chosen to use it to burn the wheat fields down. I hesitate to call this a train wreck, because that implies there was some moment in time when this disaster was on the proverbial "right track". I'm not sure if I will even write a version of this review that includes spoilers, because I don't think I can be bothered to write a scene by scene break-down of this ENTIRE FUCKING MOVIE.
This isn't a film. This is Zack Snyder and company taking "The Dark Knight Rises" and another story that would be too spoiler-filled to name, stripping them of the context that made them important, slathered them in ultra-macho bullshit, and created some sort of unholy Frankenstein's monster that has captured me and is ordering me to help it reproduce, to justify its existence. And like Victor Frankenstein himself, I am horrified at the implications that may bring.
But you've heard enough of my opinions right? How about a film breakdown? That's what you want right?
This movie is a mess, it seems to want to rebel against the very notion of an establishing shot. We are dropped into scene after scene after scene after scene, with the flimsiest of narrative tissue to connect them. Scenes are scattered next to each other with no rhyme or reason. Each individual scene devolves into a very specific plot point, a sequence of audio-visual data, unrelated to the one before it, but without the strength to carry it on its own. The film cuts to black so often it feels like the work of an absolute rank amateur. And the dream sequences you may have heard about? They are illogical, intrusive, and laughable in their self-seriousness. Character agency? Drama? What's that? Why include those when you can hand wave everything with pure coincidence? I will not suffer any criticism of superhero film world-building without using this as rock bottom. If these are what passes as "easter eggs", then they are rotten to the core, and they are being flung straight at my face. It's so afraid to let a scene breath that it has to flash to an earlier scene to emphasize the point like an episode of CSI.
I don't know who to blame for this script. No one has an actual, believable conversation. All they do is spout big important ideas that I'm sure the screenwriter felt very proud in including. If Nolan's Batman films approached the genre with the depth of a lake, this film is as shallow as a murky puddle.
Let's get into our characters shall we? This film doesn't have the fucking time to flesh ANYONE out. First there's Batman, played by Ben Affleck. You may have heard praise for his portrayal of Batman and you know what? It was serviceable. Perfectly Fine. A handsome face to put in the cowl and nothing more. You know what is terrible about Affleck's Batman? That he is the vehicle for all of the films idiotic overuse of dream sequences. Have you felt worried about any rumors that Batman kills in this movie? He does, and the film treats that as something that is super awesome. He's not intelligent in the slightest, Alfred picks up most of the slack Jeremy Iron's Alfred? A decent job, even if his main job is delivering almost obligatory quotes from "The Dark Knight Returns".
Henry Cavill's Superman? Somehow even worse than his last outing. It's kind of ironic that his turn as Superman evokes the same feeling of the Golem of Jewish folklore, because he is a fucking BORE. If Man of Steel was a Superman film deathly afraid of showing Superman not fighting, then this movie is petrified of showing Superman doing ANYTHING competent, in the fear that the audience will see him as all powerful and untouchable. As such, Cavill's turn as Superman includes him looking pensive all of the time, eyebrows furrowed, and then occasionally looking to the left (or his right, whatever.)
Before I get to Wonder Woman, I just want to include this weird hyper-macho attitude that this film has. Hey ladies? Excited to see Wonder Woman? This film is the equivalent of that guy at the gym, who is all too happy to let you work in only to do bicep curls in front of you, darting his eyes occasionally to make sure you're watching. Every time Affleck does something Bruce Wayne related, it is with the caveat that he must be drowning in pussy. He knows Russian because (according to him), he fucked a Russian ballerina. After one of Bruce's most nonsensical of dream sequences, he wakes up with a naked woman next to him, who never wakes up. The rest of the supporting female cast is really just there to be taken hostage. Get Lois Lane in the Justice League, because apparently she has the power of teleportation and omnipresence.
Gadot's Wonder Woman is literally Anne Hathaway's Catwoman redux. A shoehorned Justice League tie-in with an obnoxious electric guitar soundtrack. All of her scenes could have and should have been excised completely.
Eisenberg's Luthor was not a performance. It was a series of mannerisms. The perfect foil to Superman has been reduced to wild gesticulations and squeaks. He's barely even a character, just a plot device. And in all the stupid bullshit included in this movie.
The action scenes? There are four. One is a Batmobile chase, composed almost entirely of CGI and lacking any of the narrative flourish of Nolan's tumbler segments. The titular fight? A nuisance to the film, just another scene. Instead of the culmination of two ideologies clashing together it has instead been reduced to a nonsensical gambit by Lex. It's maybe 8 minutes max of Batman doing slow martial arts moves to a kryptonite weakened Superman, who's only moments of strength have him acting like a roaring gorilla. And the climax is every bit as insipid and stupid as you might have heard. A throwaway piece of trivia blown into laughably operatic over importance. The Batman fight is fine, but it looks cool for the sake of being cool. It is stuffed into the narrative at the worst time. And the final fight against Doomsday? An excuse for Snyder to have his cake and eat it too, having large scale destruction with only the most obligatory mention that there are no civilians, to excuse the fact that we are watching rubber CGI models get punched back, fly back towards Doomsday, then get punched back. AT the end, no one in the theater cheered. They were shuffling in their seats, waiting to get out.
Fuck this movie. I despised every single second of it. I have never felt more powerless watching a movie then I was when this movie teased the Justice League. It felt like it was taunting me over the fact that it held the future of these characters. If you have any reservations about this film, then I assure there is no reason to see it anytime soon. Or do, I don't know you, do what you want with your money. I hated this movie. Every second of it.
TLDR: I didn't care for it.
One last thing.
This shot?
Fuck you. You didn't earn it.
THAT
BEING
SAID
There's a Maya Angelou quote that I would like to bring up. "Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean."
That's what I hope to do today NeoGaf. To use this public forum as an outlet for my anger. In doing so, I hope to cleanse myself of all this, to regain some measure of power over this unpleasant experience. The biggest regret I have in all this? That I am not a good enough writer to give everything I have to say the voice it deserves.
FUCK THIS MOVIE
What an absolute fucking disaster of a film. What an infuriating assault on both the sense and the senses and sensibility in general. Zack Snyder was handed the fire of creation, and has chosen to use it to burn the wheat fields down. I hesitate to call this a train wreck, because that implies there was some moment in time when this disaster was on the proverbial "right track". I'm not sure if I will even write a version of this review that includes spoilers, because I don't think I can be bothered to write a scene by scene break-down of this ENTIRE FUCKING MOVIE.
This isn't a film. This is Zack Snyder and company taking "The Dark Knight Rises" and another story that would be too spoiler-filled to name, stripping them of the context that made them important, slathered them in ultra-macho bullshit, and created some sort of unholy Frankenstein's monster that has captured me and is ordering me to help it reproduce, to justify its existence. And like Victor Frankenstein himself, I am horrified at the implications that may bring.
But you've heard enough of my opinions right? How about a film breakdown? That's what you want right?
This movie is a mess, it seems to want to rebel against the very notion of an establishing shot. We are dropped into scene after scene after scene after scene, with the flimsiest of narrative tissue to connect them. Scenes are scattered next to each other with no rhyme or reason. Each individual scene devolves into a very specific plot point, a sequence of audio-visual data, unrelated to the one before it, but without the strength to carry it on its own. The film cuts to black so often it feels like the work of an absolute rank amateur. And the dream sequences you may have heard about? They are illogical, intrusive, and laughable in their self-seriousness. Character agency? Drama? What's that? Why include those when you can hand wave everything with pure coincidence? I will not suffer any criticism of superhero film world-building without using this as rock bottom. If these are what passes as "easter eggs", then they are rotten to the core, and they are being flung straight at my face. It's so afraid to let a scene breath that it has to flash to an earlier scene to emphasize the point like an episode of CSI.
I don't know who to blame for this script. No one has an actual, believable conversation. All they do is spout big important ideas that I'm sure the screenwriter felt very proud in including. If Nolan's Batman films approached the genre with the depth of a lake, this film is as shallow as a murky puddle.
Let's get into our characters shall we? This film doesn't have the fucking time to flesh ANYONE out. First there's Batman, played by Ben Affleck. You may have heard praise for his portrayal of Batman and you know what? It was serviceable. Perfectly Fine. A handsome face to put in the cowl and nothing more. You know what is terrible about Affleck's Batman? That he is the vehicle for all of the films idiotic overuse of dream sequences. Have you felt worried about any rumors that Batman kills in this movie? He does, and the film treats that as something that is super awesome. He's not intelligent in the slightest, Alfred picks up most of the slack Jeremy Iron's Alfred? A decent job, even if his main job is delivering almost obligatory quotes from "The Dark Knight Returns".
Henry Cavill's Superman? Somehow even worse than his last outing. It's kind of ironic that his turn as Superman evokes the same feeling of the Golem of Jewish folklore, because he is a fucking BORE. If Man of Steel was a Superman film deathly afraid of showing Superman not fighting, then this movie is petrified of showing Superman doing ANYTHING competent, in the fear that the audience will see him as all powerful and untouchable. As such, Cavill's turn as Superman includes him looking pensive all of the time, eyebrows furrowed, and then occasionally looking to the left (or his right, whatever.)
Before I get to Wonder Woman, I just want to include this weird hyper-macho attitude that this film has. Hey ladies? Excited to see Wonder Woman? This film is the equivalent of that guy at the gym, who is all too happy to let you work in only to do bicep curls in front of you, darting his eyes occasionally to make sure you're watching. Every time Affleck does something Bruce Wayne related, it is with the caveat that he must be drowning in pussy. He knows Russian because (according to him), he fucked a Russian ballerina. After one of Bruce's most nonsensical of dream sequences, he wakes up with a naked woman next to him, who never wakes up. The rest of the supporting female cast is really just there to be taken hostage. Get Lois Lane in the Justice League, because apparently she has the power of teleportation and omnipresence.
Gadot's Wonder Woman is literally Anne Hathaway's Catwoman redux. A shoehorned Justice League tie-in with an obnoxious electric guitar soundtrack. All of her scenes could have and should have been excised completely.
Eisenberg's Luthor was not a performance. It was a series of mannerisms. The perfect foil to Superman has been reduced to wild gesticulations and squeaks. He's barely even a character, just a plot device. And in all the stupid bullshit included in this movie.
The action scenes? There are four. One is a Batmobile chase, composed almost entirely of CGI and lacking any of the narrative flourish of Nolan's tumbler segments. The titular fight? A nuisance to the film, just another scene. Instead of the culmination of two ideologies clashing together it has instead been reduced to a nonsensical gambit by Lex. It's maybe 8 minutes max of Batman doing slow martial arts moves to a kryptonite weakened Superman, who's only moments of strength have him acting like a roaring gorilla. And the climax is every bit as insipid and stupid as you might have heard. A throwaway piece of trivia blown into laughably operatic over importance. The Batman fight is fine, but it looks cool for the sake of being cool. It is stuffed into the narrative at the worst time. And the final fight against Doomsday? An excuse for Snyder to have his cake and eat it too, having large scale destruction with only the most obligatory mention that there are no civilians, to excuse the fact that we are watching rubber CGI models get punched back, fly back towards Doomsday, then get punched back. AT the end, no one in the theater cheered. They were shuffling in their seats, waiting to get out.
Fuck this movie. I despised every single second of it. I have never felt more powerless watching a movie then I was when this movie teased the Justice League. It felt like it was taunting me over the fact that it held the future of these characters. If you have any reservations about this film, then I assure there is no reason to see it anytime soon. Or do, I don't know you, do what you want with your money. I hated this movie. Every second of it.
TLDR: I didn't care for it.
One last thing.
This shot?
Fuck you. You didn't earn it.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
One last thing.
This shot?
Fuck you. You didn't earn it.
I really like this part of your review. Them not earning that shot. By contrast you have this.
Four years of build up, establishing characters most the public had never even heard up. They earned that shot.
The idea that you have to earn a shot or even a premise of part of a film is baffling to me.I really like this part of your review. Them not earning that shot. By contrast you have this.
Four years of build up, establishing characters most the public had never even heard up. They earned that shot.
Build up a character, hell, John Wick made me give a fuck about him within the 1st hour.
- Status