• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

DC Cinematic Universe |OT| Superfriends with Benefits

Status
Not open for further replies.

jey_16

Banned
But for real tho, for all the flak the Knightmare sequence is getting for its placement in the film, how hype would it be if that and the flash cameo where placed in the end credits.

I get DC wants to keep the Marvel comparisons to a minimum but I would be LOSING MY DAMN MIND, seeing that shit as a stinger, especially considering its one of the craziest visuals in the movie.

I guess they spent way too much damn money not to use it in the actual film proper haha.

completely agree....cant imagine how great that would have been
 

Wingfan19

Unconfirmed Member
BTW, just looking through the official art book for the movie, there's at least 5 scenes (actual set photos/stills) that look to be on the extended cut Blu Ray.

- Lois checking out some apartment with a bunch of hanging Supermen effigies and photos all over the walls
- Alfred chopping wood outside
- Lois talking to Clark while he's laying in bed
- Clark at his laptop at home
- Finch in front of a wall of Polaroid photos of random people (could be victims of the fight in Metropolis)

Spoiler scene

- More of Lex in his prison cell after Batman visits him
 

Joel Was Right

Gold Member
I'll be seeing it this evening and will write up detailed impressions, drawing comparisons to MoS to give context.

I'm of the thinking that the destruction porn narrative surrounding the first film was exaggerated by a group who lashed onto that one flaw to express a greater displeasure of the film. The most significant issues of the film - such as pacing, lack of character development, as a result, were given less exposure in that ensuing discussion. Despite all of that, the first half of the film was actually very good.

Reading these impressions of BvS, it seems that those issues are now resurfacing, and unlike a few years ago, are dominating the narrative.
 
Let's get this out of the way:

For all of Man of Steel's issues (there were more than a few), I liked the movie. And I liked that it was trying to bring Superman to the "modern" age even though it has missteps along the way. I still like it, and appreciate it.

As for Batman v Superman...

I liked it too. Let's break it down a bit.

The first third of the movie is all setup. Lots of plot threads. Did all of those plot threads throw the pace off? A little bit. But not so much that the casual audience member can't follow what's happening. The Knightmare sequence pops up out of nowhere. Synder could have done a bit better for the lead up to that. Was the sequence good? I'd say it's okay and it drops some hints to future movies.

The tone of the movie is dark but it's not depressing. It works and yes, everyone is serious in the film but they all have good reason to be.

The cameos from other JL members feel organic and not shoehorned in. I loved the way they were introduced and it's really cool that we got to see some of them.

The acting was ace. Everyone does a great job here. Ben was stupendous as Bruce and Batman. Gadot pulled Wonder Woman off perfectly. The crowd jumped and cheered when she appeared in costume. Cavill is okay... he broods about one scene too many but he has his reasons. He does save people in this movie and the reactions from the news outlets are scarily accurate. I could believe this is how the world would be if there was a Superman. Doomsday is just... there. He's very forgettable.

Lex is... interesting. Of all the hardcore shit they pull from the comics, he's very far off from what you'd expect. Jesse does a good job in the role, but I could have gone for a more traditional version.

The action was top notch stuff. Mid point on it's just a spectacle. None of the CGI looks bad and it flows nicely. You can follow what's happening easily and Snyder didn't go overboard with slow mo. Batman's action scenes are straight from the Arkham games and there's nothing wrong with that. There's a shit ton of imagery pulled from The Dark Knight Returns, and I loved every second of them.

My wife and I enjoyed the hell out of this film and we want to see it again. The post movie conversations I overheard was positive and people seemed to like it. Looking at the reviews and the RT score, then actually watching the movie, there's a huge disconnect. I think I know why...

This movie violates a lot of rules and standards that high rated and oscar worthy films adhere to. I don't want to spoil anything but that, I think, is the crux of it. What this film does instead is please the viewers and it does even more so for fans of DC comics. If you are a DC fan, it'll be tough for you to hate this movie. Batman v Superman is simply not for the critics... I see that now. I just don't see why it's rated as low as it is because it's obvious this movie is here to set us up for Justice League while tying some loose ends from Man of Steel.

So anyway, go see the movie even if you're on the fence. It's a feast for the eyes and it tries to question a lot of tropes that are often ignored in other comic book movies.
 

ReiGun

Member
I'll be seeing it this evening and will write up detailed impressions, drawing comparisons to MoS to give context.

I'm of the thinking that the destruction porn narrative surrounding the first film was exaggerated by a group who lashed onto that one flaw to express a greater displeasure of the film. The most significant issues of the film - such as pacing, lack of character development, as a result, were given less exposure in that ensuing discussion. Despite all of that, the first half of the film was actually very good.

Reading these impressions of BvS, it seems that those issues are now resurfacing, and unlike a few years ago, are dominating the narrative.

Oh that's absolutely what happened. People weren't quite able to articulate why they didn't like MoS, so the destruction meme became the dominate conversation. Since it seems this movie largely avoids that issue, things like editing and pacing are now coming to the fore.

Though I think the JLA teases might end up becoming the new thing.
 
Oh man, even as a supporter for this movie, this video is hilarious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwXfv25xJUw

On a side note, I wonder if Affleck noticed any of the pacing problems or had any input

He probably did, but I doubt he saw the film far enough in advance to say anything. He was busy shooting Live By Night up until a few weeks ago.

If anything, that look, means something will happen if the rumored behind the scenes power of Affleck is true. He's not about to ruin his reputation he just rebuilt and I see WB siding with Affleck over Snyder if push comes to shove.
 

IconGrist

Member
The following review will be SPOILER FREE. If you would like to see the spoiler version it will be in the spoiler thread located here.

First, my rating: 7/10

To put that in perspective that is exactly the same rating I would give Man of Steel. Since people like to know how these scores compared to Marvel's movies I'll throw a couple here that are usually asked about...

The Winter Soldier: 8/10
Guardians of the Galaxy: 6/10
Age of Ultron: 6/10

Other Snyder movies...

300: 7/10
Watchmen: 8/10
Sucker Punch: 4/10

Now onto the review.

I like to get the bad out of the way when I talk about a movie I like so let's start there.

The Bad
- There were 3 scenes that bothered me. One needed to be moved because it was strikingly out of place. The second needed a better lead in to where it cut to. The third didn't make any sense other than to satisfy the need to reference TDKR.
- Lois was again reduced to plot device.
- The world building interrupted an otherwise good plot.
- An important plot point falls on deaf ears to anyone not familiar with the comics.

This section here will further elaborate on these points in the spoiler thread.

The Okay
- Superman wasn't given much to do other than be around when things happened. No real opportunity to shine but did well with what there was.
- Diana Prince could have used a bit more fleshing out but with her own movie I understand why. Still, a bit disheartening.
- TDKR influence was prominent and because of it Batman seemed more important despite the story revolving around Superman. It didn't hurt the plot though.
- First hour had a lot of story to set up. Pace was lightening fast and then slowed once the action gets underway. Makes the movie seem uneven but not enough to really hurt it.
- The Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman scores were in your face a lot of the time. Since the score is good this is not a bad thing but can be described as slightly annoying.
- Action scenes didn't quite grab me the way they did in MoS but they were still very solid.

This section here will further elaborate on these points in the spoiler thread.

The Good
- Character moments really helped to flesh out the main characters and their line of thinking.
- The plot wasn't perfect but was much improved over Man of Steel. It's only weakness being the JL world building I mentioned earlier.
- The actual dialog was a huge improvement over Man of Steel. Terrio's effect could really be felt in this regard.
- Eisenberg and Affleck really nailed it. I have a hard time deciding who I liked better. For any of you I would easily call Affleck but only because it may be hard for some of you to divorce yourself from a version of Lex that does not exist in this movie. At all.
- Pretty much the entire cast nailed their scenes. Very little in the way of bad delivery. Gadot was the weak link here but it's easy to point her out because she had so few lines. The majority of her lines were delivered well though.
- Even though the world building interrupted the plot at certain points what was there did a pretty good job of setting some things up. I was very interested or at the very least curious about the little seeds planted.
- The Knightmare sequence was jarring but on purpose and it was awesome.
- Bruce's perspective of the Black Zero event was terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. Really well done.
- Not a serious point but Amy Adams in the tub was just the best.

This section here will further elaborate on these points in the spoiler thread.

Final Thought
While the movie was definitely an improvement over Man of Steel in a lot of ways I felt the movie was trying to do a little too much and it dragged the movie down in some parts that keep me from giving that extra point in the score. That along with some things that will just go right over your head if you weren't paying attention or if you don't have a lot of DC knowledge even if those two things weren't always in relation to each other.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just as an FYI, I will be cross posting this in the |OT| and the spoiler version will be up in a little bit. I want to get some food in me first. Feel free to ask questions but in this thread I will not spoil anything.
 

Ashhong

Member
He probably did, but I doubt he saw the film far enough in advance to say anything. He was busy shooting Live By Night up until a few weeks ago.

If anything, that look, means something will happen if the rumored behind the scenes power of Affleck is true. He's not about to ruin his reputation he just rebuilt and I see WB siding with Affleck over Snyder if push comes to shove.


I was just kidding about the look. Affleck has looked bored/tired every single interview I've seen him in. Maybe he's a little sad, but I don't think it's anything.
 
I was just kidding about the look. Affleck has looked bored/tired every single interview I've seen him in. Maybe he's a little sad, but I don't think it's anything.

I don't know. He's been pretty damn excited at these red carpet premieres. You contrast some recent stuff between him and Henry with the instagram selfie with the rest of the JL cast at the European premiere after party (after the review embargo just broke) and this video and I think it bothers him.
 

Gleethor

Member
Saw it a few hours ago, my immediate thoughts:

The Good

Eisenberg was awesome. Not a traditional Lex by any means, but thoroughly entertaining. I was never bored when he was on screen. I don't understand the criticisms of "oh he's being a bit zany, therefore Joker ripoff"

Affleck was good. Not holy shit amazeballs but pretty good. One of the better Batmen put to film.

Batman's
Martha rescue
fight was awesome, really shows how dangerous Batman is to regular ol' goons. His introduction with the
branding/sex trafficking was good too, made him seem almost supernatural. That younger cop seemed legit terrified.

Both Bruce's training montage and Clark's saving people/real world talking heads montage were excellent.

Alfred was surprisingly funny and unsurprisingly the dry voice of reason in Bruce's life. I like that he actually helps Bruce design and maintain his armor and gadgets.

Zimmer and Junkie nailed the fuck out of the score, Wonder Woman's theme was excellent.

The ending
dual- funeral scene was legit touching even if Superman's death was completely hollow. The cannon shell hitting the ground in slo mo mirrors the bullet casing Joe Chill's gun in the opening.

The Bad

Editing/scene order in the first half is just all over the fucking place. Once the fight happens and the plots finally converge, its better but still not great.

Couldn't give less of a fuck about Lois and her story. The whole point
(from what I can remember) is that she discovers that Lex is evil (shocker) and that she was held hostage in not-Khandaq to more or less confirm that Supes is Clark. None of this knowledge ever really helps her or anyone else in any way.

The dream sequences, good lord.
The first one, the man-bat looking one...fine. You can understand pretty easily that its a dream and more importantly, its brief. The mad max one is cool to look at but nobody including my DC fanboy-self knew what the fuck was happening and not in a good way. Obviously its hinting at Darkseid but did we need Bruce waking up to unshaven Flash screaming at him for way too long only to wake up yet again? At the very least they needed to be more overt in their transition to dream mode.
The
Flash/Aquaman/Cyborg
cameos.
The surveillance camera angle sounds better on paper, to be honest. Instead of having a 6-7 minute scene where the audience watches a character watch a video of another character, they should've had significantly shorter versions of those clips play while Bruce talks to Diana about finding more meta humans during the end. Actual quick scenes of a red blur stopping a robbery or Aquaman fucking with submarine drones would be more interesting. Or just bite the bullet and do a post credits scene like everyone else.

I'd give it a solid C
 
I just saw the movie. To sum, yes I liked it but it has major problems.

Going to talk about the film and be extremely general but I'll spoiler tag just in case....
I felt the first half was very strong and the second half is just a bunch of really cool scenes cut together. I really thought people complaining about the movie's pacing were being hyperbolic but oh boy was it bad. The Snyders have to go. I don't trust him or his wife touching the Wonder Woman film.

All that said... I feel like it's a must see for DC fans. There are really great moments that deserve to seen. Agh. Sorry for being so negative guys. I really love these characters and this world and it's frustrating to see it done wrong. At the end of the day, if I think if Snyder is going to continue to stay on board of these films he needs someone above him to say no. Not studio execs, but a Kevin Feige. I would champion Geoff Johns or even, god forbid, Nolan.

Okay that felt like a rant. Sorry about being negative guys I'm bummed. :(
 
Local paper gave BvS a 1 star review. Lol. The same reviewer kinda liked Man of Steel if I recall. Lol.

This?

"Zack Snyder doesn't make movies for people; he makes them for bros. Or dudes. Or dudebros. And video game players. Which is why I found the experience of watching Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (PG13, 152 minutes, now showing, 1 star) a lot like walking into the winning team's locker room after a rugby match. It's sweaty, grunty, loud, self-congratulatory and, if movies had smells, pungent."


Wow lol....


http://www.straitstimes.com/lifesty...an-dawn-of-justice-is-sweaty-grunty-loud-self
 
One of my friends saw it today with her bf and she fell asleep during some sections due to it being boring af lmao.

Dunno why though the quiet sections were some of my favourite parts outside Wonder Woman kicking ass.
 

Finaika

Member
This?

"Zack Snyder doesn't make movies for people; he makes them for bros. Or dudes. Or dudebros. And video game players. Which is why I found the experience of watching Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (PG13, 152 minutes, now showing, 1 star) a lot like walking into the winning team's locker room after a rugby match. It's sweaty, grunty, loud, self-congratulatory and, if movies had smells, pungent."

Then why does the majority of NeoGAF hate & make fun of the movie?
 
I keep hearing how boring it is, but is it just dry or is it outright mundane and pointless?

Both. Dry is a good way to describe the first half of the film but a lot of the scenes are also completely pointless and do not advance the plot in any way, except maybe the greater DCCU plot.
 

Boke1879

Member
I keep hearing how boring it is, but is it just dry or is it outright mundane and pointless?

I didn't think it was. It does require your attention because it sets everything up. But I said earlier people might be going in expecting a different movie. If people are expecting tons of action they won't get that until pretty much the last 40 minutes.

So the biggest thing I think is the audience becoming bored because they do have to pay attention and listen to come dialogue in order to understand certain things.
 
I keep hearing how boring it is, but is it just dry or is it outright mundane and pointless?

I can see how people will find this boring at times, but I didn't have that feeling. I was just sitting in my seat and doing my own BvS in my head, without Doomsday, Knightmare Sequence, Wonder Woman and
Pa Kent
.

Huber didn't like it. Huber.
 
I see it tomorrow but...it can't be worse than F4nt4stic Four, can it?

I love the F4 but i turned that movie off like halfway through it was just so so bad. Haven't seen TASM2, and saw like half of TASM. It feels so fucking bizarre to hear all the complaints considering there was SUCH talk pre-release about Terrio having a good script (I have to wonder how much of it was still Terrior's i guess?) and how Affleck had fought really hard to make it good and better than Daredevil.

I kinda feel bad for some of the people involve because they're good actors or actresses or just crew involve in the picture...I feel bad for Larry Fong though. Dude deserves something more than Snyder.
 
Its not as bad as Fant4stic Four. I think it's very similar to ASM2 in many ways. They tried desperately to introduce way too many elements in a very awkward fashion. The movie was never allowed to exist as just a Batman vs Superman movie.

But one thing I will say for BvS is that it is an extremely ambitious film, it tries to do a lot more than your average blockbuster and I respect that. It failed in my opinion but your mileage may vary.
 
Its not as bad as Fant4stic Four. I think it's very similar to ASM2 in many ways. They tried desperately to introduce way too many elements in a very awkward fashion. The movie was never allowed to exist as just a Batman vs Superman movie.

But one thing I will say for BvS is that it is an extremely ambitious film, it tries to do a lot more than your average blockbuster and I respect that. It failed in my opinion but your mileage may vary.

Hmm, I do get the feeling its ambitious, just that it may feel like several different concepts or versions of the movie stitched together. I think i'll probably enjoy it even if I don't like it, if that makes sense.
 
But ASM2 blows... :(

Maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration on my part. BvS and ASM2 are similar in that they spend too much time trying to set-up a larger universe at the expense of the story they're trying to tell. Aside from that, they have little in common. Well, aside from Jesse Eisenberg's impression of Jamie Foxx's impression of Jim Carrey's Riddler.
 

Laieon

Member
MoS had a sizable defense force . I wonder if BvS will be even larger?

As someone who knows absolutely nothing about comics, I liked MoS. Don't remember much about it (literally just started rewatching it now, seeing BvS tomorrow), but I remember thinking it was a decent movie. Not the best in the world, but a nice popcorn flick.

If I get that out of BvS, I'll be content enough.
 

a916

Member
Just got back, was down going into the movie after all the reviews wondering what was going to happen to JL. I loved MOS and I'm a hardcore DC fan....

That said I absolutely loved this movie. I thought this move was incredible. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time... there's a few minor things I'd tweak but they are very very minor.

Editing/cuts are probably the most glaring problem for me but I felt the pacing was fine.

Honestly, I have to watch it again and wait a few months and go back and watch it again to give a fair score or ranking but I would almost put this in the top 5 of favorite CBM of all time.

There's a few things I'd cut or alter... two things that have been mentioned before and other than that, I can't think of anything.
 
L

Lord Virgin

Unconfirmed Member
Just got back, was down going into the movie after all the reviews wondering what was going to happen to JL. I loved MOS and I'm a hardcore DC fan....

That said I absolutely loved this movie. I thought this move was incredible. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time... there's a few minor things I'd tweak but they are very very minor.

Editing/cuts are probably the most glaring problem for me but I felt the pacing was fine.

Honestly, I have to watch it again and wait a few months and go back and watch it again to give a fair score or ranking but I would almost put this in the top 5 of favorite CBM of all time.

There's a few things I'd cut or alter... two things that have been mentioned before and other than that, I can't think of anything.

I saw it today. Heartbroken is one word, I guess.

What have you done to us Snyder! Lol. Yeah I think they'll kick him out.
 

a916

Member
The two things I could've cut out or changed:

Knightmare sequence, it's not really made clear Bruce is dreaming or it's actually in the future... being a huge DC nerd I called it, Flash goes back in time and warns Bruce, but if you're not a fan you aren't getting this I think. It didn't click for me until I saw Flash... I wouldn't remove it because it's actually really cool.

JL cameos felt really forced... could've been handled differently and a bit more spread out instead of, let's pause 5 minutes and watch this. Then again, it sets up the dialog between WW and Batman at the very end of the movie.

But honestly, I can't think of removing anything else... everything just sort of fit. They kind of ignored the whole
false god thing at the end, but I have a feeling the movie wasn't about that, it was about Superman and him finding his place and not the world's finding his place on Earth
.

Honestly, really really liked this movie. Very very minor complaints. I'm baffled that this many people didn't outright enjoy it. It felt soooo weird and different but sooo familiar if you're a DC fan who's read a few comics. I'm not sure why it doesn't resonate for others.
 
Honestly, really really liked this movie. Very very minor complaints. I'm baffled that this many people didn't outright enjoy it. It felt soooo weird and different but sooo familiar if you're a DC fan who's read a few comics. I'm not sure why it doesn't resonate for others.

Glad you liked it. It's funny because this is the exact reaction I had when I saw Man of Steel. I loved the movie and I couldn't even imagine that film getting a mixed reception as I was walking out of the theatre. Then I went online...

And now, I'm on the other side of the fence and that's the first time that this has happened to me with a Zack Snyder film. I almost had an allergic reaction to BvS and I despise every aspect of the film. I'm more puzzled by my reaction than by the film itself. I think I might try to catch a matinee showing on sunday. Maybe seeing it in 2D will help.
 

kmag

Member
Both. Dry is a good way to describe the first half of the film but a lot of the scenes are also completely pointless and do not advance the plot in any way, except maybe the greater DCCU plot.

The first half is also a bit worse in retrospect,
a lot of Lex's plotting seems utterly unnecessary given the opening of the film gives Batman a pretty strong reason to go after Superman in the first place.
It essentially takes an age to set up an encounter which doesn't really require that much setup in the established scenario of the world.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom