Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) Reviews

Si la anterior película hablaba sobre recobrar la fe mediante un ser cuasidivino, pero que carga el potencial de la humanidad en su interior; Batman v Superman viene a cuestionarla explorando la completa oscuridad que habita dentro de nosotros.

Aunque aparentara competir con su "contraparte" en el MCU, lo cierto es que esta obra tiene toda la justificación temática para realizar el enfrentamiento con Batman. Él no es el luminoso Caballero de la noche de Nolan. Es un monstruo nocturno, y su roto código moral representa una visión agónica de la vida: el que fue en algún tiempo un ideal, se ha convertido en un delirio marchitado por el tiempo y la violencia. Su personaje se complementa perfectamente con Luthor, quien por similares razones elabora todo un plan para "matar a Dios", o lo que él cree que es Dios.

Porque de esto va la película en el fondo. Los humanos podemos tener esperanza y creer, sí, pero nuestros demonios internos nos hacen proyectar incluso en esos ideales de salvación todo el rencor, todo el miedo y el dolor que sentimos. Si es un Dios, ¿por qué no nos ha ayudado?, ¿por qué toma partido de unos pocos? ¿por qué nos ha abandonado? Todos asumen lo peor de Superman, porque en el fondo es lo más grande que pueden imaginar, y eso los aterra.

Pero esa divinidad nunca se trató de no sangrar. Existe un poema cristiano muy bello que dice lo siguiente: "Los otros dioses eran fuertes; pero Tú eras débil. Ellos cabalgaron, pero tú tambaleaste hacia tu trono". Superman sangra, porque es humano. Y eso no le quita el ideal que es. "Martha", la esperanza, "no morirá esta noche" son las palabras dichas por Batman, porque él ahora ha visto que ese Dios es tan humano como él, ese Dios está también en él. La posibilidad de creer que el Hombre puede ser bueno. De que podemos ser más.

'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' was not as awful as reputed, but was a huge disappointment. With the cast it had and the characters it was going to have in it it had the potential. It is such a shame that, despite some bright spots, Zach Snyder badly bungles its execution.

The best things about 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' are the final battle and Ben Affleck. The final battle, which takes up much of the final 40 minutes, is explosively thrilling, dynamically choreographed, passionately performed and beautifully shot. That's true of all of the action actually. Am usually not a big fan of Affleck, but he does do a surprisingly great job as Batman. The casting could have been disastrous but Affleck gives a brooding intensity to the character and more range than he usually exudes. Other bright spots in the cast are Jeremy Irons' very amusing Alfred, Amy Adams' feisty if somewhat underused Lois Lane and particularly Gal Gadot's positively show-stopping Wonder Woman.

Visually, 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' mostly looks good, with the sole exceptions of some very jumpy editing and the rather artificial-looking Doomsday. It's beautifully shot however and boldly dark and gritty look fits beautifully within the story. Hans Zimmer's music score has many moments of sheer power and beauty, one of his more dynamic and involving scores in recent years.

These great things are unfortunately outweighed by the bad. The weakest asset of 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' is the story, which only really comes to life in the last forty minutes. In the meantime it takes seemingly forever to get there with a particularly ham-fisted, rambling and dull first hour. Another big problem with the story is that it's overstuffed, from trying to insert so many ideas, subplots and characters, and too often under-cooked dramatically, from too many of the characters being given short shrift and from too many of the subplots being underdeveloped, discarded or at the end of the day unnecessary. Half an hour's trimming at least would have made it far better already.

Snyder is great in visual style and in the action, but in the drama, which is a mess of overwrought and undercooked, and storytelling he does flounder badly here. The script is at best clunky and dreary, with few moments that evoke thought, very few moments resonate emotionally and the funnier quirkier scenes apart from with Irons seem misplaced. Pacing is all over the place, with some parts feeling jumpy and then most parts in serious begging of a steroid shot. While there are some bright spots in the cast, too many of the performances don't come off well. Jesse Eisenberg is the biggest problem, his manic and almost comical Lex Luthor belongs in another film entirely, while Henry Cavill is stiff and ill at ease this time round as Superman complete with limited expression. Laurence Fishburne tries his best and has moments but he doesn't blend as well as he could have done. And to say that the film makes a complete waste of Doomsday, who was non-threatening and pretty pointless actually, is an insult to the word wasted.

In conclusion, the potential was high but despite some bright spots 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' misses the mark. 4/10 Bethany Cox

...i only start by saying that in the film you partially disintegrated the united states (LOL) and to continue ... wonder woman is too strong (compared to its real potential) batman is first clumsy then human and then becomes a force of nature, doomsday is doomsday, just the name says it all, and superman? obviously he makes his numbers that we all know for 80 years, and it must have been superior to wonder woman and batman put together, being from another planet, and with the past that it has. here instead ... is reduced to being a pathetic caricature of himself, too quiet charitable and too weak, light years away from the Reeve of 1978. apart from this ... the film is pleasant to see, flows well, has no points of boredom, and being of the DC comics is very funny..irons fishburne lane hunter adams costner affleck and cavill are synonymous with guarantees, gadot and eisenberg have much to learn to keep up with the actors I wrote before ... the vote 7/10 because they could have improved many things and they did not ... we hope that the next are better ...

In the Batman vs Superman Dawn of justice the fight between batman and superman isn't long, but brutal and it ends with Batman winning ...until he suffered a heart attack! How that happens?
Batman is wearing his strongest armor which make him more brutal and manly. Batman and Superman brought hell upon each other. Superman slowly realized that he was getting weaker, as Batman was able to not only stop man of steel's punches but was able to make him bleed. Superman slowly realized that the suit was the reason that's making him weak and so with all his strength he started ripping off the suit from Batman, like ripping off a knight’s pieces of steel armour.
Without his suit, Superman will squeeze him to death like an insect and every blow that Batman took, he could feel his bones breaking in pieces, he knew he didn't have much time and there was only one thing left for him to do. So Batman basically start pummelling Superman into the ground and stomp him bad, crushing his face under his hobnailed heavy boot sole. Batman, wearing his heavily armored suit, including those spiked boots that will help Batman crush Superman’s perfect face. An engineered killer’s boot, stepping on Superman’s face, forever pinned down under the boot of Batman. After a brutal and intense fight for both the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel, Batman holds Superman down with his spiked boot at his throat. It's an iconic scene straight out of The Dark Knight Returns and it feels just as intense as hell! Superman's face was torn by horrible slashes, and part of his upper lip was gone. ... out with the heel of Batman’s boot The Dark Knight with his left foot placed upon the throat of Superman , Batman's cowl is damaged, exposing half of his face, and his teeth are gritted as he looks down on the Man of Steel. A tall muscular Batman, (6’6” in boots) In order to face Superman on a more equal level, Batman will don that Dark Knight Returns-inspired armor, but it’s going to take more than a giant boot to the face to beat the Man of Steel. Batman apply his big, spike-layered boots to Superman’s throat. Batman is kicking Superman in the jaw with his spiked boot!

Too much tension needs to explode. This supernatural battle, this epic collision is tensed muscle. Batman takes down Superman with a boot to the face and his hands wrapped around Superman’s neck – it’s a climax, like an orgasm!There’s a clear sexual tension between Superman and Batman, two alpha males fighting for manly warrior supremacy.
Superman was then utterly crushed by Batman, who viciously attacked him with all his might. With Superman bleeding profusely from his mouth, Batman grabs him by the throat and with the weakened Superman in his grasps, Batman delivers the Alpha Male Statement: “I want you to remember, Clark, … In your most private moments … I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you.”
But at that moment, Batman has a heart attack and dies!!! Batman, after years of planning and intense workout, gets his ribs broke, his leather suit torn to shreds, suffers a heart attack, and ends up in the ground!!

Why Batman died from heart attack? When a man gets an erection this causes more blood to flow, allowing his penis to grow. Batman scrotum becomes tighter, and his testicles are drawn up towards the body. His testicles continue to rise inside that thick armoured suit and heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, breathing becomes quicker, and his thighs and buttocks tighten. He's getting close to orgasm, and produce drops of pre-ejaculate, soaking that black leather groin. A series of contractions start in the pelvic muscles, and they are part of orgasm, Batman reaches a point where if he stops ejaculation from happening he can have a heart stroke. Heart rate goes up uncontrollably, temperature goes up uncontrollably, sweat dripping from those powerful muscles encased by the armor leather. The equivalent would be taking a car and putting the gas pedal all the way to the floor and just leaving it there and eventually the engine revving so fast that it blows apart. Excitement can trigger heart attacks, cardiac arrest and strokes. Body reacts to excitement by releasing the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline. However, too much adrenaline and noradrenaline can be dangerous to the heart, brain and other organs. Orgasm or a too long period of excitation can trigger fatal heart attacks from huge surges of adrenalin in the blood. All this and the feeling of having eventually Superman at his mercy… killed the mighty Batman

There’s still some hope for the future of the DC cinematic universe, but they’re going to have to start listening to the fans and maybe remove much of the power from Zack Snyder. It’s not that Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice doesn’t have interesting story ideas or unique spins on the mythology, because it very much does, but it also seems enamored with a variation of these characters that is stuck in the toxic masculinity of the 1980s. It’s better than the 28% that Rotten Tomatoes’ collected reviews weighed it out with, but it’s still a resounding middling effort.

 

The thing is, Snyder is perfectly fine at bringing to life various comic book panels, and several of the scenes in Batman vs Superman are directly lifted from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, but he’s not great at marrying these beautiful, highly stylized images into a coherent story. This same problem turned Man of Steel into an enjoyable but problematic and slightly hollow grind of slow-motion destruction, and this one does devolve into incoherent carnage in the final act as well.

 

Prior to that, it manages to tell a semi-coherent story that occasionally has moments of comic book brilliance and too many of stupidity. The first act’s retrofitting of Man of Steel’s mass destruction is a smart move, transforming an already veteran Batman into a darker presence, and causes a believable rift in which regular people view this super-powered demi-god with fear and skepticism. The foundation for a smarter story is there, and it does occasional lean into these beats, before doubling-down on some of the dumber choices.

 

A senator, played with dripping sarcasm by Holly Hunter, and a victim of Superman’s battle with Zod, Scoot McNairy, are nice touches, but they’re not given much screen time to really make an impact. McNairy’s character in particular is unique, as he’s slowly revealed as yet another pawn of Lex Luthor’s brilliant manipulations. While it’s nice to see a Lex Luthor on the big screen that’s written accurately as a genius businessman and regular-man who hates Superman for his god-like power, Jesse Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg-on-coke-bender performance is one of the film’s biggest blunders. Why is Luthor so hard for these films to get right? The various other franchises have had relatively little trouble transposing characters like Magneto, the Joker, Catwoman, and General Zod to charismatic, menacing life, but Luthor always goes weird.

 

Even worse is the way in which the title fight comes to a screeching halt. Lois Lane intervenes as Batman is ready to deliver the death-blow to Superman, both of them having been the manipulated pawns of Luthor’s rampant ego, when she mentions that he keeps saying “Martha” because it’s his mother’s name. That’s right, the title fight is brought to a close, and our heroes decide to team-up, because their mothers share the same first name. It’s the dumbest choice in a big blockbuster entertainment, which are typically filled with dumb story choices that we overlook because everything else is so damn entertaining.

 

Yet I didn’t hate Batman vs Superman. Not even a little bit, actually. I didn’t outright love it, but I found it entertaining enough. It does quite a few things pretty ingeniously. The cameos from various future members of the Justice League are smart choices, and props to DC for beating Marvel at having major characters of color and women already headlining their films in a few short years. This film also stuffs several prominent women in supporting roles, with Diane Lane and Amy Adams returning as Ma Kent and Lois Lane in parts that constantly propel the plot forward, Tao Okamoto as Mercy Graves (a bit of a waste of a cool character, even if they did go with her gal Friday New 52 persona), the aforementioned Hunter doing a lot with relatively little, and the real highlight of the film, Gal Gadot’s extended bit as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman.

 

A bit of a long tease for next year’s solo film, Gadot makes a strong impression with her limited screen time. When she finally appears in costume in the big boss battle against Doomsday, she’s the most heroic figure in the entire film. Her lone battle scenes features use of not only her wrist bands, but her sword, shield, and her golden lasso. In-between far too much aggressive machismo, Gadot’s Amazon princess is the stand-up-and-cheer heroine of the film with an iconic entrance that makes the stupid boys around her look childish in comparison.

 

Even better, for me anyway as a huge comic nerd, is the extended dream sequence which offers brief glimpses of Parademons, Darkseid, and the Flash, although his solo film and Justice League armor is less bulky. It’s pure comic book fan service, but proof enough that DC isn’t afraid of diving head first into the weirder and wilder fringes of their comic mythologies with their films. No slow rollout here like with Marvel, and this August’s Suicide Squad keeps up that appearance with the Enchantress in an obviously large role.

 

While I’ve admitted to really enjoying what Henry Cavill brings to the part of Superman, I was incredibly nervous about Ben Affleck’s hit-and-miss quality for Batman. Turns out, I didn’t need to worry as much as I did, he’s actually incredibly solid in the role. Christian Bale and Michael Keaton are still my favorite live action incarnations, but Affleck holds his own, and has me excited for what he’ll do with a solo Batman film. Just please, offer up something more than more grim-and-gritty-and- dark to the palette. I’m not ready to totally write off the DC cinematic universe just yet, but there’s some serious problems with the franchise that need to be address and re-calibrated. 

Vain attempt the simple, dark and difficult. And to prepare possible sequels. Long and reiterative.

Surprisingly, was not as bad as every review I had read. Granted, that the story is flawed, a myriad of plot holes. There was something about it. I liked Wonder Woman, they didn't have much room to screw with her. I honestly like Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman. I also liked that they showed Bruce in the Batcave - getting his hands dirty. Instead of Bruce leaving Lucius Fox to do all of the building & technical work. I also liked Jeremy Irons as Alfred, but he was sorely underused. I have made no bones about my dislike of the casting of Henry Cavill as Superman, or even the Man of Steel movie - but this film at least showed that Clark Kent/Superman did have some feelings and guilt over his failings.

When news came out of a Batman-Superman movie some two years ago, exalted fanboys have been given much more than their dream movies finally coming true, but of a much more titanic fight: Marvel vs DC. Marvel threw the first punch by launching a successful series of solo hero movies before finishing with a haymaker: The Avengers. DC responded with a planned Justice League movie. And it was on. But, Marvel wasn’t afraid much. Snyder’s Man of Steel was a lesson in excess and bad storytelling, add the furor over the Ben Affleck casting, and BVS became a ticking bomb that could either explode in brilliant magnificence, or implode on its own weight of expectations. The latter being the turnout, according to critics, made expectations grim.

So, the movie came out. Barring earlier reports that it sucked big time, like I always do, with a bucket of popcorn and a root beer, went to see the fight of the century. And to say with all honestly as a fanboy first and a critic, second, it wasn’t all that bad.

The story unfolds with young Bruce Wayne’s parents getting offed by a random hoodlum, and his transformation into a costumed vigilante that brands his victims with a bat mark. Something Batman has never done before. Batman is rightfully feared that even the sex trafficking victims whom he saved were calling him El Diablo behind his back. This Batfleck version is looking to be even moodier than his predecessors.

Meanwhile, Lois Lane is investigating a terrorist group in Nairobi, Africa when all hell breaks loose and Superman saves her. There are heavy civilian casualties that prompted the Senate to breath down Superman’s neck, he is a destructive force and he needs to answer for his actions. Even when he saved the world from Zod and his terra-forming machine, thousands perished and whether Superman likes it or not, is indirectly responsible. Superman becomes the hot topic of conversation with the heading, “Should there be a Superman?”

Lex Luthor proposes kryptonite as a deterrent weapon, while on the side, schemes to make the two superheroes mistrust each other, thus, sets the stage for the inevitable fight. Luthor’s Plan B should the fight not end in his favour, is genetically-engineered Doomdsay. Wonder Woman comes into the fray as Diana Prince in town to investigate Luthor that also reveals the existence of meta-humans (for more on meta-humans, watch the excellent Flash TV Series). The trio of superheroes takes on Doomsday to the finish.

Quite alright. The plot is solid and makes sense. And I’m not complaining about all the other sub-stories, like Lois Lane, who comes and goes as she investigates the ties between LexCorp and the mercs, via a found bullet in the desert. Or Luthor dealings with the government to import this huge Kryptonite when he could’ve easily just smuggled it. Even the guy in the wheelchair. Because, they are all needed in the story. But, much as I hate to say it, Zack Snyder’s storytelling again, is the kryptonite of the movie.

In the Senate hearing, Holly Hunter’s senator’s speech was interrupted when she saw the bottle of Granny’s piss peach tea. She was terrified and I was trying to figure out why. Then, I remembered the scene with her and Luthor where the peach tea was mentioned. And it was a long 40 minutes before, that I have already forgotten. Some scenes that connect, I’m afraid, were much too separated from each other. A problem of pacing? Or spacing?

Then there’s the overly dramatic musical score which was a destructive force throughout the movie (except maybe the big drums that heralds Wonder Woman’s entrance was kind of cool). But, really, do we need Lex Luthor to walk in slow motion on his way to the alien spaceship with a such music?

Dialogue, on the other hand, is a lesser problem. In fact, some of Chris Terrio and David Goyer’s lines of speech were memorable and fun. Lois Lane telling the terrorist leader that she’s a reporter not a woman jumped out immediately early in the movie. And lest we forget, the famous, “Do you bleed?” Golden. And the recipients of the best lines of dialogues came from the supporting characters. Laurence Fishburne’s wicked put-downs as White could’ve shut up J. Jonah Jameson, while Jeremy Irons’ Alfred’s lines were speeches delivered as if they were Oscar clips. However, there were moments where lines could’ve been more direct. Like when Bruce was telling Alfred that he was stealing the Kryptonite to kill the “sonofabitch.” He meant Superman, of course, but somehow, he kept referring to him in the third person and they were the only two people in the Batcave. Likewise, in the scene when Superman, begged Batman to, “Find him. Save Martha,” where he could’ve easily said, “Find Luthor, save my mom Martha,” could’ve made things easier.

True, Snyder has the visionary qualities to make a superhero movie. It even rivals the very best comic book creators’. Superman floating in the sky like a messianic god sprayed by sunlight is right out of the pages of Alex Ross’ work; Superman surrounded by painted faces in Juarez, Mexico; Him flying down to the Capitol. Synder gets it. He does. But, quite often his melodramatics gets in the way of the story. Dream sequences? Flashbacks? Flash forwards? The Flash? Since when did Bruce Wayne got diagnosed with having hallucinations of the most bleak kind? The allusions that Snyder were trying for slowed down the movie and created confusion most audiences weren’t ready for. And if these are the issues most critics are grilling about on behalf of the audience, then I am with them. After all, it is from the movie-going public’s pockets that make the profits.

There are other issues that I’d like to put out that only geeks would be hardcore about. Like Superman has the ability to hold his breath for hours, even days, and a second helping of Kryptonite gas would’ve been avoided. Or why Superman intervened when Batman was pursuing the mercs. Or why Luthor put a time limit to the match. Or why, since Lois Lane seems to have a direct line to Superman whenever she’s in trouble, shouldn’t Martha Kent have one too? But, these are little things. The fact is, I still enjoyed the movie. It’s not the best superhero movie by far, true. Not a Spider-Man 2 or The Avengers or Days of Future Past, but it doesn’t need to be. The movie’s tone shouldn’t be compared with that of the Marvel universe, where heroes have time to sit around for drinks and crack jokes. The DC Universe has taken on a dark, somber tone and this is it as far as Snyder is concerned. Isn’t it is entertaining enough just to see two of the most popular superheroes duke it out for the first time in movie history? And while a lot of critics have put the movie down, wrote it on their shit list, and say they can’t wait for Civil War, they weren’t actually saying you shouldn’t see it.

Pros:
1. Ben Affleck rocks the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.
2. The beginning up until a certain point is actually pretty awesome.
3. The acting is great from all which wasn't of concern.
4. Wonder Woman was perfect.
5. Jesse Eisenberg can act.
6. Batman fights like a badass.
7. Joker and Robin references.
8. For an action movie it's decent.
9. It had good moments sure.
10. It felt more like Batman's movie.

Cons:
1. Batman didn't act like Batman with his whole killing people.
2. Jesse Eisenberg played a very Jokerish Lex Luthor so I'm not sure who he was supposed to be.
3. The stupid introductions of a few of the other Justice League.
4. That doesn't look like The Flash at all!
5. David Mazouz from Gotham wasn't young Bruce.
6. Way too many dream sequences that were also edited poorly.
7. Doomsday sucked and was way too big. He actually felt like Abomination from The Hulk.
8. Superman seemed much too stocky.
9. Characters made a hell of a lot of stupid decisions.
10. Speaking of I hated them showing shots of Superman just floating there like when families are on rooftops during a flood!
10. Also how did they just randomly know certain things.
11. It's a huge step down from Man Of Steel which I really enjoyed.
12. David S. Goyer needs to stop being given writing rights sadly.
13. The ending was pretty awful.
14. I saw no need in the 3D.
15. There was some dreadful jokes here too.

I wasn't expecting much, but I was hoping to be surprised. I love Man of Steel. So therefore I had thought I would enjoy this one too. Sadly it didn't hit the mark. There was way too much going on and even though it clocks in close to three hours it still manages not to show enough either. It's entertaining sure. The acting is excellent. The fight scenes are pretty fun. The characters weren't written right though. They are trying way too hard to put so much together. There is a ton of bogus thrown in. I think only movie fans that don't follow comics or don't mind all the crazy stuff they make these characters do (that they usually would never do) would like this. As for serious comic fans and the like will not enjoy what they do here. Keep Ben Affleck as Batman. Batman doesn't kill! Lose Joker Lex Luthor. Don't have Doomsday be that lame. Be more cohesive with the plot. Stop with all the dream sequences. Stop all the unnecessary idol imagery. Just stop trying to compete with Marvel. They are already ahead. Patience is greatness. Ugh it's aggravating for a fan who knows how the comics are. Hopefully Suicide Squad will be good.

This move is only barely, passably, entertaining, due to the excessively cheesy parts and the amount of suspension of disbelief I had to practise.