Mini Film Review – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Yesterday I watched Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; and it was ok! Directed by Zack Snyder, and starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, and Amy Adams; Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a superhero movie in which Batman, and Superman, decide to settle their differences in the fight of the century. The film is a weird one; it acts sort of like a reboot for the character of Batman in the DC Extended Universe, as well as acting as a direct sequel to Man of Steel. The weird thing about this film is that while it’s title suggests these two are going to fight it out, there is a lot of set-up, and it takes time for the two to meet in combat, which is then over as quickly as it starts. For the most part, the film struggles to make it’s mind up as to who is right, who is wrong, and who the protagonists are. The only real protagonist is Lois Lane, as Superman simply mumbles on, and Batman becomes this avenging angel character, betraying the character we all know and love, whilst in the background Jesse Eisenberg is under the belief he is playing Jim Carrey playing the Riddler! And it doesn’t help that by the half-way point you are completely lost as to what any of this stuff even means, or why people are doing things. It’s filled with so many subtleties that you are practically begging the film to help you understand as to what you are missing. It’s a wacky film that doesn’t live up to what it set-out to do. But all that aside, the film has two good outstanding points in it’s favour.  Firstly, because the film is an epic with a huge premise, you are always drawn to the screen. It’s not a boring film, just overdone, with effects and scenes to keep you focused, which is a good thing; because, it means that you are still glued to the screen for the second point. The second point in it’s favour is the inclusion of (SPOILER ALERT – although this film is nearly six years old now, so not that much of a spoiler anymore): Wonder Woman. From the moment that Gal Gadot appears on screen; everything changes, and the film becomes 100 times better than everything that happened before it! Gal Gadot’s sudden arrival in the concluding fight is done so well, that she commands the screen and turns a relatively long and confusing film, into one you don’t want to miss! It’s like an entirely different, and good film, has just started, everything that came before it just melts away, turning a mediocre film, into an awesome film! So, it is worth hanging around for!