This review will be spoiler free, or as spoiler free as I can make it. I really don't know what to say about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Is it as bad as the critics made it out to be? No.
Is it as epic as comic book fans wanted it to be? No.
Therein lies the problem. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice falls somewhere in between. If movie ratings had purgatory BvS would exist there.
Let's just get this out of the way. I am not pointing a negative light on BvS because I think Marvel movies are better. Marvel cannot be compared to DC and vice versa. The comic book companies have always been vastly different on print so they should be portrayed different from one another on the silver screen as well. Marvel has always been about their heroes being portrayed as if they actually exist while DC have always had their heroes grounded in mythology.
What makes me sort of indifferent to this movie is that the movie is just indifferent to the story it was trying to tell. It had no identity, and unfortunately for Zack Snyder who did his best to accomplish what Warner Brothers told him to do, it was perhaps too much to handle and too much at one time.
The pros:
I will eat my words and say Gal Gadot made an excellent Wonder Woman for the brief time she was on screen. When her casting was announced I was a skeptic. I believed a more muscular woman like Gina Carano should have played her. However, after seeing Gadot portray Wonder Woman that is no longer the case. Gadot played Wonder Woman as tough but also elegant and graceful.
The action scenes were ripped straight from comic book stories. There were many different imageries that recalled past issues of DC Comics. Perhaps this movie was definitely a truer adaptation of comic books than Marvel has been with their films.
The CGI was not that bad at all or distracting. It wasn't as dizzying as the CGI in "Man of Steel". The CGI creature Doomsday actually turned out better than I thought.
Ben Affleck killed it as Batman. There are a few times when an actor will forever be associated with their comic book counterpart. Robert Downey, Jr., is forever Tony Stark aka Iron Man, Ryan Reynolds is forever Deadpool, and Ben Affleck is forever Batman. I will go on record to say that Ben Affleck is perhaps the most accurate and truer portrayal of Batman we will ever see on the big screen. Nothing against Christian Bale's Batman, but Affleck-to quote a scene from Frank Miller's "Batman and Robin"-is "the [expletive] Batman!"
The cons:
With that said about Batman, Superman is completely overshadowed by Affleck and also by Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor (more on this atrocity in a minute). Superman is barely in it really when compared to the aforementioned millionaires. The movie starts with Batman and Lex Luthor before even showing Superman, and that's pretty much how the movie continues.
DC and Warner Brothers continue to portray Lex Luthor wrong. I have never liked Gene Hackman's portrayal, and honestly Kevin Spacey's portrayal in the failed "Superman: Returns" was an impersonation of Hackman. Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal comes off as if Heath Ledger's Joker and Jim Carrey's Riddler had a love child together. Eisenberg is distracting in the scenes he is in and not in a good way. The fact the movie featured him more than Superman frustrates me.
The title was misleading. The movie should have just been called "Dawn of Justice". Batman and Superman barely throw down, and the catalyst to get Superman to fight Batman was weak on the writers' part. I don't know if Warner Brothers wanted "Batman v Superman" in the title because they knew "Captain America: Civil War" would be coming out the same year or they just have no clue how to title their movies. I'm going to believe the former because the latter makes them sound dumb.
Overall, the main problem I have with this movie after seeing it is the same problem I had with it before seeing it. There is just ways too much too soon with no character development. Where Marvel took their sweet time to roll out The Avengers, DC tries to come out swinging quickly and fails. I'm not saying their DCEU is dead before arrival (because I'm not dumb like the critics are), I'm just saying DC/WB should have taken their time as well. Superman should be the center of the DCEU like Tony Stark was the center for MCU. DC should have either made another Superman movie to further develop Henry Cavill's Superman, or go straight to establishing Ben Affleck as Batman so he can be the Tony Stark of the DCEU. Instead, poor Cavill really does not get a chance to shine here as much as Affleck.
The rush to Justice League cost them meaning that a lot of plot and character development got thrown to the wayside. However, if you just view "Dawn of Justice" as the bridge between the wide gap of "Man of Steel" to "Justice League", then this movie does its job.
Is it perfect? No. Is it horrible? No. Will you like it? Probably.
Should you take your kids to see it? It's pretty safe although there were some curse words uttered by the heroes (particularly Batman), and of course there's violence. There's one sexual suggestive scene between Amy Adam's Lois Lane and Clark Kent, but barely that. Your kids may ask why they are in the same bathtub.
Final verdict:
The Comic Book Guru says save your money for "X-Men: Apocalypse" or more importantly "Captain America: Civil War". "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" is a decent bridge to Justice League, but is unable to hold its story and characters. I think the solo DCEU films will fare much better. I'm actually excited about the Wonder Woman solo film now since it will take place in World War I. If they make a Ben Affleck Batman solo film I will be excited for that as well. DC definitely needs to get Superman out there on the forefront like the Russo's did for Captain America or their ship will sink pretty quickly.
