Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

SPOILER-FREE MOVIE REVIEW

Before I begin, just a gentle disclaimer: If you consider things that have been shown in the trailers as spoilers, then don't read this review.

Now, on to the movie proper... And where do I begin, man.

Coming out from the theatre, I thought I had just witnessed one of the most epic movies ever.

Note that I used the word "epic" - the only word I can use to describe this movie accurately.

Following up from the events of Man Of Steel (2013), it shows what happened down on the streets while Superman/Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) was battling with General Zod, going through skyscrapers, buildings and structures aplenty.

I liked the fact that they used the excessive and monumental destruction from that battle as part of the plot in this one, with Batman/Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) watching on as his own company's building comes tumbling down.

Speaking of plot, I really liked the overall story of this movie.

I liked how the first half of the movie is pretty much a political drama, dealing with issues regarding Superman being a friend or foe to the people.

That first half is also appropriately mature in terms of tone, and it elevates the impact of the drama of Superman being questioned by the state.

It's the second half of the movie where all the mega action kicks in, and boy does it kick in.

The action sequences are all epic, with mega explosions and terrific sound effects doing an incredible job in leaving me on the edge of my seat throughout.

These are all helped by the fantastic soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL. It encapsulates all the sheer epicness and dark tones perfectly. A truly memorable movie soundtrack.

However, there were a couple of action sequences that left me a bit puzzled.

I was one of those who really felt that there was just WAY too much destruction back in Man Of Steel, but it seems like the makers of Batman v Superman didn't learn from that.

I'm pretty sure it's the same, if not more destruction in the final quarter of the movie as Man Of Steel.

Of course, that tends to happen when freaking Doomsday comes running around town, being the stupid, one-dimensional cardboard rage monster I expected after watching the movie get spoiled for me in that awful spoiler-filled second trailer.

Another sequence was when Batman and Superman finally go head-to-head.

No spoilers here, but when a movie is titled "Batman v Superman", you tend to think that the movie is what that event will be all about.

I just wondered why the battle between God and man wasn't bigger and longer than it was.

Still, when shit goes down between the two, it's still incredibly epic to watch.

On to the cast.

I'm gonna talk about Ben Affleck as Batman, and boy did he prove all the naysayers wrong.

Ben Affleck was an inspired casting choice for the role of Batman, and his terrific performance just gives all those who blasted the casting choice a massive slap on the face.

Personally, I wasn't one of those who dished out at his casting, and I feel good now both inside and for Affleck for proving everybody wrong.

He was a total badass, and captured the playful persona of his public figure Bruce Wayne perfectly.

I also really liked Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Bruce Wayne's butler and only member of family.

Never did I realise how important the role of Alfred was until this movie, and the casting of Jeremy Irons was spot-on. I couldn't have imagined anybody else in the role.

There was a nice sense of sarcasm and irony (geddit? Jeremy IRONS HAHA) that he brought to the character, which made the bond between the inseparable pair even more legit.

However, the rights to the title of casting done right goes to the stunning Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.

She just has this breathtaking on-screen presence which sweeps people off their feet, and not just cos of her sheer beauty.

What's more is that she's not just a pretty face. She's also quite a badass when it comes to fighting.

It's a shame that her screen time in this one was so limited. I felt that they could have featured her a lot more.

An example of casting done wrong, however, is Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.

I felt that Jesse Eisenberg was just simply playing Jesse Eisenberg - that smart-talking, smart alec which he plays in pretty much every role I've seen him in.

Having said that, though, I felt that he did at least manage to capture a very believable maniacal nature to this new portrayal of the villain.

I did also like the fact that they made this version of the character more interesting by making him the orphaned son of Lex Luthor, Sr. Him inheriting his father's company is a nice touch too.

Sadly, that's not enough to convince me that he's anything other than an annoying Jim Carrey Riddler wannabe, and that is as far away as a compliment as anything else.

He just wasn't menacing enough. He tried to be menacing by using his intellect and whacky-ass psychopathic persona, but it just falls short.

Wasn't convinced in the trailers, and I am certainly not convinced now.

As for the rest of the cast, they were pretty okay.

Henry Cavill continues to be ultra-believable as Superman. I mean, just look at the guy's astonishing physique, man. How can he be human with a body like that.

Amy Adams is a bit disappointing as Lois Lane this time round, though. I felt she was useful, but a useless damsel in distress majority of the time.

In some instances, she does help out, but with her helping out, it makes the movie shudder to a halt due to her more quiet and less bombastic nature as a character. Pacing-wise, it doesn't help the movie one bit that she helps out where she can.

Now, to summarise what I liked about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

I liked the story, and I liked the grand scale of the whole thing.

It is not every day that you get a movie like this, hence the epic scale of it is very welcome and necessary.

I liked the epic feel of the entire movie. I also loved the thing DC Comics movies have which Marvel movies can never have - this unique dark tone which characters such as Batman bring to the picture.

The movie is also shot very well, and the soundtrack is sublime.

Technically, there really are no faults.

The only faults lie in the script.

I felt that Dawn of Justice suffers a bit from what I like to call "Spider-Man 3 syndrome", meaning that a movie tries to be way too ambitious by having too many characters of significant importance for the movie's own good.

I say Spider-Man 3 cos that movie was the first time I noticed that issue appearing in the many years I've been watching movies.

You had New Goblin, then Sandman, and then Venom. All major adversaries to the main protagonist. Furthermore, they even squeezed in freaking Gwen Stacy into the picture.

With all these characters compressed into one movie, there creates the need to cut from one sub-plot to another - making pacing a major issue.

The result of all that? A total and utter mess of a movie.

Dawn of Justice suffers a bit from that, with characters like Wonder Woman and Doomsday just adding a bit too much to the movie.

Perhaps if they had handled it better, then these characters would have made better sense to the movie as a whole. Especially for Doomsday cos Wonder Woman was pretty well delivered.

Pacing-wise, the extra characters just ended up making for too many unnecessary cuts here and there, making it stutter every now and then.

I also didn't like the final 15 minutes of the movie, cos it felt like it was shoehorned in just to be able to set-up future movies and things like the Avengers Initiative... I MEAN Justice League.

It felt forced and unnatural, and with the way the whole movie flowed, that last bit just felt out of place.

Perhaps there was just too much focus on setting up future movies in the DC universe that they forgot about making the one at hand as good and as solid as it could have been.

All in all, Batman v Superman was a throughly enjoyable and very epic superhero film.

It was entertaining throughout despite its relatively long 152 minute runtime, and I was never for a second bored.

Ben Affleck totally killed it as Batman/Bruce Wayne, and the new addition to the DC universe in Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman was a very good choice.

Sadly, it just didn't live up to the billing as THE superhero movie to end all superhero movies. So if you're going in to the movie expecting that, then disappointed you will be.

That isn't helped with the miscast Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, who tends to irritate instead of intimidate.

Not going to take away the fact that this is a must-watch film, though, and that it still was a very entertaining movie. I mean, come on. It's Batman vs Superman. How often do you see that?

5/10.