Reviews

First, the positives. Affleck is good as not only Batman, but Bruce Wayne as well. Similar to Downey Jnr being himself and making a great Tony Stark, Affleck lends himself to this playboy persona, that you can imagine is both tortured and calculating. Cavill as Superman is also enjoyable. Gal Gadot lived up to heavy expectations and did well with the time she was given. Irons fills out the Alfred role perfectly

The action scenes, when we get them, are also great. Well choreographed and filmed, they really are a marvel to behold, but given Snyders track record with action scenes this was to be expected.

There's also a lot to digest in this film. Questions are asked, some of which pose serious moral quandaries, and add a level of gravitas not expected from most run-of- the-mill superhero films.

However, there's a flip side to this, and the biggest problem with the film is that these questions and ideas feel forced or not fully realised. It's like watching only one Game of Thrones episode... if you haven't seen anything before it, and you've just been thrust into too many narratives, none of which are given the level of attention they deserve. It also means that to keep the plot going, serious issues are resolved with nothing much than a "oh who cares whatever dude".

There's really about five movies in this movie. If we had of had a Man of Steel 2 film that explores him try to improve his image, and Batman solo film which climaxes in him resolving he will never Batman again, then leading into this we would have established the footing to create an epic film. Instead I got the feeling they threw everything at the wall and hoped it stuck.

Eisenberg goes for, whatever he was going for, and he goes for it hard. I personally lost all interest in him quickly and found his take to strangle scenes and make them painful. Whoever scored the music also played it ridiculously so.

Batman purists won't enjoy him using guns, or killing people, but that's what he does. It also feels like the worlds greatest detective and stealth ninja warrior motifs are thrown out the window at times, when he's easily deluded into a scheme, or goes guns blazing into situations that would usually be a bit better planned for.

I don't agree with anyone saying that the trailers did not ruin the story either. The key plot points were right there, and the Doomsday reveal killed all importance on the showdown between Bats and Supes, cause you know the resolution is going to inevitably happen. Which it does, and prompts one of many "oh okay then worries yeah I've changed my mind" moments. I also didn't enjoy the Justice League intros, which also felt shoehorned into the film, one of which was horrendously bad and unnecessary.

In conclusion, frustrating. A good editor could probably put together a 1hr 45 movie that makes a ton more sense and doesn't feel like it's trying to be super intelligent for the sake of it, with quite basic ideas.