Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

[zmbabwe 7]

Looks terrible, and critics seem to agree.

[Royboy 430]

At the time of this posting, it seems on Rotten Tomatoes, that for every one good review it gets, there's two bad ones.

 

Jason didn't seem to like Man of Steel, which is understandable, since it was terrible. So I wonder if they'll cover it if they all see it and dislike it enough.

[ElieB 238]

They've railed on Snyder before but I think this movie(studio & cast) is a little too 'big-time' to openly make fun of.

 

Would love to hear it though. I love it when they do current theatre release episodes.

[RyanSz 3140]

I never go by critics anymore with movies, because their tastes vary so much from the public more often than not. The reviews I've read from audiences that have seen it have loved it which gives me hope. I liked Man of Steel as a great representation of modern Superman over the campyness that he's been known for for years, though I will admit the trailers have not done the best to convey the final product, and the numerous announcements of character after character has not been the wisest move by DC and Warner Bros.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

Just saw it and went in review-free. Here's what I posted on Facebook:

 

"Superman V Batman" felt like two and a half hours of "Who gives a shit?". It felt completely hollow and unearned, which may be the fault of DC and Warner Brothers themselves putting the cart so ridiculously far before the horse on this one, letting us know what they'd LIKE to do over the next ten movies or so. Every big reveal, every dropped line that was supposed to mean something, and every hint of what's to come just falls really, really flat and empty. Affleck was really good, the Batman stuff was the best, and Luthor was fun, but it felt like every problem that they tried to address from "Man of Steel" was a gross over-correction and that it came off as really heavy-handed. I'll be happy to go into detail if anyone wants to discuss it here.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

Oh, and the movie could have been 5-10 minutes shorter if they skipped the Batman origin stuff. "Oh? What? It's the same as it's been every other time? Thanks for letting me know, movie!"

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

Having also seen the second season "Daredevil" this week (I may have mentioned it...), I'd argue that a certain supporting character with three failed feature films to his credit did more to increase the worth of his brand than either of the guys in this movie.

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

I was wondering if someone was going to suggest this. I actually don't like it when they do movies in theaters because I don't want to pay full admission. I want shit that is streaming. But some of the reviews have been hilarious. (I haven't seen it yet and probably won't until it's on VOD since I hated Man of Steel so much.)

 

I posted on a social media site that I couldn't believe Warners gave Zack Snyder $300million (for Man of Steel) after Suckerpunch and someone tried to say it was a good movie. I referred them to this podcast.

[Lando 2019]

I had hopes that this would be good, but I will still watch it. Still, is it worse than the emo Brandon Routh Superman?

[Cameron H. 23786]

I was wondering if someone was going to suggest this. I actually don't like it when they do movies in theaters because I don't want to pay full admission. I want shit that is streaming. But some of the reviews have been hilarious. (I haven't seen it yet and probably won't until it's on VOD since I hated Man of Steel so much.)

 

I feel the same way. Not only do I not want to have to pay full admission for a movie I'll probably not like, I just don't have the time to go to the movies as much as I'd like--period. Usually, if there's a movie I want to see, I'll just purchase it from Amazon, and if I don't like it, it feel like it's still cheaper than going to the theater; however, in this case, after reading the reviews (particularly PlanB's, whose tastes seem to parallel my own in regard to most movies), I may just rent it instead.

 

I get that we shouldn't pre-judge these things, and we can't let reviewers write our opinions for us, but I also firmly believe in voting with my dollars. I HATED MoS--the only movie I can think of that actually put me in a bad mood after watching it--and the trailers for BvS make it look like it's just more of the same.

 

The only thing I was even remotely interested in seeing was Wonder Woman, and from what I understand, she only has a few lines. Granted, this is Batman v Superman, but still...

 

Finally, aside from the apparent tone of the movie, I still can't get behind the casting. Cavill just doesn't do it for me as Supes. I'm not married to the idea that Superman has to be Christopher Reeves (or a clone of him), but I just don't see Superman as a brooding character. From watching the trailers, it seems like maybe some people in the movie seem to see him as a symbol of hope, but even then it seems to be more because of what he is, rather than who he is.

 

I like Affleck just fine, but I also think he's a little bit too big of a name to play Bruce Wayne. I feel like the whole time he's on screen all I'm going to see is Ben Affleck, not Batman. I like how Marvel has always seemed to cast lesser knowns and up-and-comers, sprinkled with a dash of and legitimate, solid actors (something, I would argue, Affleck is not).

 

And I'm not even going to touch Jesse Eisenberg, who just looks and sounds dumb.

 

I mean, maybe I shouldn't make up my mind before seeing it, but they've had a few trailers at this point to try to get me on board, and despite having a movie starring three of DC's premier characters, they were never able pique my interest the same way, as say, The Winter Soldier and Cap fighting Iron Man in the Civil War trailer--and this even after me hating AoU.

 

I wanted this to work! I love superhero movies! I am solidly in their demo. This shouldn't have been hard for them. It's an easy sell, but ultimately, I find myself hesitant to even open the door for them.

 

I don't know...I got to see Season 2 of Daredevil this week. I'm more than happy with that!

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I actually enjoyed this movie. I also did not care for Man of Steel but I don't find myself hating it. More like I was crazy bored through the whole thing and kinda made fun of all the damage he did while yelling at people to get inside and away from the action.

 

This isn't a perfect movie, not really close to one either, but I still found myself sitting in the movie thinking "I'm enjoying this." Batman was awesome as always and this movie really made me pumped as hell for Wonder Woman's solo film. Genuinely still don't care that much for the Justice League but give me that damn Wonder Woman movie and I'll be happy as a clam.

 

I understand the criticisms of those who are comic book fans or comic book movie fans and agree with them, but a lot of critics I have read now seem to not really understand what a comic movie is. Worse yet are some that I connected with giving Age of Ultron an amazing review, and that's a shame.

 

Basically - for those who haven't seen it - I wouldn't totally go off the Rotten Tomatoes score or some of the horrible reviews you've read. I had a really good time and thinks it's worth the watch.

 

Also I would love to go deeper if anyone wants to discuss more lol.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I actually enjoyed this movie. I also did not care for Man of Steel but I don't find myself hating it. More like I was crazy bored through the whole thing and kinda made fun of all the damage he did while yelling at people to get inside and away from the action.

 

This isn't a perfect movie, not really close to one either, but I still found myself sitting in the movie thinking "I'm enjoying this." Batman was awesome as always and this movie really made me pumped as hell for Wonder Woman's solo film. Genuinely still don't care that much for the Justice League but give me that damn Wonder Woman movie and I'll be happy as a clam.

 

I understand the criticisms of those who are comic book fans or comic book movie fans and agree with them, but a lot of critics I have read now seem to not really understand what a comic movie is. Worse yet are some that I connected with giving Age of Ultron an amazing review, and that's a shame.

 

Basically - for those who haven't seen it - I wouldn't totally go off the Rotten Tomatoes score or some of the horrible reviews you've read. I had a really good time and thinks it's worth the watch.

 

Also I would love to go deeper if anyone wants to discuss more lol.

 

But would you go see it again--in theaters?

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

I had hopes that this would be good, but I will still watch it. Still, is it worse than the emo Brandon Routh Superman?

I don't think Routh was bad, but he was literally given nothing to do in that movie. He's fun as The Atom on TV, and I've liked him in quite a few other things too.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

But would you go see it again--in theaters?

That's a really good question. Honestly, I think I would.

 

But thinking about why I wanted to some more is kind of a negative towards the movie itself lol, cause I was thinking that I would want to see it again to pick up on some things that I think I missed in the first viewing that would hopefully help me connect the dots better. It's definitely not the same as when I saw The Winter Soldier or Guardians of the Galaxy where I had so much damn fun that I wanted to feel that feeling over and over again.

 

I just don't think the 30% from critics on RT is a fair rating. I lean more towards agreeing with the audience score of 74%. It's flawed but entertaining at the same time.

 

EDIT: I have realized that Superman is not a character I particularly care about in the first place. Thus the reasoning why I didn't hate MoS because I didn't have any stakes in that movie being good or bad. It was a movie I watched and was bored by and that was that. So that may be a reasoning why I have given BvS a better review than most people.

[Cameron H. 23786]

EDIT: I have realized that Superman is not a character I particularly care about in the first place. Thus the reasoning why I didn't hate MoS because I didn't have any stakes in that movie being good or bad. It was a movie I watched and was bored by and that was that. So that may be a reasoning why I have given BvS a better review than most people.

 

Fair enough, although I would like to clarify, despite how it may have sounded in my previous post, I don't have strong feelings about Superman, either. Even though I don't think Supes was portrayed particularly well, my "anger" for MoS had less to do with mischaracterization, and more with the overall style, tone, and its interminable length. By the end of it, I just felt assaulted and exhausted--it wasn't an adrenaline rush, it was a relentless ambush on my senses. And since the feel of the movie was muted, depressed, and hopeless, that's all I was left with.

 

In other words, I wasn't angry because I felt like they had ruined a childhood favorite, I was angry because that's the emotion that was being thrust upon me.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

 

Fair enough, although I would like to clarify, despite how it may have sounded in my previous post, I don't have strong feelings about Superman, either. Even though I don't think Supes was portrayed particularly well, my "anger" for MoS had less to do with mischaracterization, and more with the overall style, tone, and its interminable length. By the end of it, I just felt assaulted and exhausted--it wasn't an adrenaline rush, it was a relentless ambush on my senses. And since the feel of the movie was muted, depressed, and hopeless, that's all I was left with.

 

In other words, I wasn't angry because I felt like they had ruined a childhood favorite, I was angry because that's the emotion that was being thrust upon me.

That's all a pretty accurate description of what that movie does to people lol.

 

Oh I did want to say that women get shafted in BvS because they either die, need to be saved, or are Diana Prince (whom my friend argues only exists in this movie for exposition but I'm a tad bit more forgiving of this). Mainly I'm just annoyed by the damsel in distress play that these movies exhaust. So that's a flaw with this film, and I had to point it out because of my always wanting to discuss gender studies and politics in movies tendencies. *thumbs up*

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

ok, i love batman .. think out of all the superhero type things he's my favourite. him and the hulk.

 

i never really got into superman but there's something about the flying that always gets me excited.

 

not too pushed by wonder woman but im sure Gal will be great in her own movie

 

but i was really looking forward to this and im sure ill get some enjoyment out of it.

 

 

but this i love .... this is why i love the internet ... whoever did this was a genius

 

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

This isn't a perfect movie, not really close to one either, but I still found myself sitting in the movie thinking "I'm enjoying this." Batman was awesome as always and this movie really made me pumped as hell for Wonder Woman's solo film.

I'll see it eventually just for Wonder Woman. I love Wonder Woman. And if this and Man of Steel got the Wondy movie greenlit, then there is at least some redemption to them.

 

I had hopes that this would be good, but I will still watch it. Still, is it worse than the emo Brandon Routh Superman?

I feel bad that Routh gets all the blame for Superman Returns not doing well. (Much as I feel like people reacted to crazily about Affleck being Batman just because they didn't like Daredevil.) I thought he was good and I wished they had given him more to do. I didn't like the Lois/kid plot or a lot of the other stuff it had going on so I can't say I love the film but I liked it better than Man of Steel which, since I just said how much I hated MoS, I guess isn't that high a bar to get over.

 

Random silly Supermen thing that makes me laugh:

 

[Lando 2019]

I don't think Routh was bad, but he was literally given nothing to do in that movie. He's fun as The Atom on TV, and I've liked him in quite a few other things too.

 

I place most of the blame of the failures of that movie on Singer, he just happened to be a somewhat creepy Superman.

[Lando 2019]

I feel bad that Routh gets all the blame for Superman Returns not doing well. (Much as I feel like people reacted to crazily about Affleck being Batman just because they didn't like Daredevil.) I thought he was good and I wished they had given him more to do. I didn't like the Lois/kid plot or a lot of the other stuff it had going on so I can't say I love the film but I liked it better than Man of Steel which, since I just said how much I hated MoS, I guess isn't that high a bar to get over.

 

I didn't like that they tried to keep the somewhat campy tone of the first two movies, while at the same time quite blatantly telling us that the 3rd and 4th don't exist. That plus Lex Luthor's plot is essentially the inverse of the plot in the 1st movie. They should have just gone for a clean reboot and gone for a tone that was appropriate for the time.

 

TBH I didn't hate Man of Steel, I thought it was not great, but it was fine. More forgettable than anything else.

[Amy the Gorilla 732]

I just don't trust Snyder with movies anymore. I agree with taylorannephoto about being bored by MoS (And laughing at it) and I guess Watchmen was okay, I'll watch it from time to time, but I got sick of it real quick. Sucker Punch is one of those movies that irks me and I keep thinking about what I would do different or how it could have been made better. 300 kind of just is what it is.

 

So I have no real desire to see this movie.

 

As for the Routh Superman, none of the actors were at fault here, and people who blame him for it have no idea how film making works. It was a campy, modern sequel to the Christopher Reeves Super man, but it couldn't decide what kind of tone it wanted and it turned out more weird and confusing than fun.

 

Also this:

[RyanSz 3140]

Okay time to unpack my feelings after seeing this movie.

 

Let me first say that I hate Superman's early solo stories as he was basically God as a boyscout. There were a few stories of his that I absolutely LOVE but those are either non-canon (Superman: Red Son, seriously people read this book) or they are more realistic to how a person realizing they have the powers of a god handles such a situation and burden (Superman: Earth One and the current run of Superman comics). I liked MoS because it fell into the former category and a lot of the reviews hated that fact because it wasn't their Superman from when they grew up. Also, I tend to agree with taylorannephoto about the reviews for this movie, I really couldn't see A.O. Scott of the New York Times liking this as he is a very artsy reviewer who never really likes anything mainstream.

 

MoS wasn't the best movie but it had good moments and a very well designed villain in Michael Sheen's depiction of Zod. Unfortunately, it was bogged down in length from Kevin Costner's "worst dad in the universe" rendition of Pa Kent, which was something I didn't need in this film.

 

Okay as for this film, I really liked it and will probably see it again in theaters, though it was far from perfect. As PlanB said, I didn't need to see the Wayne's get killed again, but thankfully it wasn't too long. The other thing that I absolutely did not like was Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor. While I thought he was good with the nervous ticks and the cracking facade of sanity near the end of the film, for 3/4 of the movie he was literally playing the movie version of the Marvel villain Arcade.

I would have preferred it if he played the character like he had played Zuckerberg in The Social Network, that I felt would have been better suited for Luthor. My only other real gripe with the movie was the size of Doomsday, who I felt was misused in this film. In this film he's a good 3 stories tall, when in the comics he was only slightly larger than Superman, sort of like a slightly larger Andre the Giant and that there were some elements that could have been cut along with the Wayne murders. Also with the backlash that the previous film got for collateral damage, I thought they really hammered home the "it's abandoned" motif that occurred a few times near the end of the film.

 

The movie mixed all of the right elements of the comics it was pulling from (Dark Knight Returns, Trinity, etc.) and the cameos from other heroes were not as over the top as I expected, outside of a reference to the possible villain for the Justice League movie. Unfortunately, with the reviews like they are I don't expect this to break even, which the number is said to be a billion, unless this does amazingly overseas which isn't impossible as that did help MoS quite a bit.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

I remember thinking that "Man of Steel" was a bigger international hit, but that really wasn't the case. It did around 300 million here and a little over that in the rest of the world, so it'll be interesting to see how much Batman helps the numbers of the new one. This reminds me, in addition to "Civil War" hype taking some wind out of BvS's sails, how crazy nutso is it that this movie has to follow the success of "Deadpool", which cost relatively little, was marketed extremely well, and has now out-grossed Superman's last movie? It's seen as a phenomenon, and it is, while MoS could make the same money and be considered a disappointment. Bonkers.

[RyanSz 3140]

Yeah I don't know why WB decided to put so much money into this with how the prior film did, all they did was set the bar unreasonably high. And with fanboys being the jerks that they are, if this doesn't break even every blogger and journalist will be writing that the DCU is dead, even though the next two films in are either near complete (Wonder Woman) or starting production within a couple months (Justice League).

 

Damn fanboys

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

Yeah I don't know why WB decided to put so much money into this with how the prior film did, all they did was set the bar unreasonably high. And with fanboys being the jerks that they are, if this doesn't break even every blogger and journalist will be writing that the DCU is dead, even though the next two films in are either near complete (Wonder Woman) or starting production within a couple months (Justice League).

 

Damn fanboys

That reminds me, I saw an article a couple weeks back that was called "Henry Cavill has seen the Justice League script". Well, it starts filming in about two weeks, so I certainly HOPE he would have seen it by now.

 

Does anyone else wonder where the IHOPs went?