This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Andy’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
Wow, I've got so much to say about this.
Anyway, so far, Zach Snyder's Batman v Superman has been a bit of a bomb with critics but does it really deserve the vitriol that it has received? I don't think it does personally and would like to stick up for the film a little bit.
Don't get me wrong, it's flawed. The last act in particular is very messy and tries to introduce far too much as it looks to set up the Justice League. An Ultimate Directors Cut is set to be released in the near future that has an extra 30 minutes of footage and I can very easily believe that there is stuff on the cutting room floor that would make more sense of certain things so I'm interested in that.
However, I do think the film did a pretty damn good job until then and nearly everything up to the main selling point of the film is strong. For starters, literally everything involving Ben Affleck's Batman is fantastic. I really hope to see him in a standalone Batman film in the future because from the moment you see him, he just immediately is Bruce Wayne.
It's a shame that the same can't be said for the other titular hero, Superman. I don't really think that it's much to do with Henry Cavill, it's just that he's not really been given much to work with in the two films he's done so far. The character is a bit of a blank canvas in this universe. When particular event happens at the end of the film involving Superman, the only real reason to even care is because of the character's reputation in pop culture. It's not that it doesn't make sense because it does. It's just that it feels a bit too soon because we've never really gotten a chance to know this particular version of the character and I honestly think Superman's portrayal is half the reason that people have reacted coldly to these two films.
It's not just him to be fair, characters like Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor are written like people should already know them too. If you're a big DC fan, you're not gonna mind as much but I can easily see casual moviegoers that aren't familiar with the source material feeling a bit alienated.
Nevertheless, along with the aforementioned Affleck, the film is absolutely fantastic from a visual standpoint and delivers some stunning action. I also really, really like the type of tone that Snyder is trying to create. There's nothing wrong with these philosophical and more serious stories, the execution just needs to be better.
Anyway, it was always going to be a difficult task to introduce so many elements at once. Despite its problems, It's far from the disaster some are painting it as, and hopefully we can get the great DC film that is definitely there somewhere now that everything has been set up.
EDIT: Have now watched the Ultimate Cut I mentioned in this review and it solidifies this rating. Still doesn't solve the main issues in the third act, but the buildup to that is a lot cleverer and makes more sense now. Should definitely be the version people watch.