One of the many superhero movies of the year debuted this weekend, earning mediocre critic reviews and just over $166 million at the box office. Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was definitely a unique superhero mash-up – it mashed up some great things and some bad things to ultimately create an entertaining but not amazing film.
The Positive
Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor steals the show. There’s no polite or delicate way to say it. Coming into the film, I had sort of forgotten that Lex Luthor would be included – marketing was heavy on the bro-fight – and I instantly fell in love with Eisenberg’s Luthor; it was an on-point portrayal of a young Luthor, a Luthor at the top of his game but at a frustrating cerebral point. He has everything mapped out, to an annoying extent, but the real mark of perfection that Eisenberg brought was a wonderful emotional capacity – sure, Luthor is neurotic (maybe psychotic) but his passion and frustration come clear across the screen. Similarly, Gal Gadot brings the audience a fabulous Wonder Woman, albeit a little late to the game. I’m sure I’m not the only audience member who showed up primarily for Wonder Woman. She’s clever, the little we see of her, and powerful in a fight – a great preview of her upcoming film.
The Negative
I admit it. I’m not over Ben Affleck as Batman. In my personal opinion, he is not the Batman – he’s some wealthy dude running around in a double-armored batsuit. Aside from my personal issues with Affleck, the other Bat aspects are in true form – Irons’ Alfred is suitably snarky, the Batcave is pretty rad, and the Bat’s stuff is ridiculously well-armored. In another vein, Cavill’s Superman is a different Superman. Of course, we saw this new Superman in his own film a couple years ago, but it’s still jarring to see Superman in such a dark and stubborn place. Most of the fighting ends up feeling like two high school boys whose raging hormones caused a really stupid fight. When Lex Luthor factors in, that all begins to make sense but, for the most part, it’s just kind of a stupid fight. That combined with Amy Adams’ weak Lois Lane (being saved over and over again) makes for some kind of pitifully contrived action sequences.
Rating
Entertained but ultimately unsatisfied, I wanted more Wonder Woman, more Lex Luthor, less man-baby fighting, and less damsel-in-distress Lois Lane. A lot of the film was spent creating as much action and craziness as possible, and a probable good story got lost in the mix.
6/10
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