Alright! I've seen the big bad movie everyone's been dreading, and I enjoyed it.
It's not amazing or anything, but Man of Steel for me was a "Eh, sure, it's alright" and this one is actually a "Yeah. I liked it (imagine I'm saying this with a bit of a high pitch)." I felt pleasantly surprised.
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Pros:
- Affleck was a great. Anyone who's seen that awful Batman v. Superman/Turkish Airlines Super Bowl ad witnessed Affleck's simmering anger just below the surface. Perfect for Bruce Wayne.
- A lot of the Batman stuff. He does a bit of investigating, which is nice, but mostly just the way he moved and fought were great. Very Arkham-like. It actually felt like he could hold his own in this world with people with superpowers.
- Fights were pretty fun. People moved fast, didn't look like anyone was being constricted by their costume, and the hits had weight behind them. Also, I only remember one "slow motion followed by very fast motion" sequence, for which I'm glad.
- They actually fight in an uninhabited area. The area was pretty big, so you can't help but think "are you sure this port has been completely abandoned?", but they tried, and I'm willing to meet them half-way.
- I liked how evil Lex Luthor's plans could be in this movie.
Cons:
- Too bad Lex Luthor is such a little shit every time he's on screen. I think the actions of the character were written well enough, the problem really was in the rather bizarre acting choices they went with. That, and the lack of motivation they've given him. It's just a throwaway line at the end of the movie. That's not enough to justify the enormous shitstorm he's creating.
- The connections to the larger universe were super contrived. They even introduce time-travel. If you don't know that's the Flash in the scene I'm alluding to, and that he can do this sort of stuff, you'll just think it's a really weird pointless dream sequence. If you do know all that, it's a weird pointless dream sequence that introduces time travel already in the second movie of your universe. Do you really wanna go down this rabbit hole so soon? They could've cut all this stuff out and the movie would be better for it, and I'm including Wonder Woman in this.
- Lois Lane is still barely a character. She's always either a damsel in distress, giving Superman positive reinforcement, crying, or all of the above. They try to give her a very small sideplot where she's actually an investigative reporter, but the only reason she's on the case is to help Superman. She comes off more as a tool to advance the plot than a proper character, as a result I found her pretty annoying most of the time. Also, I really like Amy Adams, but I swear it seems like in every single frame of this movie she's always just about to cry.
- Doomsday felt tacked on. I know he's just a killing machine, not a nuanced character, but they could have made him feel more integral to the plot, instead of "well, we need someone the heroes can fight together, so stick him in the third act".
- They do kill people. They don't dwell on it, same as Batman '89, which is for the best, but I really wish they didn't kill anyone at all.
Neutral
- Henry Cavill's Superman is still alright. He's not bad, but he just doesn't have the charisma that Reeves had. Part of that I admit might be the writing. He rarely ever speaks when he's on his costume, just fights, and when he's Clark he mostly just listens other people talk about how awesome he is.
- Wonder Woman. I liked her scenes with Bruce, and I'm optimistic for her movie, but we just don't have enough of her for me to pronounce a verdict. Although she was alright, I stand by what I said, she didn't have to be in this movie.
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And that's all I can remember right now. Well, I'm happy enough with the result. It did feel more like Batman's movie than Superman's, and I liked their Batman, so I liked the movie, I guess that's kinda it. Could definitely have been better though, and if I could I would kick Zach Snyder's ass to the curb in an instant, maybe David Goyer's too. A bit afraid for Justice League, they do still have to properly introduce at least tree more heroes in that movie, let's hope they don't screw it up.
P.S.: Henry Cavill's Superman still has that massive widow's peak, and yes, it does bother me a lot. It stared me in the face for half the movie.
Post edited March 25, 2016 by DaCostaBR