DC Extended Universe Thread (Spoilers inside!)

Mosh

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Might as well have one here.

I just got back from seeing Batman v Superman. It was OK. I didn't hate it but I also didn't love it. Ultimately I think it's problem is going to be that it was one of the most overhyped movies ever and it was just merely "good", or worse.

But anyway, here's my review, I'll try not to get too spoiler-y but I'll use tags just in case:

THE GOOD
  • Batman. Ben Affleck's performance was fantastic. He has the potential to be better than Bale, but he still needs his own movie to fully flesh out his character first. This was a much more comic book-y adaptation of Batman IMO, he was very intimidating and the stealth factor played a huge part here.
  • Alfred. I loved that they did something different with this character, he was a badass.
  • Wonder Woman. She wasn't amazing like some of the reviews are saying, but she was very enjoyable and a total badass. Perfect way to introduce her to the big screen IMO.
  • The action sequences. The action was way better here than any Marvel movie or even the Nolan Batman movies. The shaky cam wasn't too annoying and the fights didn't seem choreographed at all. The actual Batman versus Superman fight lived up to the hype, even if the rest of the movie didn't.
  • One of my concerns was that there'd be too much focus on the Justice League and attention would be taken away from BVS, but that wasn't the case here. The cameos of the other JL members were cool and Wonder Woman was used just the right amount
  • The death of Superman. I didn't think they would do it, which made me disappointed that they had Doomsday, but they did and it was very well done.
THE BAD
  • The story. The story was unbelievably bad. It was like they were trying to cram 2 or 3 different movies into one. I think it would've benefitted from having a standalone Batman movie beforehand, even though I liked that they were introducing him later in his career. Not only did it feel cramped, but it also just really bored me. I didn't really feel engaged with any of the various plots and whenever I did start to feel some level of engagement, it cut away to something else. It was paced like an episode of a TV show, which really doesn't work in the context of a near 3 hour movie.
  • Seeing Bruce Wayne's parents die, again. I actually get why they decided to do this, given the payoff at the end of the movie with Kent's mom, but I think it was executed poorly. Honestly the movie lost me right away with that beginning, I was anxious for them to get that bit out of the way so we could get to the real stuff. It didn't really bring anything fresh to the story and the whole railroad tracks thing was stupid. That cut to Martha Wayne's grave during the Batman Superman fight was effective enough.
  • The trailer really ruined this movie. Had they not revealed Doomsday, there would've been a lot more drama and mystery to the entire movie. There's a whole subplot around Lex Luthor creating Doomsday and it's incredibly boring because you know where it's going. That Doomsday reveal could've been one of the greatest moments of the movie if they hadn't spoiled it.
So the Bruce Wayne's parents thing is pretty minor, but the other two points are really major and bring the film down a ton. There's just too much going on without any substance or suspense. Honestly it really sucks that everything has to be part of a cinematic universe or whatever now, because that means they won't be able to devote that much time to Batman when he's the only good thing about this universe so far. I hope the poor reception causes DC to give Synder the boot, postpone Justice League, and get the ball rolling on that Affleck directed Batman movie. I don't want to wait until 2020 or whatever to have to see that.
 
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I'm honestly surprised at how much praise Affleck is getting at Batman. I've never liked Affleck much as an actor, even in good movies like Gone Girl; I felt he was out of place and completely overshadowed. He's like Vince Vaughn in the fact that in comedic movies he's fine, but in serious movies, I can't get myself invested into him.
 
He has a great presence as Bruce Wayne. He's intimidating but you can also tell he's a bit nuts, which I thought was a bit lost on Bale's Batman.

Right now though Affleck has the benefit of his character not being fully formed yet, so I think it's way too early to really compare him to the other Batmans. But so far I'm sold on him.
 
One thing I'm seeing a lot of criticism of on the internet is
the fight being resolved because their mothers share the same name. I think a lot of people are missing the point here. It's not because they have the same names but it helps Batman apply a bit of humanity to Superman. Superman has people he cares about and who care about him just like everybody else and if Batman killed him he'd be no better than the guy who killed his parents.

What I'm not convinced of is that Batman and Superman are immediately friends afterwards. They didn't have any dialog together afterwards really so there's still time to resolve this, but I think they still have fundamental differences that can't be resolved. I'm OK with them teaming up, but there should be a bit of tension between them throughout, similar to what we've seen with Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. They don't have to be enemies, but I don't see those two characters ever being friends either.
 
See the Now watching thread for my comments about Batman V Superman (posted prior to this thread being created...which I suggested and appreciate!)
 
Not even sure if I want to bother with the R rated cut. Will wait for reviews.

The statue looks cool though.
 
Well...I saw it.

It was 80% garbage, 20% wasted promise.

Has Zach Snyder ever made a good film? I mean, people like to jack off 300, but really, other than that, he is not a good director. This movie was boring and character motivations weren't at all considered or employed (with the exception of Batman, but I will get into that later). The final encounter was incredibly hard to follow, visually, and the 3D was atrocious.

If I knew nothing of Superman, I would have thought that Lex Luthor was the good guy, because he is trying to come up with a way us regular humans can deal with a superhuman warlord that has already leveled one city and caused untold thousands of deaths. I get that Batman is supposed to be gritty and dark - but Superman is supposed to be the opposite. And he just isn't, and I hate it. Also, I hate Henry Cavill, who was as wooden as my work desk (which is made out of wood) in the role.

Why did it take so long for anything to happen? I guess Zach Snyder just wants superheroes to talk to each other. Look, I would be fine with this if there was a big plot, but there just isn't. Superman scares Bruce and Lex, so they come up with their own ways to handle Supes. Eventually they fight and then realize their mothers have the same name. Then they fight Doomsday and Supes dies (but totes doesn't permadie). The problem is that the first sentence there takes up 80% of the film. I am not gonna say that they should be constant action, but when Zach is delving into the Lucas stylistic camera choice of shot...countershot...shot...countershot for half the movie, it's just...blah.

Wonder Woman! Wonder why I can't understand a thing she says. Gal Gadot is great to look at and can't act her way out of a wet paper bag with Wonder Woman's sword in hand. Does not bode well for how she won the role...

But there was something good: The Batfleck. Ben Affleck was fucking awesome, and his Batman was vibrant, brutal, enthralling, awesome. I want to see a standalone Batfleck film (and it sounds like I'm getting my wish). Anytime that Ben Affleck was on screen without Henry Cavill was great.

4/10 do not see in theatres.
 
They should cancel the DC universe and just make Batman movies Forever. I'm actually serious, I'm not trying to hate on them but I can't think of a single DC movie that wasnt Batman I really enjoyed.

There was definitely a Seven Samurai vibe to the setup for the next movie. If Justice League 1 is Batman looking for the other JL members, that might actually be pretty cool. Otherwise I have no interest in JL movies.
 
My thoughts (BVS spoilers abound):

I went into this film thinking it was impossible to screw up something inspired by the phenomenal Dark Knight Returns comic and the premise of two of the most iconic characters in popular culture fighting.

I was wrong.

I largely contribute this down to the directing and plot rather than the actors. I understand the 2 and a half hour runtime for a film that's intended to be a springboard to an extended universe - but not when so much is spent on ridiculous amounts of slow motion and dream sequences that only muddle a poorly thought out plot even more.

The opening was genuinely painful for me to watch. Take the most overdone scene in comic book history, add copious amounts of slow motion, and a frankly absurd dream sequence floating upwards in a mass of bats and what do you get? Not my money back, unfortunately.

Cue Metropolis. I actually really liked this, and thought it was really promising. I don't mind Batfleck as an actor (but I do as a character). Unfortunately, as soon as this is gone, the film turns into a blurred mess of scenes put together for the excessively lengthy time it takes to get to the titular fight. The only thing that broke that monotony was my anger at three things:

1) Lex Luthor - dear goodness this is the worst portrayal I've ever seen. As a fan of the cold, calculating animated version, this bargain bin loon was an insult.

2) Batman - since when did Batman become a murderous idiot? Affleck did a credible job with what he was given but he wasn't given much with the train wreck interpretation of this character Snyder took.

3) Superman - Jesus Cavill, crack a smile. I've seen you do it in other films and Superman is not this miserable.

Once we got to the fight, ignoring the absurdity of the rationale behind it, I did quite enjoy it. But after that, it goes crap again. We get treated to several "world building" teaser trailers, a fight I didn't feel any excitement for whatsoever, moments of stupidity (Batman really threw the spear away? Right.)

The best part of this film was Martha Kents quip to Batman. However I do wonder if I'd have found it as funny if it weren't in such a direct juxtaposition to the awful, awful atmosphere Snyder insists on going for.

TL;DR - I gave it a try but after this steaming mess I'll be sticking with Marvel for the foreseeable future, at least whilst Snyder and Eisenberg are involved to any capacity.
 
I went into this film thinking it was impossible to screw up something inspired by the phenomenal Dark Knight Returns comic and the premise of two of the most iconic characters in popular culture fighting.
I feel the same way. I'm too young to remember the hype and disappointment around The Phantom Menace, but I think I'm starting to understand how that must have felt. I knew there were possibilities of this not being good, but I figured it would probably be flawed in the way Dark Knight Rises was. A bit goofy at times, some really dumb moments, but overall still entertaining. This was very goofy at times, had some really dumb moments, but most of it wasn't entertaining. Of all the things I expected this movie to be, good and bad, I did not expect boring. How do you take the greatest rivalry in comic books and make it boring? That still blows my mind.
 
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