I unapologetically love Man of Steel. I saw it five times, and dragged my poor girlfriend all those times. I'm also a giant Marvel and DC fan, read the comics since I was a child and grew to love superhero storytelling, and to be completely honest, this film underwhelmed me.
Like many I was anticipating Batman v Superman, and while there are some cool spectacle moments, the structure of the entire film is very disjointed. Compared to Man of Steel, I felt the story flowed naturally for the most part, here it's very jumbled. Obviously because you're dealing with DC's Trinity: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and villain Lex Luthor, it's a very hard task to juggle them all out. I commend Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer, but it just felt messy. Every time something interesting happens, it just cuts away, and keeps cutting scene after scene. It never felt cohesive, it kept jumping from places to places and I simply didn't feel invested enough to care as the movie progressed. While that being said, the screenplay tries to juggle it's characters as well as they can, so I never felt like it tried to be rushed, while ultimately it was. Some of the stuff I did like though was the events of Man of Steel can still be felt, and it still carries over the whole movie, giving both Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor's perspective. I just wished it could have been explored a little bit more. Also there were certain moments where it seemed like some of the characters knew what was going to happen next without even knowing what happened in the first place which was kinda odd.
It picks up steam as soon as Batman and Superman have their ultimate showdown at an abandoned part of Gotham City. That was a very cool moment for me and it was quite exciting these two titans go at each other. Batman's punches are brutal and you can see the pain on Superman's face. All the attacks Superman through back at Batman were awesome as well. Of course the action sequences and the visuals are thrilling. That is to be expected.
Then after all that, it begins to lose steam. This isn't a spoiler as it was shown in the trailer, but the whole Doomsday fight is very shoved down your throat and it does not feel deserved. Especially for those who have seen the film, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The action that happens in that showdown is also extremely short. Doomsday was taken care of so quickly. I know comics and movies are completely different mediums, I always try to set that apart from each other when I go into these superhero epics, but this whole part of the film never felt earned, ESPECIALLY the aftermath. It just sort of happens and it ends. Never felt like I was on the edge of my seat. Which was a disappointment for me because when they spoiled this in the trailer, I thought the filmmakers and WB might have something else up their sleeve but they didn't. Again for anyone who's read the comics or has seen the film, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Doomsday did not feel like a real threat at all and it just didn't pay off.
Again Snyder does a good job with the action, it's all very cool, but unlike Man of Steel, this time around it lacked substance, as I didn't feel as invested as I should have been. However, the display of Superman's and Wonder Woman's powers were awesome, and Gal Gadot for the short amount of screen time she had, she was quite good, so I was impressed. I didn't like her casting choice in the beginning, not because of how she looked, it was more so her acting chops, but she delivered. I'm now really looking forward to Wonder Woman. Keep an eye out for some other cameos from future Justice League members, those were very cool.
Cavill is as great as ever in that role and he can play it in his sleep at this point. A perfect embodiment of Superman. Affleck kills it. If you still doubt his ability to play Batman after all the footage we've seen, then I don't know what to tell you. With all due respect to Chris Nolan, finally I get to see Batman actually fight clearly on screen. Jesse Eisenberg was a surprise too, he was quite eccentric and deliciously evil at the same time. Jeremy Irons and Amy Adams don't have too much to do, but they serve their purpose in the film. The only actors that I thought were wasted was Tao Okamoto and Holly Hunter. Okamoto only had one line or two and for an actor of her caliber Holly Hunter was just a phenomenal waste of time. Her role could have been played by anyone else.
I'm not completely bagging this film down, there are solid moments throughout and it's not like I didn't want to like this movie, I really did, but the problems in the film were just too noticeable. I'm still very much looking forward to the next wave of DC movies. One way or another, it's a passable film, but with all the hype that surrounded it, it just barely managed to live up to any of it if I'm being quite honest. It was clear that a lot substantial scenes were also cut from the film, and it was announced the director's cut was coming so maybe I'll change my tune after that viewing.
6.7/10