Spoiler Free review of Batman vs Superman

... Or it's truly not the worst Superhero movie ever 

Written by Gregg Condon

Last night we were invited up to Valencia to see a sneak preview of Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. So while I wasn't really gung ho about the movie, and even less so after seeing the reviews (currently 33% on Rotten Tomatoes) I wasn't about to pass up a free movie. 

And it was so "advanced" that we were checked for recording equipment before the film, there was a message from Zack Snyder about "spoilers" and two men in suits (assuming from WB) watching us watching the movie. So it was kind of cool. 

That being said, I could probably lay out the entire plot of the movie and there would be nothing that would truly "spoil" anything. But I'm totally not going to do that, so feel free to read on. 

So where to start off ... is it the worst superhero movie ever? No. Not even close. Is it the best? No. Not even close. It's not even the best superhero movie to come out so far in 2016 (that goes to Deadpool). But what it does do is exactly what Warner Brothers wanted it to do, and that's set up the Justice League, and it does that well. 

When you see the movie you will be entertained, there are very few "laughs" in it (typical Zack Snyder), the story is fine, the acting is fine, the directing is fine ... ultimately where the film fails is where most of Zack Snyder's films fail, and that's a severe lack of editing. 

They could easily trim 25-30 minutes from this movie and it would be much better (if they trimmed the right 25-30 minutes). There are a few very confusing scenes with Batman in particular that I'm still trying to figure out why they were there. They do nothing to move the story forward, they are weird transitions and just plain make no sense. 

I went in with VERY low expectations and the first 1/3 of the movie it was pretty much meeting those expectations. But by the end I was entertained and am looking forward to the next films with these characters. 

The movie starts off with a kind of "re-cap" of the end of Man of Steel, just from a different perspective. Even though Superman Returns is the better Superman movie (IMO) WB has chosen to pretend that movie doesn't exist, so if you haven't seen Man of Steel in awhile, or not at all, I'd give it another watch. Just so you are up to speed.

There are a couple of nods to Nolan's Batman movies (he served as Exec Producer) which were interesting and cool. 

The cast is actually pretty solid and shouldn't just be discounted. 

• Batman/Bruce Wayne - I'm not a huge fan of Ben Affleck (the actor, he's a great director) but he did fine in the role although I can't imagine him being anybody's favorite Batman. 
• Superman/Clark Kent - Henry Cavill was one of the highlights of Man of Steel and he plays the character well here. (side note: If you haven't seen Man from U.N.C.L.E. yet, do so, he's great in that movie along with Armie Hammer)
• Wonder Woman/Diana Prince - Gal Gadot is everything Wonder Woman should be. Hot, exotic, hot, mysterious, did I mention hot? She got the biggest cheer of the film. Can't wait to see what they do with her movie. 
• Alfred - This was an interesting casting choice, Jeremy Irons isn't your typical Alfred so it was kind of odd. But it's Jeremy Irons and if you have a chance to put Jeremy Irons in your movie you do so. 
• Lex Luthor - Wow. If you had any reservations about Jesse Eisenberg playing Lex Luthor, don't. He flat out steals every scene he's in. . 

The rest of the supporting cast is fine, Amy Adams is a sufficient Lois Lane, Holly Hunter is just kind of "there" (totally underused) and Diane Lane actually gives the character of Martha Kent a bit of depth, which we haven't seen much of so that was nice. 
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They also do a small reveal of a few other characters in The Justice League, but that probably would constitute a spoiler so I won't do that here. I will say that the intro was actually pretty well done without giving away too much. 

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At the end of the day, if you are a huge DC fan you will enjoy this movie. If you are a comic book movie fan you will also enjoy this movie. If you are a fan of popcorn movies you will probably enjoy this movie. If you take things too seriously and nit-pick everything you will definitely not enjoy this movie. 

Don't go in expecting Iron Man or the first Avengers movie ... it's not up to that level. But despite it's missteps it does introduce a new generation of DC characters beyond just Batman and Superman and that is a good thing. 

So to do the whole "review" thing and give it thumbs or stars or something I'd say on a scale of Togo to MACK it's about a B&M. Solid thrills without being anything mindblowing. (that's 3 1/2 out of 5 stars for you non coaster nerds). =) 

Hopefully the bad reviews don't spell doom for this movie and all the rest that are to follow. Because that would be a shame. 

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