Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice review: “A glorious mess”

Batman V Superman review: A step-up from the Man Of Steel, but Snyder’s latest still manages to fall short of the mark.

Batman V Superman review by Paul Heath. There’s a lot to like about Zack Snyder‘s high-octane, highly anticipated, and highly ambitious Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice – but there’s a hell of a lot to dislike too.

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice kicks off where things were left at the end of Man Of Steel. Frankly, Metropolis is an absolute mess after Superman finished off Zod (Michael Shannon), and took most of the high-rises in his home city with him. Unbeknown to us, amongst the carnage that very day was Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne, who didn’t take too kindly to the Man Of Steel demolishing his office block with a bunch of his employees still trapped inside. Fast forward 18 months and Metropolis has been rebuilt, however Wayne hasn’t forgotten what happened on that fateful day. Superman may be being applauded by Metropolis as a modern-day hero, but Wayne is less than impressed, so he ventures off to seek his revenge and bring him to his knees. Also in Metropolis is the villainous Lex Luthor, here played by Jesse Eisenberg, a vicious little man also intent on ending the days of Superman with his new superpower, Doomsday. Now, Superman must convince the man who is trying to kill him to unite and stand against this new threat, and once again save the world from oblivion.

I was present in Hall H when Zack Snyder took to the stage at Comic Con to announced a Batman V Superman film, a movie that would not only unite two huge superheroes on-screen for the very first time, but also kick off a new chapter in the DC universe. This was such an important film to get right – not only because of Man Of Steel’s rather underwhelming debut back in 2013, but because this is the film that will kick-start DC and Warner Brothers’ plans to bring stand-alone movies for The Flash, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman to the screen, the latter of which is already in production. That’s not to mention the greenlit Justice League movies. There’s a lot riding on the film, and Snyder has to nail it. Has he? Well, essentially yes. Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice is nowhere near the car crash of Man Of Steel, but it’s no masterpiece either. The film establishes a new actor in the role of the Dark Knight, and Ben Affleck is the man given with the unenviable task of filling in the shoes of Christian Bale. The great news is that Affleck is probably one of the best things in the film, and every moment that he’s on-screen, the viewer is engaged and excited to see his ragged, much older Batman in action. His history is touched upon in a stylish, opening credits montage that is well done and doesn’t hang around in going over old material.

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Then, there’s Jeremy Irons, whose butler come bodyguard Alfred is a very different, and much younger character to recent incarnations of Mr. Butterworth. The superb Irons quietly goes about his business and fits into the iconic role with great ease. Henry Cavill continues as is, this critic still struggling with him as a modern-day Superman, especially as I grew up on the Christopher Reeve movies with that superb John Williams score; something that continues to be absent here. Eisenberg pretty much channels The Joker in his performance, one that is neither here nor there, not quite managing to revive one of cinema’s greatest ever villains.

As for Snyder? Well, it’s very much business as usually. Too much style over substance; a very CGI-heavy mess, especially during its second half. Its first half establishes the setting and the set-up between the two superheroes, and they clash pretty early on. However, the device that turns Batman to side with Superman is almost laughable and totally misjudged. That said, it’s a wonder to see the two characters on-screen at the same time, but it is the addition of Gal Gadot‘s Wonder Woman that really delights in the second, much stronger half. Wonder Woman is probably the big draw of the film, and easily the most interesting.

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice is essentially a film that is designed to set up future episodes, but does manage to provide a decent, though very, very long stand-alone story that does seem to fulfil the quote.

The film has divided critics, and in no doubt will do the same with fans as it rolls into cinemas this Easter.  It’s very dark and very heavy on the drama and action with little hint of comedic balance, something that the Marvel movies do so well. We’re still not convinced with this new DC world, but Snyder now has our attention. This is far from the catastrophic blockbuster that other critics have painted it as being, but it’s far from perfect.

Batman V Superman review by Paul Heath, March 2016.

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice is released in U.K. and U.S. cinemas on Friday 25th March, 2016.