0.5 out of 5

Even knowing, to the most part, what I was getting myself into when I went to see this movie, I still walked away surprised. While the early trailers for Man of Steel I thought showed great promise, the film itself was an abonimation to the Superman franchise. I just shook my head as to why Superman had to be given the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight treatment.

To put it bluntly, Batman v Superman is a dull and nearly joyless affair. Yet, given that it is breaking box office records it is clear that Zack Synders dismal world for the superhero is going to continue.

Just a few of many questions:

• Why does Synder insist on a world full of muted colours?
• I thought Superhero movies were supposed to be fun? Escapism?
• Does Zack Synder know what a establishing shot is?
• Why is everyone in this universe dark or tortured or unhappy, etc, etc…
• What exactly was Lex Luthor’s plan? Was there even one?

The most disappointing thing regarding a movie entitled Batman v Superman, is that you have to wait almost 3/4 of the way through to see the fight. Then, if you’ve seen any of the trailers, you’ve seen the whole fight anyways. The resolution of this fight goes down as one of the lazy excuses I have ever seen. It really is that bad.

Almost no film is without some bright spots and there were a few here:

• Ben Affleck was a great older Batman and I look forward to seeing a solo film, hopefully outside of Synders influence.
• Wonder Woman’s fight at the end almost made up for her pointlessness in the film.

Speaking of Wonder Woman… Why would they include her and provide zero backstory for her aside from a single image? If it was a matter of running time there was at least thirty minutes of other footage that could have been trimmed. You could completely remove her character and would only have to change a single scene. Now, like the solo Batman movie, I look forward to the solo Wonder Woman movie (again hopefully outside of Snyders influence) as Gal Gadot is one of the bright spots of this movie.

Lastly. The overstuffing. They cram in the introductions in the most ham fisted way possible for other members of the Justice League and do not get me started on out of context dream sequences… Then you take one of the most iconic villains in Superman history, Doomsday, and spit him out in the final act with a thud.

Is this really the superhero universe we want kids seeing? I’m including a link to an alternative version of the trailer which would have made a much more entertaining movie.

BATMAN v SUPERMAN – Dawn of Justice WEIRD TRAILER by Aldo Jones