Batman v Superman

After saving the World from General Zod (Michael Shannon) Superman (Henry Cavill) is regarded as a hero. However, a sizeable minority see him as a threat and Batman (Ben Affleck) is one of them after seeing one of workers lose his legs in the destruction of Metropolis caused by Superman's fight with General Zod. Batman dons his cape and attempts to right Superman's wrongs, igniting a fierce rivalry in the process. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) is clearly up to something fishy.

Zach Synder's Batman v Superman was 2016's most eagerly anticipated film, and much like the three Batman films previously and Man of Steel the film takes a darker, more gritty route than the Marvel films but that doesn't mean its better. The darker Nolan Batman films stand up well against the light hearted romps of Marvel but with Zach Synder at the helm Batman v Superman is a significantly lesser film because its in the hands of a significantly lesser director who has the tendency to go for style over substance. Batman V Superman is, in most cases, a humourless bore without much depth or threat.

The film's lack of humour adds to the feeling that the film is an incredibly long and fidgety one to sit though, and at 151 minutes the film is in dire need of an editor, this no more apparent when we're taken once again through the origins of Batman (why?) and in some scenes with Clark's parents. It's strange that a film can feel long and plodding despite the fact there is so much thrown at the screen, to the extent it gets a bit messy. However, the blame for a boring and plodding story can not be laid entirely on the screenwriters and the director as the film's trailers pretty much went through the entire storyline by showing sequences from the Batman-Superman fight, them eventually teaming up and the appearance of Wonder Woman and Doomsday.

Much was made of Ben Affleck being cast as Batman, there was a lot of discontent concerning his casting because this sort whiney complaining happens every time an actor is cast as a major character from Dr Who to James Bond (and we all like Craig now, don't we? Well most of us do). Affleck makes for a good Batman, he physically fit and brooding and able to display his inner turmoil. Out of the two superheros he is by far the more interesting as Henry Cavill doesn't make for charismatic Man of Steel, but he certainly looks like a Man of Steel because he's built like a fucking tank. However, even worse that Cavill is Jesse Eisenberg whose weedy, socially awkward and weak Lex Luthor doesn't make him a threatening or interesting villain 

2/5