Post by FQ on Apr 12, 2016 11:50:05 GMT -5
Disclaimer: I don't write reviews in the attempt to be a serious film critic. Although I have studied film, I mostly do this for my friends and I thought I'd share this review here in the hopes it makes a few people laugh.
Last night I watched this movie and felt quite conflicted about it. I will add that I haven't seen Man of Steel. I watched 10 seconds of Man of Steel and said, "Nope, too cheesy and awful looking." I will avoid spoilers as much as possible, but suffice to say that reviewing a film without spoiling anything is difficult.
The Good:
In a sense, Ben Affleck's Batman is a continuation of Christian Bale's Batman. It's not a complete reboot, although we got to see Thomas and Martha Wayne killed once more. I don't think anyone is more tired of seeing Bruce's parents get killed than the fans. Though I will say their choice of Thomas Wayne was perfect and if they ever do a live-action Flashpoint film, Jeffrey Dean Morgan should be Thomas Wayne in that film. The film lacks enough substance to completely reboot Batman. Jeremy Iron's Alfred is quite possibly my favorite film Alfred thus far and that should say something since Michael Cain was terrific. This Alfred is younger, much more hands on, and isn't confined to peanut gallery commentary. Although the suit has changed, some of the tech has changed; much of what we know to be Batman is still the same. The Batmobile seems to be a cross between Nolan's Dark Knight design and Burton's neo-gothic chic. Affleck's Wayne falls into a cave by accident and discovers the bats, although the reliability of that scene is somewhat questionable. Batman still uses those silly bat stars, hurling them at people and things like he's passing out candy.
Enough about Brooding Boy 1 (and I have nothing to say about Brooding Boy 2), let me just say that Wonder Woman's appearance in the film was probably one of the few bright spots in the film. I would have been happier if they had just implied the fight between Daddy and Daddy while focusing all the screen time on her. I can't emphasize enough how much I love Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman. Although her armor still looks fairly impractical (short skirt and outer panties, seriously Snyder?), I understand it has the sort of "It looks just like the comics!"-appeal. Still, if Batman and Superman get to wear their underwear on the inside this time around, couldn't we have at least given Wonder Woman something a little more believable for armor? Maybe some pants? A breastplate sans boob cups?
The Bad:
Holy shite this film is long. The length of this film is such that I was left yelling at the screen, "He's over there! Kill him already so we can go home." There were way too many scenes of the Big Red Cape just sitting somewhere brooding while Cardstock Lois sits and cries--she spends almost the entire film in tears... They should have just used a cardboard cut out and poured buckets of water over it. Really though, is Lois always going to be a useless, barely-human prop for Superman to swoop in and save every half hour? I'm pretty sure Margot Kidder's Lois Lane in Superman (1978) had more agency than this unamusing puddle of tears.What's worse is I couldn't care at all about Superman's struggle. There is absolutely nothing that connects me to Brooding Boy 2's emotions. By the halfway mark in the film I was rooting for Batman to kill Superman.
The tension of the film is built by this competition of trying to do good. Wayne and Kent sit in their homes and listen to TV reporters saying, "OMG Batman did a bad thing. OMG Superman did a bad thing." I'm expected to get invested in the frustration of these two Superbros because some reporters said some mean things about them on television? Not even the fact that one of Superman's critics was Neil deGrasse Tyson referencing Copernicus could have saved the poorly established tension moments.
The film also uses a lot of dream sequences which are set up in such a way that the audience is not aware it's a dream until after the fact. Batman spends quite a bit of time daydreaming about his past and future, but to be honest I don't think any of it really enhanced the film. I know what the attempt was for and that is to convey certain inner fears and struggles that Wayne is having, but it didn't really have much of an impact on me.
I'm not a fan of this iteration of Lex Luthor. To me, he makes mental illness the butt end of a poorly told joke. He's basically the not-funny version of Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor. While some people might think I'm being hypocritical since I praised Heath Ledger's Joker, I'd like to point out that people who interpreted Ledger's Joker as mentally ill, psychopathic, sociopathic or whatever missed the whole point of that version of the Joker. Ledger's Joker was someone who wanted to challenge Batman, an ideological counterpart to Batman's hidden idealism. Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor is more of a character I had sympathy for than Batman or Superman combined. I wanted that poor baby to get some help rather than get scolded by senators with an axe to grind.
Summary:
This film was a painfully long reminder that man-feels should never bee kept inside. DC should consider creating a superhero whose super power is providing therapy for all these Brooding Boys, then maybe we can get a film with some worthwhile interpersonal and intergalactic struggle.
I'm honestly disappointed they decided to do a Batman v. Superman film before doing Wonder Woman. I think we all could have waited a few years before having to put up with the train-wreck of the Brooding Boys and their best constipated faces. Having seen how potentially awesome the Wonder Woman film might be, I'm definitely left feeling a little sore they didn't give us Diana's story first.
And in case you were wondering, there is no steamy kiss-and-make-up scene between Batman and Superman. I know, I'm crushed too
Last night I watched this movie and felt quite conflicted about it. I will add that I haven't seen Man of Steel. I watched 10 seconds of Man of Steel and said, "Nope, too cheesy and awful looking." I will avoid spoilers as much as possible, but suffice to say that reviewing a film without spoiling anything is difficult.
The Good:
In a sense, Ben Affleck's Batman is a continuation of Christian Bale's Batman. It's not a complete reboot, although we got to see Thomas and Martha Wayne killed once more. I don't think anyone is more tired of seeing Bruce's parents get killed than the fans. Though I will say their choice of Thomas Wayne was perfect and if they ever do a live-action Flashpoint film, Jeffrey Dean Morgan should be Thomas Wayne in that film. The film lacks enough substance to completely reboot Batman. Jeremy Iron's Alfred is quite possibly my favorite film Alfred thus far and that should say something since Michael Cain was terrific. This Alfred is younger, much more hands on, and isn't confined to peanut gallery commentary. Although the suit has changed, some of the tech has changed; much of what we know to be Batman is still the same. The Batmobile seems to be a cross between Nolan's Dark Knight design and Burton's neo-gothic chic. Affleck's Wayne falls into a cave by accident and discovers the bats, although the reliability of that scene is somewhat questionable. Batman still uses those silly bat stars, hurling them at people and things like he's passing out candy.
Enough about Brooding Boy 1 (and I have nothing to say about Brooding Boy 2), let me just say that Wonder Woman's appearance in the film was probably one of the few bright spots in the film. I would have been happier if they had just implied the fight between Daddy and Daddy while focusing all the screen time on her. I can't emphasize enough how much I love Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman. Although her armor still looks fairly impractical (short skirt and outer panties, seriously Snyder?), I understand it has the sort of "It looks just like the comics!"-appeal. Still, if Batman and Superman get to wear their underwear on the inside this time around, couldn't we have at least given Wonder Woman something a little more believable for armor? Maybe some pants? A breastplate sans boob cups?
The Bad:
Holy shite this film is long. The length of this film is such that I was left yelling at the screen, "He's over there! Kill him already so we can go home." There were way too many scenes of the Big Red Cape just sitting somewhere brooding while Cardstock Lois sits and cries--she spends almost the entire film in tears... They should have just used a cardboard cut out and poured buckets of water over it. Really though, is Lois always going to be a useless, barely-human prop for Superman to swoop in and save every half hour? I'm pretty sure Margot Kidder's Lois Lane in Superman (1978) had more agency than this unamusing puddle of tears.What's worse is I couldn't care at all about Superman's struggle. There is absolutely nothing that connects me to Brooding Boy 2's emotions. By the halfway mark in the film I was rooting for Batman to kill Superman.
The tension of the film is built by this competition of trying to do good. Wayne and Kent sit in their homes and listen to TV reporters saying, "OMG Batman did a bad thing. OMG Superman did a bad thing." I'm expected to get invested in the frustration of these two Superbros because some reporters said some mean things about them on television? Not even the fact that one of Superman's critics was Neil deGrasse Tyson referencing Copernicus could have saved the poorly established tension moments.
The film also uses a lot of dream sequences which are set up in such a way that the audience is not aware it's a dream until after the fact. Batman spends quite a bit of time daydreaming about his past and future, but to be honest I don't think any of it really enhanced the film. I know what the attempt was for and that is to convey certain inner fears and struggles that Wayne is having, but it didn't really have much of an impact on me.
I'm not a fan of this iteration of Lex Luthor. To me, he makes mental illness the butt end of a poorly told joke. He's basically the not-funny version of Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor. While some people might think I'm being hypocritical since I praised Heath Ledger's Joker, I'd like to point out that people who interpreted Ledger's Joker as mentally ill, psychopathic, sociopathic or whatever missed the whole point of that version of the Joker. Ledger's Joker was someone who wanted to challenge Batman, an ideological counterpart to Batman's hidden idealism. Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor is more of a character I had sympathy for than Batman or Superman combined. I wanted that poor baby to get some help rather than get scolded by senators with an axe to grind.
Summary:
This film was a painfully long reminder that man-feels should never bee kept inside. DC should consider creating a superhero whose super power is providing therapy for all these Brooding Boys, then maybe we can get a film with some worthwhile interpersonal and intergalactic struggle.
I'm honestly disappointed they decided to do a Batman v. Superman film before doing Wonder Woman. I think we all could have waited a few years before having to put up with the train-wreck of the Brooding Boys and their best constipated faces. Having seen how potentially awesome the Wonder Woman film might be, I'm definitely left feeling a little sore they didn't give us Diana's story first.
And in case you were wondering, there is no steamy kiss-and-make-up scene between Batman and Superman. I know, I'm crushed too