Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice Movie Thread (Possible Spoilers)

[Jeff Mack]

Just wanted to post this thread for a bit to see if there were those who saw the movie and wanted to talk about it.  Chances are there will be spoilers in here so if you don't want to know anything, please don't read this thread.  Did it live up to the hype?  Did you like the characters?  Do you like the direction they are going?

[exciter1]

Who gets the belt?

[Jeff Mack]

Characters were solid.  He's a great Superman, Affleck did a very good job as Batman, Wonder Woman was very good.  Didn't really love the introductions of the other characters, hated some of the dream stuff and thought that the destruction again at the end was just crazy.  It was necessary to do some of this to get the plot moving towards the future stories and I am sure its not that easy wedging all this information in.  I guess overall I would rate it a 7 out of 10.

By the way, why was Superman dragging that ship in the snow?  Was it for exercise?

[exciter1]

1 minute ago, Jeff Mack said:

Characters were solid.  He's a great Superman, Affleck did a very good job as Batman, Wonder Woman was very good.  Didn't really love the introductions of the other characters, hated some of the dream stuff and thought that the destruction again at the end was just crazy.  It was necessary to do some of this to get the plot moving towards the future stories and I am sure its not that easy wedging all this information in.  I guess overall I would rate it a 7 out of 10.

I wasn't real crazy about the destruction at the end of "Man of Steel" either.

[Jeff Mack]

Just now, exciter1 said:

I wasn't real crazy about the destruction at the end of "Man of Steel" either.

I remember leaving the theater for that one and asking my wife, "and people are ok with all the destruction and death that they caused", at least there was a purpose for it and get to this part of the story.

[Quacs]

I am a sucker for DC Comics Super Heroes, and I enjoyed the movie.  It was well acted, the fight scenes were excellent (and over-the-top), and there wasn't a moment during the movie that I wasn't totally engaged.  Wonder Woman had a great cameo, and during the movie the audience actually applauded when she showed up.  

In reading some of the critics, many were mixed on Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, but I thought he was great - believable bad guy that manipulates both Super Heroes.

Let's face it - this movie had a LOT of goals to accomplish: introduction of the Justice League, walking the fine line of pathos between having two heroic characters fight each other, bringing Wonder Woman into the storyline, tying into the Man of Steel plot line, giving back story to a darker Batman, and continuing to explore Superman's internal struggle to understand how he fits with the human race.  All this while trying to maintain a coherent plot line was a gargantuan task, but I think Snyder pulled it off.  

Generally, if you enjoyed the Man of Steel I think you'll really enjoy this movie.  I know I did, and will be looking to see it again in the theaters soon.

[dcurve]

I need to say that I really wanted to like this film. I am a huge DC fan and love Batman. I was really looking forward to this film and would have forgiven so many shortcomings ....

I was not happy with it. It left me very disappointed overall. I liked many of the scenes and there were many cool "points" in the film. 

As a huge fan of the Frank Miller Dark Knight series that shaped my love of Batman many years ago .. I was very disappointed to see a Batman that had no clear inclination to not kill. The moral line that Batman (almost always) doesn't cross was blatantly crossed numerous times with no pause. It was very jarring. 

I liked Afleck's Batman, but didn't like how far they took him. It turns Batman into Punisher. I also felt that Lex was fingers on a chalkboard. I think they could have totally cut Lex out of the movie. It would have been so much better .... Wonder Woman was great, and the little Justice League cameos were fun, but awkward and hard for anyone else that wasn't a DC fanboy to follow. Alfred rocked. 

I didn't mind the dream sequences although I thought it was odd that Batman would be the one to have them ...

The ending made no sense to me either as the last scene seems to undo it all. 

All in all, it was entertaining, but not a movie that left me with a good feeling. I was very disappointed and left with a poor feeling of confusion. I didn't have "fun" at the movie. 

As a Lego Investor, I am left wondering what this will do the Nolan Tumbler series and if that franchise will be resurrected as the the Holy Grail of Batman. I am hoping that people will have some nostalgia for a great movie sequence and will come back to it trying to fill that superhero "hole" left by the new movie. I also think that the Marvel universe will benefit from the DC / Warner misstep here.

Edited March 26, 2016 by dcurve

[Alpinemaps]

I saw this movie for the first time last night.  I haven't read any commentary yet (even in this thread), so I'll just share first, and then go and start reading.

I liked it.

I've heard there was some criticism, but I really enjoyed it.  It was a bit long; there could have been some scenes cut.  But overall, I really enjoyed it.  I'm a long time Superman fan, and I've very familiar with the source material for the Death of Superman and Doomsday.  I was fine that it was based loosely on that.

I *loved* it when Diana shows up as Wonder Woman, to battle Doomsday.  She absolutely rocked on screen.  I'm curious to learn more about her motivations to be back in Man's World, after being gone for 100 years.  But I thought she was fantastic, and loved how she had "transformed" from "Diana Prince" to "Wonder Woman."  She was strong, she was intense.  She fit my image of WW just fine.

I also enjoyed Lex Luthor.  I thought he was well done.  I had no problem with his arc.  He was, to me, clearly a mastermind who had a plan and an end game all along.  If anything, he was probably played a little too well, because the surface "geek" seemed like that was as deep as he was.  He was cold blooded and ruthless and very subtle about it (until the end).  I also enjoyed his descent into madness at the end; it's clear, to me, that Darkseid (who is going to be the big baddie for all of these movies, imo), had already gotten to Luthor.

I loved the foreshadowing to what's to come, with Bruce's visions.  The huge Omega symbol, the Parademons, and, the Flash coming back in time to appear to Bruce.  Awesome.

Speaking of the Flash....I wish it was Grant, but, after seeing this - it just can't be Grant.  The TV Flash just doesn't have a place in this universe.  That's pretty clear to me.  Neither does Green Arrow, or even Supergirl.  The TV shows are different enough from these movies that it just doesn't work.  I think the biggest problem I'm going to personally have is to separate myself from the TV Flash to see the Movie Flash as a different version of Barry Allen.

All in all, I enjoyed the movie.  I'm looking forward to Suicide Squad, and now, I'm really looking forward to Wonder Woman.

edit to add:

I loved Affleck's Batman/Bruce Wayne.  I really dug a Batman that's been operating for 20 years.  I thought he was excellent.  Jeremy Irons as Alfred was fantastic as well.

2nd edit:

I loved the Batmobile, and I loved the way that the Batmobile entered the cave via the lake.

[Alpinemaps]

On March 25, 2016 at 7:15 AM, Jeff Mack said:

By the way, why was Superman dragging that ship in the snow?  Was it for exercise?

I think it was to contrast a scene later, where Bruce is working out, and he's dragging a tire across the Batcave.  You've got Superman that can drag a huge freaking ship across the ice, and Batman can drag a tire.  How in the hell is Batman going to beat Superman?

[jbacunn]

I liked the movie up until the point when Superman's mom gets kidnapped. Throughout the course of the movie he knows where Lois is at all times and comes to her rescue at least twice in the movie when she is in trouble. So when Martha gets kidnapped he doesn't know that she was in trouble? He doesn't keep the same tabs on his mom the same way that he does Lois? I didn't buy it.

Then when it completely went off the rails is the whole our moms have the same name fiasco. This was a complete joke. Batman has been trying to kill/stop Superman the whole movie and he stops because both their moms have the same name? Come on. And then Batman tells Martha 5 minutes later when he rescues her that he and Clark are friends? Yeah, they have been friends for 5 minutes but before that he was about to kill him? I could go on. There were many more problems.

There were good moments in the movie and I am looking forward to the WW movie but this movie overall was a hot mess.

[Alpinemaps]

I took the "Mom is Martha" moment as the final blow to make Clark human to Bruce. Alfred had been trying to tell him the whole time that Clark wasn't the enemy.

I think once he heard Lois say that Martha was Clark's mother's name it finally got through to him that Clark was human and had human connections. And that while Bruce's mom could never have been saved, Clark's could be.

And Bruce has always been about saving innocents. No matter what, Martha was an innocent in this.

[jbacunn]

2 hours ago, Alpinemaps said:

I took the "Mom is Martha" moment as the final blow to make Clark human to Bruce. Alfred had been trying to tell him the whole time that Clark wasn't the enemy.

I think once he heard Lois say that Martha was Clark's mother's name it finally got through to him that Clark was human and had human connections. And that while Bruce's mom could never have been saved, Clark's could be.

And Bruce has always been about saving innocents. No matter what, Martha was an innocent in this.

I see what they were trying to do and handled differently this could have worked but for me it was so out of left field it was just a complete WTF moment. 

[Alpinemaps]

Happy Martha's Day

[jaisonline]

So I avoided going to the theater to watch BvS.  The ultimate edition sounded interesting enough so I watched that 2 days ago.

honstly, BvS wasn't a bad movie and I don't understand the terrible reviews.  Maybe because I didn't see the theatric version or my expectations were low?  All I'm saying is the movie was actually good. Way better than Superman MoS.  

The only things I didn't like were.

• Luther was too comedic.  

• Too many dream sequences by Bruce Wayne.  By the way, that didn't look like The Flash after the desert dream sequence. Suit looked strange.