Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Directed by Zack Snyder
Starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons and Gal Gadot
In UK Cinemas March 25th, 2016
by Laura Patricia Jones
Almost two years on from Man of Steel, Henry Cavill as the chiseled red caped crusader is back and despite those dreamy blue eyes, considered quite the terrorist by none other than Batman himself.
Reinvented with extra ab factor and an axe to grind, the one thing this Batman / Superman combo has going for it is an attractive view as the two are played off against each other by the conniving Lex Luther.
The casting of Jesse Eisenberg is a fresh twist on the iconic DC villain, a younger geekier spin which unlocks a new premise of comic book evil. But that’s about as far as it goes – two hours in and I can honestly say that I have no idea what I just watched….and I’m pretty sure Batman himself is equally as confused. Suddenly the superheroes have stopped scrapping, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) vacates a plane and a Kryptonian mutant super killer is on the loose.
The best way to describe it is a drunken night out that gets badly pieced together suddenly skipping from pre-drinks to the kebab shop with a selection of great characters, but no convincing through line as to how they got there. At one point I had to double check I wasn’t actually watching an Alien remake.
This isn’t to say that the scenes go without merit. As standalone spectacles the special effects and even acting is second to none, an aspect than can sometimes get overlooked in Blockbusters of this ilk, saved by the CGI. The casting is spot on with particular credit to Jeremy Irons as a tip top Alfred while Amy Adams’ take on Lois Lane is a believable one.
But the whole thing is a bit of a broken jigsaw puzzle, a premise that tries to do too much. Watch it for nail-biting fight scenes, Henry Cavill objectified as big screen eye candy, Gal Gadot bad-assing it Wonder Woman style and Jesse Eisenberg creeping the hell out of you – but don’t expect any of it to make a great deal of sense.
