Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

[DRW50]

http://deadline.com/2016/03/batman-v-superman-opening-weekend-box-office-records-1201726300/

 

Reading through the comments, this interested me:

 

oey Seph • on Mar 26, 2016 9:08 am

After an initial meeting with Snyder, it’s well documented that Chris Nolan vocally opposed Zack’s notes on Goyer’s trestment, for Superman to kill Zod. Snyder believed (and still believes) that he is a better filmmaker who knows these characters better than (wait for it) Chris Effing Nolan.

Shortly after that initial meeting, Nolan packed his bags and severed AL ties of Syncope and Legendary with WB. (He produces in name only, and hasn’t revisited a set or meeting since meeting Snyder in the very beginning of MoS, to check on his progress.)

[Vee]

In case you were wondering about Jimmy Olsen. SPOILERS.

[DRW50]

Ugh. Why am I not surprised. It's been obvious for years that DC has no respect for the Superman family, likely because they aren't raping and pillaging. 

 

Is Snyder really an Ayn Rand groupie? That would explain a lot. 

 

I guess at least Goyer's involvement means I'll never have to see any gay characters involved (ie, ruined and marauded)...

[Vee]

I think Warner Bros. is definitely very uncomfortable with Superman and virtually any non-Batman comic property, and always has been. Suicide Squad is dark, gritty and focused on supervillains which suits their tone, and the film itself will feature not only Batman villains but Batman himself.

 

Over in the comics wing they seem to be trying to curry favor with this "Rebirth" event which appears to be re-grafting the old DC Universe onto the new one in some weird way - reassembling the history of the Titans and their mentors, I think, and changing some things back to the way they were. But that's not enough for me to get me to re-invest in what's become of them sadly, I dropped DC completely at least four or five years ago. It's a strange testament to how blinkered things have become there when their big announcement of new titles today included one Superman book for each Superman - one featuring the New 52 version, the other featuring the pre-reboot Superman who is still married to Lois with a young son named Jonathan (who is getting his own book "Super Sons" with Damian Wayne's Robin). The original (and real IMO) Supes and Lois are now randomly living in the same DCU as the New 52 characters under false identities - why? I have no idea. When did the Clark and Lois we've known since the '80s have a biological son? Off-camera. I love the pre-New 52 DC before it got mutilated, but this is all just so cluttered and ridiculous. All this mess proves the New 52 never should have happened. (Something Grant Morrison rather pointedly commented on in his unusually dark ending to his Batman run, which had been disrupted by the sudden line-wide continuity reboot before he took leave of DC altogether - Morrison too loves Superman.)

[Money]

Having seen the movie last night I don't think it's godawful as the critics made it seem, however it was dreadfully boring. The special effects were mundane and the storyline was average. The climatic fight scene felt like a video game. Strange that Wonder Woman is jumping around and heaving herself and there wasn't a smidgen of dust somewhere on her body with all that epic fiery debris flying around. Nope!  Her skin and was just as perfect as ever. Batman instantly deciding Superman was no longer a threat based on a name rung hollow when he still did not know all the facts. It still did not negate why he hated Superman in the first place. Eisenberg was miscast as Lex and the schizophrenic acting does nothing for the character. I find Lois Lane highly annoying. She's a gnat I wish would go away.  And absolutely, Superman is way too dark.  It's just gloom and more gloom with pensive looks and grimaces throughout the entire movie. Even in tender scenes with Lois, Superman looks pensive. There was not one single moment of genuine laughter from the character. Superman is not Batman but they might as well have been given how interchangeably similar they were portrayed. I'm still trying to decide if Afleck made a decent Batman. Outside the costume, I kept seeing the actor but in costume I almost forgot. It was kind of jarring.

[ChitHappens]

This is so hilarious.  Poor Ben:

 

http://time.com/4271943/sad-ben-affleck-batman-v-superman-reviews/?xid=tcoshare

[Mr. Vixen]

I saw this Friday. Wow. Horrible. 

[Toups]

I enjoyed it, especially the last half of the movie.  The final battle with Doomsday was one of the better fights in a comic book movie.  I loved Wonder Woman in this fight - the way she was introduced by using the shield to save Batman; the way she just flew through the air to attack with her sword, and using the lasso to tie up Doomsday.  I don't really know much about WW but seeing her in this made me excited for origin story movie next year. 

 

Batman was more vicious, more violent in his attacks, like against the bad guys who had Martha Kent, than any other previous Batmans.  I hope there's an R-Rated version of this fight in the R-Rated Directors Cut.  I thought Batfleck was awesome.

 

Loved all the hints/foreshadowing to future films: Lex's file on Aquaman, Flash, WW, Cyborg; Bruce's dream where we see references to Darkseid and an evil Superman; Lex's painting which I think is another Darkseid reference; The Flash warning Bruce about Lois "being the key" and having to "save us"; The Joker reference with "haha the jokes on you Batman" written on what apparently was Robin's suit, so maybe The Joker killed Robin. 

 

I didn't like the majority of Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex Luthor - he did his usual fast-paced-speaking and tics.  The only good parts of his portrayal was when we saw the evil and Lex's eyes, when he was straightforward serious.  I hope to see more of that and less tics in future films.   I think Bryan Cranston would've been great in this role, but maybe Snyder was apprehensive about people seeing him as Walter White again instead of Lex (Bryan playing another bald bad guy). 

 

I was hoping to see more of Clark/Lois together - I just don't think feel enough of a connection to this pairing in two movies now.

 

Looking forward to the Justice League movie - I know they start shooting in April.

 

 

 

[Toups]

When we see Bruce's mom get killed again in the beginning of the movie, I thought, "Why do we need to see this again? Everyone knows this part of Bruce's story."  But I loved that "Martha" moment at the conclusion of the Batman/Superman fight.  I knew both Clark and Bruce have mothers named Martha, but it was an "oh yeah!" moment for me because I never seen it put in that context before, nor have I thought about that myself.  LOL   Batman didn't kill Superman *just because* "Martha" was also Superman's mother's name - he didn't know that until Lois came in and told him.  He stopped killing Superman because he was wondering why Superman was saying his mother's name.  Then after finding about Martha Kent being taken by Lex, Batman realizes Superman isn't just a "God" who can do whatever he wants, he realizes that Superman has a mother just like him, a mother that someone loves, a mother that he doesn't to see die (again).  That's what I took out of those scenes. 

 

"Why is Superman dark and broody?"  I think it's because no matter all the good that he has been doing, people are still questioning him, tearing him apart, blaming him for what happened in Man of Steel (Zod coming to Earth because of him, destroying all those buildings therefore "killing" all those innocent lives); and then being blamed again for more deaths in Africa, and then again for what happened on Capitol Hill.  That stuff takes a toll on you, so he was in a bad place mentally.   Now that people are on his side, maybe he'll be "brighter" in the movies to come.  We'll have to wait and see what his resurrection will be like.

 

 

[YRBB]

I liked it.

 

Yep.

 

Yep.

 

Thank you.

 

[Mr. Vixen]

The only things I enjoyed about the film were Amy Adams, Holly Hunter, Diane Lane, and the actress who played WW (whose name is escaping me). 

[DRW50]

If not for the Jimmy Olsen thing I might have seen this someday, as I sort of wanted to see how Affleck did as Batman (I've always simultaneously thought Affleck was douchey/dull/sort of hot/charismatic...). Facewise he's sort of how I have headcanoned Batman/Bruce more than once.

 

I have to admit all the "Batman doesn't kill" brouhaha surprised me, as I could swear I remember him killing quite a bit. 

 

I sometimes get the feelings many modern comic and movie writers don't actually like Lois Lane but feel they have to include her. It's too bad - she's actually a cool character when given the chance. 

 

Based on the critical mauling I expected more negative fan reviews. They have been negative, but not on the disaster the reviews would suggest. It's sort of the inverse of Age of Ultron, which a lot of people seemed to dislike and struggle with, but tried not to be too negative because Whedon and Marvel are golden children.

[YRBB]

Maybe it's because I had very low expectations, but I found her one of THE best parts of the movie and WW was badass. That was certainly a pleasant surprise. 

 

The Jimmy Olsen thing was truly horrific, only slightly made better by the fact they didn't make it clear it was him. Still, it made NO sense and was truly unnecessary. However, specifically in the context of the movie, and only in that, it didn't register as much, considering it happened really early on and then things moved on.

 

Your comments on Affleck are really amusing to me because that's exactly how I feel about him. Thought I was the only one!

 

I have always loved Lois Lane in the various incarnations of Superman I've seen but this version of her really tests my nerves. I don't think they get her.

[YRBB]

It has made over 500 million dollars in five days. 

[quartermainefan]

I didn't hate it.  It was slow, pondering and dull at times, but that is when I went to get popcorn.   Once the fighting starts it can be fun in a WWE way.  As a story it is a total mess but Wonder Woman had a couple of cool bits.