Plot: After witnessing Superman’s (Henry Cavill) capacity for destruction first hand, an aged and battle-hardened Batman (Ben Affleck) sets out to confront him. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor (Jessie Eisenberg) attempts to destroy Superman’s reputation by any means necessary.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is director Zack Snyder’s second Superman film and one that has the daunting task of hurriedly setting up the DC cinematic universe whilst also acting as a sequel to Man of Steel and introducing a new Batman. That’s a lot to take on, and makes Dawn of Justice bloated and unfocused, weighing down what is otherwise a rather entertaining film.
Excluding Eisenberg’s cartoonish portrayal of Lex Luthor, Dawn of Justice takes itself very seriously and – unlike Marvel’s superhero ventures – isn’t brimming with comic relief. If you found Man of Steel too moody, Snyder isn’t going to win you over here. Superman flies around rescuing Lois Lane (Amy Adams), punching through walls and shooting lasers from his eyes but rarely cracks a smile; so focused is the film on his guilt, anger and pain that it forgets to have fun with the character. Batman however feels a lot more well rounded, and Affleck is well suited to the role. The back and forth between him and his faithful butler Alfred (Jeremy Irons) works well and the fights featuring the caped crusader are intense and exciting. My only gripe is that this take on the character kills people, which is famously very un-Batman and the film never addresses this significant change to the hero’s moral code.
Like The Amazing Spiderman 2 and Avengers: Age of Ultron before it, Dawn of Justice falls into the trap of focusing so much on setting up future films that its own plot suffers, a problem further emphasised by poor pacing and abrupt editing. Knowing The Justice League is on its way is exciting, however a series of cameos and jarring visions don’t feel substantial enough to significantly set-up what’s to come and will only confuse anyone unfamiliar with the film’s source material.
Verdict:
An uneven, overburdened film with moments of brilliance and an exciting new Batman.
3/5
Screened 