(I was originally going to have one post including non-spoiler and a spoiler review/thoughts but it got too big. I’ll save the spoilers for a discussion with you all.)
I went in not knowing what to expect, the movie certainly looked good and I enjoyed all the trailers even though the doomsday trailer showed too much. Bad reviews hit and I was worried but still hyped because I’ve seen many movies with bad reviews and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them.
So the movie starts and I’m biting my finger nails because instantly I was like “This is why it has bad reviews” in the first 2 minutes I shouldn’t be saying that to any movie but luckily it was a false flag and the movie redeemed the first two minutes and kicked into action immediately.
What followed was roughly two hours and thirty minutes of DC Comics goodness. As an almost life long fan, albeit a small gap during early teens, this movie meant a lot. It’s the first time we would see a live action Batman and Superman together on screen and on top of that the first time the Trinity is on screen (Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman for you comic noobs.)
It felt like I was watching an old eighties or even nineties comic book come to life in front of me. Superman looks like Superman, Batman looks like Batman and Wonder Woman looks like Wonder Woman (for the most part, she’s more accurate to what she would look like if Themyscira existed.) The characters also acted the same, for the most part, Superman was more of an empty shell lacking identity and still searching, Batman is incredibly violent, tired and doesn’t give a shit (very Frank Miller which is exciting) and Wonder Woman impacts you in a way you wouldn’t think was possible with Gal Gadot’s casting (I’ve been a supporter of her casting but I didn’t expect her to be awesome, however the real test will be in the Wonder Woman movie where she’s the focus.)
Lex Luthor was different but he still felt like Lex, his menace wasn’t the usual Luthor menace but what we got was a good substitute and it worked perfectly in the movie. He has an acidity to him that makes him so great to watch and you really do get the sense that this guy hates Superman.
Special mention for Alfred and Lois. Best we’ve ever seen yet.
The action was top notch and surprisingly light. There’s several action and thriller scenes in the first two hours but we only get one fight in those two hours, that might sound boring but the tension and stress is gripping and having an awesome Batmobile chase also helps keep things moving. Bonus points for how intimidating Batman is in his first appearance.
The final fight which unfortunately the trailer’s spoiled… It was good. My one complaint is that at times it felt a little obscured, I would’ve liked to be in the action but it took me away a few too many times to watch from afar or through smoke and dust.
(Dudes the Batman fight against… It’s a spoiler but that fight from the trailer is amazing! Hohoho)
Final thing I want to mention is the imagery, it’s phenomenal. It’s a Zack Snyder film so it’s obviously going to look incredibly pretty but it’s not the visuals that wowed me, it’s what we see that makes the movie so great. The filmmakers clearly spent a lot of time fine tuning what’s in the background and foreground, the placement of actors and so on.
As a result every scene has something interesting in it that either foreshadows future events or hints at character identities and motivations. If you read this before watching the movie really pay attention and you’ll find a lot of awesome stuff. This is a minor spoiler, a very minor spoiler, but there’s a scene when Bruce is following Diana at a party and a cake shaped like a Parthenon goes past and that’s there for the DC fans because we know what it means.
So I loved this movie and I look forward to discussing the spoilers with you all soon.
I’ve added a little something in spoiler because it needs to be mentioned… Beware it’s a big spoiler.
Okay Batman kills almost everyone he fights, he blows them up, runs them over and lights them on fire… This is not our typical Batman. When I first watched the movie I got hung up on it, I didn’t know what to make of it because it felt right in the movie but it goes against almost every depiction of Batman.
After sleeping I decided that it was okay. We’ve had different Batman’s, Frank Miller’s killed and this Batman is heavily based off Frank Miller’s works. It’s still a new Batman but I can’t help but wonder how other comic fans and non comic audiences will react to it.
When Batman was clearly killing people I heard someone whisper… loudly which annoyed me but they whispered “He’s killing them, he can’t kill.” Well this Batman does kill and I had to sleep on it to make my mind up but it is a big departure from the typical Gotham Bat, especially after Christopher Nolan hit us on the head with it so much in his trilogy.