Spoilers Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Grading & Discussion

[Corran Horn]

uproxx review

I do not have superhero fatigue. I like superhero movies. I like Man of Steel! (For crying out loud, I even like Batman Forever.) But Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice just lands with a big thud. Good grief, I wanted to like this movie. Especially on a day like today when escapism seems like the only reasonable option. It’s the kind of movie where you keep bargaining with yourself throughout the movie. Things like, “Well, that character was sure shoehorned in, but they have to set up his movie, too.” Or, “Well, I’m sure that will all be explained in another movie.” Or, “Okay, this seems like a lot of dream sequences, but it’s nice to see that character.”

ugh. Well, WB went all-in with Synder after MoS so for good or ill they'll deserve what they get.

We might not have to worry about them not having Grant Gust in any Flash film, though.

 

[STEPhon IT]

^ Reactions are extremely positive so far and as expected, many are saying that Affleck is their favorite Batman.

At least one person here should be attending a premiere screening, so let us know if there's a post-credit scene.

It's like the coming of a new James Bond, a few with the loudest voices scream and shout about the casting... until the movie comes out and then they love him.

 

[Commander Richard]

Well, so much for the positive reactions. It's starting off at 37% on Rotten Tomatoes and 49% on Metacritic.

 

[Garak]

...disrespects the audience...

If you feel disrespected by movies you should probably be focusing on improving your self esteem instead of watching them.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Eh, I have no problem with superhero movies being "serious, grandiose and self-important" now and then. Especially when they have characters as iconic as these ones.

Well, the review says "Like Man of Steel", which I didn't really care for.

 

[Christopher]

When I looked at Rotten Tomatoes earlier, BvS was at 9%. That's not a typo. It's up to 41% now, though.

Still, the reviews seem to support everything I feared about this movie, particularly that the climax would be just as excessive a CGI orgy as in MoS. One review said you'd have a better opinion of the movie if you left 20 minutes early, which would certainly fit my reaction to MoS. I found the climactic sequence of MoS physically unpleasant to sit through, just an endless barrage of pointless noise and chaos that almost drove me out of the theater. If this movie's climax is in the same vein, I may have to wait until this movie comes out on DVD so I can watch it at a more bearable volume and maybe fast-play through the tedious bits.

It's really sad that Superman and Batman are meeting in live action for the first time and I'm not even a little bit enthusiastic about it. Thank goodness the Flash is meeting Supergirl next week.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

I have less than 47 hours to go till I can see the movie. The negative reviews have piqued my interest but I'm not going to read them until after I've seen the film. I don't want them to influence my decisions or any confirmation bias I might have.

 

[Garak]

It's really sad that Superman and Batman are meeting in live action for the first time and I'm not even a little bit enthusiastic about it. Thank goodness the Flash is meeting Supergirl next week.

"The plaque for the alternates is in the ladies' room."

 

[Commander Richard]

As much as I'm looking forward to the movie, I'll admit that I was never impressed with all the CGI chaos from the trailers. I watched Avengers: Age of Ultron again the other night and whoa! It was terrible. Pretty much all noise and chaos. I hope that this movie doesn't go down like that. I like Man of Steel though so I'm hopeful.

 

[Christopher]

As much as I'm looking forward to the movie, I'll admit that I was never impressed with all the CGI chaos from the trailers. I watched Avengers: Age of Ultron again the other night and whoa! It was terrible. Pretty much all noise and chaos. I hope that this movie doesn't go down like that. I like Man of Steel though so I'm hopeful.

I liked Ultron just fine -- in fact, I just checked it out of the library today for a rewatch. Sure, it had a lot of CGI action, but it never lost track of the plot or characters that the action was there to serve. In MoS, the story just dragged to a halt to make way for the CGI devastation, which is part of why those sequences felt so interminable.

 

[Arrrrgggh]

When I looked at Rotten Tomatoes earlier, BvS was at 9%. That's not a typo. It's up to 41% now, though.

Still, the reviews seem to support everything I feared about this movie, particularly that the climax would be just as excessive a CGI orgy as in MoS. One review said you'd have a better opinion of the movie if you left 20 minutes early, which would certainly fit my reaction to MoS. I found the climactic sequence of MoS physically unpleasant to sit through, just an endless barrage of pointless noise and chaos that almost drove me out of the theater. If this movie's climax is in the same vein, I may have to wait until this movie comes out on DVD so I can watch it at a more bearable volume and maybe fast-play through the tedious bits.

It's really sad that Superman and Batman are meeting in live action for the first time and I'm not even a little bit enthusiastic about it. Thank goodness the Flash is meeting Supergirl next week.

Sorry, you haven't seen the movie in full yet, thus you are not allowed to have negative views of it. No matter how much other material you have available with which to judge.

 

[davejames]

Well, so much for the positive reactions. It's starting off at 37% on Rotten Tomatoes and 49% on Metacritic.

Up to 41% on RT now. Although I wasn't really expecting the critics to like this anyway. They mostly seem to prefer the Marvel style of superhero movie that doesn't take itself or it's characters too seriously (the one exception obviously being TDK, but that was really more of a crime thriller than a superhero movie).

 

[dahj]

I loved the film, I know this thread is marked with a Spoiler tag, but I'll wait till it officially releases to elaborate in a spoilery manner as to why exactly.

Yes, it's a very ambitious and "adult" superhero film, and I suspect some people will not like it expecting an Avengers style romp, but I for one don't think that's a bad thing.

P.S.
Regarding CGI destruction, what you see in the trailers is kinda it.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Thanks to my "watch all you can" cinema card, I have tickets booked for the weekend. Perhaps this will be more of a chore than it's worth, especially given my wifes' disbility makes it hard for her to sit bolt upright in the cinema seats for long movies. Might do Zootropolis for a more doable runtime.

HUGO - Dawn of Just-stay-home?

 

[M.A.C.O.]

For people who have read the negative reviews (I am avoiding them), what exactly are the gripes they have with the movie?

Are there things they make the film/story not work or is more personal snobberies of things they don't want and or not used to seeing?

Non-spoiler reviews I've peeked at say the film provides good commentary for extremes and consequences of superheroism. I have to wonder if BvS not being a fun romp like many of the MCU films is the what's stuck in a lot of people's craw.

Forbes put out a review called BvS Triumphant. So it's not all gloom and doom, I guess.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhug...-batman-v-superman-triumphant/2/#76479ed26757

 

[Bad Bishop]

There are 2 contributors at Forbes.com who cover superhero films on a regular basis. They disagree strongly about BvS, though Scott Mendelson concedes that it is visually stunning.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2016/03/22/review-batman-v-superman-triumphant/#76fb68513cbd

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottme...justice-is-a-beautiful-disaster/#21ebf53476a0

 

[Aldo]

Sorry, you haven't seen the movie in full yet, thus you are not allowed to have negative views of it. No matter how much other material you have available with which to judge.

That's just it, he isn't having negative views on it, he's reading the reviews and looking back on his experience with MOS.

 

[dahj]

For people who have read the negative reviews (I am avoiding them), what exactly are the gripes they have with the movie?

I've just now glanced at the page and the blurbs for those reviews list complaints form "too many Oscar winners in it"(?) to the conclusion that the entire genre is in "dire need of a brake".

Honestly, I think some of those guys are just being dicks because this film is an easy target.

 

[Christopher]

That's just it, he isn't having negative views on it, he's reading the reviews and looking back on his experience with MOS.

I do intend to see the movie and judge for myself, of course. But MoS's climax was such an unpleasant sensory overload for me that I'm wary of seeing this one in the theater. If I wait to see it on home video, I can better control the intensity and pace of the experience.

 

[Arrrrgggh]

That's just it, he isn't having negative views on it, he's reading the reviews and looking back on his experience with MOS.

Nope, he expressly said he had fears about the movie, and that it wasn't going to be that great. That's not allowed to be said until you've actually seen the movie in full yourself, and even then it's questionable as you didn't see it repeatedly in order to pick up all the nuances of the film.

In fact, I'm not even sure how much information is really required before you can say you think a movie is going to look bad/is bad. Unless, of course, you're a small number of elitst posters. Then you can say whatever you want because, you know, you and you alone are the superior judges of all things fictional. Fuck everyone else.