“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” Movie Review

March 30, 2016

(A New Beginning)

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Superman / Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) brought death and destruction to Metropolis in the last movie (see my review). Not that it was his fault….Earth was attacked by aliens from his lost world of Krypton and Superman was just doing his best to save us.

Batman / Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) is mad at Superman for causing so much pain, death, and destruction. He feels he needs to stop Superman.

Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) is manipulating the bad feelings between the two super heroes while increasing his power over them…..and the world.

“Batman v Superman” delves, briefly, into the past lives of Superman and Batman then builds on the hatred growing between them until the ultimate battle.

Batman vs Superman: Who will win? Who brought Wonder Woman along? And Metropolis and Gotham City are neighboring cities…who knew?

“Batman v Superman” is not a brainless action flick. It makes you think about what is going on and what the future might hold. Along the way it introduces the audience to several more DC Comic characters: Wonder Woman / Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), The Flash (Ezra Miller), and Aquaman (Jason Momoa). These characters form the basis of a new direction moving forward for DC Comics as it emulates the success of Marvel with new movies of the Justice League as a team and then…..as individuals.

This is a new cinematic event that will unfold over the next few years.

Great stuff.

Ben Affleck is a bigger, beefier, brooding, more serious, Bruce Wayne / Batman than his predecessor. We all know Henry Cavill as “mild mannered reporter for the great Metropolitan newspaper” Clark Kent /Superman. Jesse Eisenberg is brilliant as the long haired, psychotic, Lex Luther.

Good for the whole family except maybe the youngest. Lots of comic book violence and action, but, also lots of thinking required to piece things together. If you know the DC Comic universe, the pieces are all there, if you are learning, like us, it takes a bit of work. All-in-all this is an exciting new start for a “new” group of super heroes.

For fun….here is how I know so much about the Justice League (not!)