For the record, Ben Affleck is the best batman by far. Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice was a entertaining film. It has its flaws, but it was entertaining, at least to me it was. If you liked man of steel, or pretend it's an Elseworlds story, then you'll like it. If you didn't like Man of Steel, then you probably won't like this film. But for me, I liked it. I understood what some of my friends meant when it came to the beginning of the film. it is a bit choppy at parts and some parts in the beginning kind of drag a bit due to providing back story and motivations that boil down to the center of conflict between the characters in the film.
its interesting to watch this film the week after it was released. i didn't mind the batman flashback parts though. i mean, bruce explains the flashback like a dream. so it was validated. i think people took that scene literally. And I liked that batman wasn't like a god or anything, because he was portrayed in a believable way where he is still human, and there is only so much he could really do against people who have powers that are truly beyond him. unless he has prep time, or tech, thats as good as he can get. but affleck really nailed batman. the only thing i didn't like was the punisher-esque actions that would be portrayed. but in the context of that universe, which is a post 9/11 world where national and foreign security is a big deal, as well as modern cynicism, it nailed the stuff that i liked. i feel marvel lacks in those areas of consequence and death ( except for Jessica Jones and Daredevil, which nail the aspects of consequence and isn't afraid to play devils advocate when needed. I know the Russo brothers will address those themes in Captain America: Civil War. Mind you, I'm as much a Marvel fan as I am a DC comics fan).
Maybe people aren't ready for this sort of take because they hold to certain aspects of nostalgia, or aren't fond of variation of 75-100 years of source material. for what its worth, i'm interested in what the last 20 years were like for batman and what lead him to become a more violent and aggressively cynical man that he became till the events of the film. in addition, I liked the way superman was portrayed. He wasn't portrayed as a dark character. he was portrayed in a believable way, as a man still trying to grasp an idea of what his place in the world and the backlash he gets due to societies dislike or over worship of a being who has more power than the world. I can't imagine that that would be an easy thing for a modern day superman that grew up in modern times. now although the movie had its flaws, it did a fine job introducing elements of the Justice League, ( i didn't like the tiny extensive shot of Aquaman, they could have shorten that little cameo by a couple of more seconds), I wasn't fond of Doomsday's aesthetic, but I didn't mind the change in how Doomsday was created. IN addition, certain choices like Bruce creating a spear like weapon utilizing kryptonite was a little dumb, and there are other minor things, but that’s just some nitpicks. I did enjoy that the film utilized elements and aesthetics from stories like Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Batman: Earth One, Mark Waid's Kingdom Come, Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns, Injustice: God's among us, The Rocksteady batman : Arkham Games. and Jurgen's Death of Superman.
For the most part this movie was solid and is probably one of my fave films despite its flaws. it's not like it's supposed to be a crazy deep film, but the themes that it had were relevant to today's world and anyone who couldn't see past that have a right disagree. but for me, i know this ain't the pre 52 or the new 52, but a mixture of different story arcs, and elements that really showed just how serious the threats that pose against the league can be. Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman was fun, she definitely proved the critics wrong and made a great highlight for the film. and i look forward to the Justice League. I don't mind the DC films to be aesthetically and thematically different from marvel, because they shouldn't be alike .
I enjoyed the visuals, and I only hope that we get a more solid entry for Justice League. in order for that film to really succeed, Warner brothers and DC need to really sort out the script and flesh out the characters screen time, development, and usefulness to the overall story of the unfolding universe. with foreshadows of Injustice, The New Gods, flashpoint, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and other notable events from DC, i'd say that DC is heading in interesting direction that no doubt will continue to cause some controversy. and maybe, we need a bit of that to differentiate dc and marvel. its not a matter of what needs to be more darker, lighter or family oriented, but more of having a clear narrow vision and good execution and plausibility that could appeal to the fans, average movie goers and show up the critics all together. either way i can't wait. By the way, Justice league vs Teen titans was Legit! DC animation is killing it. but thats my general thought.
