Director: Zack Snyder
Notable Cast: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons, Laurence Fishburne, Holly Hunter
At this point, I kind of feel bad for the DC cinematic
universe. I mean, DC has always had a lot of trouble bringing their material to
live action screen (outside of Batman – even then I think Nolan’s films tend to
be overrated) and 2013’s Man of Steel
actually made me kind of angry with its ultra-serious tone and shifty muted
approach to the material. So I was being cautiously optimistic for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which
acts as the second film of their official cinematic universe. There is a lot of
fun ideas at play in the film, including pulling story elements from the all-time
classic The Dark Knight Returns
graphic novel, and I was actually quite supportive of Ben Affleck as Batman and
their choice to go with an older, more gritty rendition of the character. It’s
unfortunate that the film itself is such a gigantic mess. Warner and DC are obviously
trying their hardest to play catch up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and
the desperation of their attempts at making money and crafting tent pole kick
off films instead of good films reeks as Batman
v Superman plays out. Enough so that I’m tempted to say it might actually be
worse than Man of Steel – if only for
its wasted potential.