Technical
Engaging 6
Suspenseful +1
An amazing scene (Batman on the third floor) +½
Epic in scale +½
Amazing visuals +½
Obvious plothole -½
Uneven tone -½
Total: 7 ½
Overall impression
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is exactly what its title would imply: a fight between Batman and Superman that sets up the Justice League of DC heroes. It tells the story of how Bruce Wayne, whose office building was destroyed during Superman’s fight with General Zod in Man of Steel, becomes convinced that Superman’s unlimited power is too dangerous and sets out to do something to stop him. But Superman may not be the greatest threat on the horizon. Before I get into what I feel are some fundamental flaws in this film, let me address what I liked about it. The acting all around was good. Each actor fit his/her respective role well; Ben Affleck was fine as Batman in this film, Henry Cavill is fine as Superman, Gal Gadot is fine as Wonder Woman, Jesse Eisenberg was fine as Alexander “Lex” Luthor. I say “fine” for each of their performances because the script for this film required very little actual acting from them. The visuals in this film were great, and a lot of imagery was well used, particularly the Batman-related imagery. The fight between Batman and Superman, while it lasts, is very enjoyable to watch. Batman has some fight scenes of his own that are all pretty amazing and really show off how physically imposing he is. Now, unfortunately, for the bad. My description of the plot at the beginning of this review is the best, non-convoluted summary I can give, because convoluted is a very good way of describing it. There is so much going on in this film, and it attempts to bring it all together in some really poor ways. One of the characters in this movie is brought into the conflict because of a picture. If that seems like a flimsy reason to bring in a major character, there is a lot in this movie that you won’t like. The way in which this film pits Batman against Superman just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. There are so many subplots in this film that are never properly explored or explained, as if the film is trying to set up fifty other films and tie them all into this one. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice does not care at all about telling a great story or featuring compelling characters. It only cares about being epic and huge. And that it was. Everything about this film, from its style to its visuals to its bombastic score, screams epic. The fight scenes are some of the biggest I’ve ever seen, and the film’s two and a half hour runtime is stuffed with what feels like a film that is all about climax. The final act is a visual effects bonanza with ridiculous situations and characters that punch each other around the world. It might scream “awesome!”, but it doesn’t scream good, smart, or compelling. I wish this film were just about Batman and Superman fighting. I wish it had the focus it needed to make this story better. I wish it gave the characters real motivations and made the audience really care about this fight, as if it really mattered to the characters on a personal level. Nowhere in this film did I feel like I was invested in a particular character or action. It’s been such a triumph of superhero films of late to be able to capture a comic book and transport the audience into its pages by making us believe and feel for the characters portrayed. This movie doesn’t care at all about any of that; it only cares about spectacle. It had some good moments and was entertaining throughout. But it was never compelling, moving, or intelligent. If it weren’t for this film’s title, it would be just another mindless action film.
Total: 5
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Review
Grand Total: 6 ¼
Technical
Watchable 4
Suspenseful +1
An amazing scene (tornado) +½
Epic in scale +½
Obvious plothole -½
Boring part -½
Total: 5
Overall impression
Man of Steel is about Kal-El, better known as Superman, a man from the planet Krypton who was sent to earth to avoid Krypton’s destruction. On earth he is found by the Kent family, who name him clark and raise him as a human. But General Zod, who also survived Krypton’s destruction, is after Superman because he holds the key to Krypton being reborn, so he threatens to destroy earth of Superman doesn’t give himself up. If this seems a little confusing, that’s because it is, even on my third watch. Fortunately, there is a fair amount to like in Man of Steel that somewhat makes up for its confusing story. The origin of Superman is handled pretty well, even if the acting from all of the humans on earth is really serious and dull. In fact, almost everything about this movie (except for Michael Shannon’s over-the-top performance as Zod) is really dull and gray. From the grayed-out color pallet to the loud, drum-heavy score, this movie just lacks emotion in general. I pointed out Superman’s origin as something I liked the most in this film because it actually had some emotion to it, particularly in a scene featuring a tornado. Now, this emotion is fleeting, but it was definitely good to see in this otherwise bleak movie. This scene also involved a theme in this film about how people would react to Superman’s existence. Would he be treated as a god or would people fear and try to destroy him? His earth father was afraid of people trying to destroy him, and it really plays into this scene. Afterwards, however, the film turns into a mess. The fighting between Zod and Superman look so artificial and effects-heavy that it actually gets boring; I felt like I was watching a video game. Nothing in the second half of this film involves any emotion or character, which is what the film needed to do to get the audience invested. In the end, Man of Steel did a decent job of telling the origin story of Superman, even if it was pretty serious, but couldn’t really engage me in its second half. The acting was decent but the film didn’t really demand a lot of emotion from its characters, and that was the real problem: this film just lacked emotion.
Total: 5
Man of Steel Review
Grand Total: 5
Suicide Squad Review
Grand Total: 3 ½
Technical
Watchable 4
Uneven tone -½
Obvious plothole -½
Total: 3
Overall impression
Suicide Squad is about a group of criminals that are being put together to combat the next great potential threat. Like, what if another powerful alien creature like Superman decided that the world was to be destroyed. Who would be there to stop the threat? Well, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) decides that a certain group of incredibly effective criminals should be the force to stop such a potential threat. So when this threat arrives in the film, these criminals go after it. The group is comprised of nine members including Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), and El Diablo (Jay Hernandez).
That’s the movie. There isn’t anything complicated going on here. It's just a bunch of characters against a villain. The first half hour or so of this film is almost entirely exposition from Amanda Waller, explaining each of the characters in the team. There are some flashback sequences, a standout of which involves Deadshot, but it is rushed through, as if the film just wanted to get it out of the way. And that’s where the movie failed the most: it didn’t provide a reason to really care about any of these characters. There is almost no conflict here. The actors were having fun (mostly, Joel Kinnaman was pretty stone-faced) and the action was there, but it just felt like it was exactly that: just there. The story itself didn’t personally involve any of the characters in a way that made me care about them; all but one of them are literally fighting for a shorter prison sentence. How unengaging can you get? Sure, there are bits and pieces of humanity or emotion in a scene here and there, like when the characters go sit down in a bar and we learn a little bit about El Diablo, but that happens way after the film has set itself up to fail.
Some of the technical aspects of the film were also a mixed bag. The music choices were sometimes quite fitting, as songs were used a lot of the time to introduce characters. Other times, however, they just seemed randomly inserted into the film, without any need. The visual effects, when incorporated in the villain and its army (yes, another villain with an army of mindless minions, just like in almost every Marvel film), are pretty poor. Where the film redeems itself is in the practical effects it uses to show what happens to objects that one of the villains touches, which looked really cool. Good practical effects in a film like this are always nice to see.
Overall, Suicide Squad just couldn’t get itself out from underneath its incredibly generic story. Some of the characters had some clear motivations, but most of them were just along for the ride, having a good time. And there was fun to be had in this film, but most of it was just forgettable scenes building up to an incredibly forgettable villain. I feel like this film just had too many characters and too little time to make them all matter. Even The Joker, a staple villain in DC Comics, felt unnecessarily shoved into this film so that he could be used in later films. He was entertaining, and Jared Leto’s version of the character is definitely a new and interesting take, but once again, this character is in a movie where he doesn’t really matter. That’s really what all of the problems in this film boil down to: things just didn’t seem to matter.
Total: 4
Wonder Woman Review
Grand Total: 8 ½
Technical
Engaging 6
Suspenseful +1
Moving +1
An amazing scene (leaving the watch) +½
Epic in scale +½
Great music +½
Obvious plothole -½
Total: 9
Overall impression
Wonder Woman is about Diana (Gal Gadot), a princess of Paradise Island, an island hidden away from the rest of the world and inhabited entirely by female warriors. She’s grown up as an idealist determined to maintaining peace in the world, even if she doesn’t know much of anything about the outside world. So when Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), a British spy, crashes his plane near their island, Diana meets a man for the first time and learns about World War I. Determined to end the war, she leaves with Steve who agrees to take her to the front where she hopes to find Ares, the God of War and the person she believes to be behind the war.
So we have two fish-out-of-water stories. One of Steve Trevor on Paradise Island, learning about these women who believe in all of these Greek legends involving Ares and Zeus. And another of Diana in Europe, learning about the rest of the world and the war. This could have easily been confusing, but the movie executes it really well. The premise helps develop both characters while providing quite a lot of situational humor that doesn’t feel contrived.
There are a lot of positives found in Wonder Woman, the first of which is focus. This film does not care about setting up other movies or characters; it’s focused simply on Diana and how her character changes. She really comes into her own, finding her place in this very different world, and you really feel for her and for Steve Trevor, who is completely out of his element, often just reacting to the amazing things that Wonder Woman can do.
The action is great in this movie for the most part. The blows feel heavy and the action means something for the characters every time. There is an action scene in no man’s land that literally gave me chills, in part because of how it’s filmed and in part because of the thrilling music that helps build it up so well. Many of the other action scenes are similarly great, even if some of them use a little too much slow-motion or special effects.
The only real negatives in this film are with the third act and the villains. There are three villains in this film, and none of them are really that great. I get what the movie is trying to do with them but I don’t think it quite worked. The third act does heavily use special effects in its action that felt a little generic and overblown.
Other than that though, I was really impressed by this movie. I got a lot of emotion out of it, which I was not expecting, and understood the characters very well. It felt focused and grounded, very much unlike the other DC comic book movies. The villains were a little uninspired, but the two main characters work well enough on their own that it really doesn’t harm the movie that much. Add in a great score and just a sense of optimism and you have a really refreshing superhero film.
Total: 8