A Perspective: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Part VII)

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We've had the big fight - and there is still forty minutes left. And this, in my opinion is the best forty minutes of the movie.

Firstly we're treated to a Batman set piece where he rescues Martha. It's an outstanding scene. It's heavy on CGI, and it does stick out a little, but it's not jarring. The scene shows Batman as The Batman. Dude's unstoppable. This is what we signed up for. It's the best fight scene in the film by a long shot. It shows Batman as a powerhouse of violence. He's raw. He kills. (As a side note, the forthcoming The Batman had better be this. Lots and lots of this.)

This cuts to Superman facing off on Lex, who from within Zod's ship unleashes... Doomsday.

And Doomsday tosses Superman around like a rag doll.

Doomsday. Sort of.

So Supes carries him into space, they get hit by a nuke. They're fine, back to Earth - and Batman turns up.

Doomsday about to murder the shit out of him and WONDER WOMAN! That entrance! That theme tune! Goddamn it why wasn't the rest of this film this good?

Gal Gadot

Anyway, the three fight Doomsday, Superman kills it with Batman's spear, Superman takes an arrow to the knee and dies.

Funeral.

Superman's dirt floats. Spoiler. Not dead.

The End.

Well that was a slog, no?

Final thoughts

On first viewing I was left a little cold. The film has many, many issues with plotting and pacing. It's unnecessarily confusing, and the story doesn't hold together. On further viewing, the issues become more obvious. The screen writers are trying to do too much. In a single movie we have a Batman intro (should have been it's own film) and birth of the Justice League (should have been it's own film released before this one) Death of Superman (should have been it's own film). Consequently the film plateaus to a stop in the second act.

Put simply, there is too much jammed in.

And it's obvious the DC have tried to mimic the success of Marvel without doing the ground work. 

So after multiple viewings there is no doubt it is a bad movie.

But it does have significant numbers of fantastic scenes, good films. Good filmmaking. The fight scenes are good - Batman is well realized in them. The choreography is fantastic, the special effects great. Most of the performances are good, but Gal Gadot and Jeremy Irons are absolutely fantastic. 

So after multiple viewings there is no doubt it is a good film.

Go figure.