‘Batman v. Superman’ entertains despite negative reviews

“Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” has been lurking in the periphery of moviegoers everywhere for years now. We all knew it was coming, but no one knew exactly what to expect. Considering the main characters and their glorious past on the big screen, DC’s counterpunch to the Marvel machine was expected to be epic – which is why I was dismayed to see horrible reviews online the morning after the movie finally premiered. Sure, I had feared that “Batman v. Superman” might fall prey to the same special effects-bait and “let’s just have him blow stuff up for a while” line of thinking that “Man of Steel” did, but never did I think that a movie featuring Batman and Superman fighting each other would get reviews like, “don’t waste your money” especially when considering the climate of superhero movies in our society right now.
Despite the truly awful reviews (24 percent on Rotten Tomatoes the day after it opened) I still had to see this thing. The conclusion I came away with was this: don’t always trust the critics.
I’ll start with the negatives and there were, undeniably, some negatives. First, the movie is long and could probably be shortened without it effecting the storyline. The opening hour is slow; still a superhero movie, but slow. It is apparent that they want to set up something big very precisely and they want you to see exactly why Batman and Superman are in conflict. For me, I didn’t mind this too much. I like seeing that kind of explanation of events in these types of movies. I’d rather it make sense and have the second half of the movie really take off, than have no understanding of the reasons behind what I’m seeing. That isn’t everyone, though, so be aware — this is a nearly three-hour commitment.
The second problem — and the bigger one for me personally — is that Lex Luthor is horribly miscast. I have nothing against Jesse Eisenberg, but gosh almighty, he is not Lex Luthor. It was very unfortunate watching him reinvent this once iconic, suave, conniving and power-hungry villain into a socially-awkward, geeky, uncomfortable sociopath. It was totally unnecessary and, frankly, hard to believe at times, that this was the guy who was giving two of the greatest superheroes of all-time so much grief. It was distracting, to be completely honest. I wasn’t buying it from the moment I heard he was playing Luthor and, unfortunately, I was right.
Ok, so that’s the bad. Now, the good:
Wonder Woman- Her role in the film is perfect. Obviously this movie isn’t about her, so she is under the radar for the majority of the movie; scoping things out, testing the climate of the situations and subtly reminding you that she is there. When she finally makes her grand entrance, though, it’s one of the highlights of the whole movie.
When Batman and Superman start fighting: You knew going in that this scene was going to carry the movie, and it was absolutely knocked out of the park. It had everything you could ever ask for.
Shocking moments: I’m not giving anything away here, but there are a couple of times during the film where you are totally caught off guard. They do a great job of turning things from kind of boring to suddenly intense.
Hints towards the Justice League movie: Just like Marvel does with the Avengers and their future movies, DC did a great job of giving the people what they wanted: Justice League teasers. I don’t want to ruin the surprises, but Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are not the only Justice Leaguers you see in this movie.
Nods to the comic books: I’m about to go full nerd here, so just indulge me for a second. The film stayed very true, and made multiple nods, to the original Batman and Superman comic books of the ‘80s and ‘90s. It was fun to see things happening on screen and realize it was similar to the old stories. Comic book junkies will be pleased with much of the content of this movie.
The big final battle: You know it’s coming, and trust me, it is incredible. You should go see this movie for the final fight scene alone. I was silent screaming with joy the whole time.
Here’s the bottom line: the second half of this movie more than makes up for its slow beginning. There is a very clear distinction between where things are slow and where things take off. Once it takes off, it is a whirlwind of awesomeness until the very end.
If you are on the fence because you saw the critics slamming this film, take it from someone who was just like you — go see it and thank yourself later. It is epic, just like its dueling heroes.