Actors: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy
Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly
Hunter, Gal Gadot
Rating: 8 out of 10, I know Batman
versus Superman, Dawn of Justice is not getting a lot of love from critics but
I actually liked it. It was certainly a departure from the Marvel format of
action and hijinks. It was very dark and almost morose at times but the story
worked. I didn’t know how they would stage this obvious mismatch – figuring
there had to be some kryptonite involved. It’s tribute to Cavill and especially
Affleck in the lead roles. I know there was a lot of consternation when Affleck
was announced as Batman but he’s very, very good. He plays an older Batman
weighed down by the seeming ineffectiveness of his lifelong fight against
crime. Gotham City is placed directly adjacent to Metropolis with their
competing superheroes on a collision course engineered by Lex Luthor. While
every other actor, even those with limited roles like Holly Hunter, shines, it
was surprising that Eisenberg was so bad as Lex Luthor. He was so over the top
and blatant that you wonder why he wasn’t squashed early on. The villain can be
deliciously evil (see Kevin Spacey’s take) but he should not be clinically
annoying which Eisenberg certainly was. The movie seemed to take place almost
entirely at night but that could just have been the mood the movie makers
instilled. Don’t go into this expecting Marvel as this takes an entirely
different tone and that’s not a bad thing. The movie works on a number of
levels; don’t listen to the critics – go see this nuanced superhero movie.
MVP: Affleck as the aging and
conflicted caped crusader
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