12th April 2016

Riddle me this Riddle me that what did I make of Kal-El versus The Bat.

We live in fortunate times in that for the last 20 years we have been able to see many of our superheroes on the screen. In the 80's we had Superman and Batman came along.  Now we have Marvel and DC regularly pumping out our heroes every couple of months.  Batman V Superman ever since I seen the poster in I Am Legend I have thought will this ever come about and it has and yes I am in some ways greatful.

Batman v Superman opens with why Bruce Wayne has a hatred for the alien Kryptonian and you can understand the resentment.  As the story develops we can only imagine what has happened with Bruce Wayne since the Dark Knight Rises, we are given the briefest of hints as to what might have happened but nowhere near enough to have a concrete opinion.

Clark has a full on relationship with Lois and is also dealing with the repercussions of his battle with General Zod and the destruction which ensued.  There is also how people, us earthlings view him , his abilities compared to our inabilities.

The introduction of Alexander Luthor, the crazed criminal master mind who views Superman as a threat.

Wonderwoman appears as a warrior who has been on earth for years.

The plot of Batman V Superman I found to be quite basic, not complicated as other reviews seem to indicate. It's a long film and there is lots of action, perhaps not as much destruction as The Man of Steel but there will be enough for construction workers to be doing until Wonder Woman has her own film.

So why is the film not Super, why do people find fault with it.  OK I am no comic book fan boy. I just watched the Superman films with Christopher Reeve and i was 7 when Superman came out and I just wanted to be Superman ever since.  Thats surely no bad thing.  Where this film has went wrong is not big time, it is still a watchable film and people have to stop comparing it to the Marvel films, but perhaps it has missed out on substance and still goes for action too much.

Introducing Batman to Superman when we all believe that Chris Nolan done an amazing job with Batman is a poisoned chalice unless Chris Nolan had directed this.  In my head Superman does n't kill no matter the odds , he will save lives.  The killing of Zod was a major no-no.  The destruction of the earth in Man of Steel was too much and here it's less but by no means great to see.  Ben Affleck makes a solemn mature Batman  and we don't know exactly what happened those missing years, so we have to assume he will be given his own solo film or a few mins character development in Suicide Squad.  Henry Cavill is a Man of Steel but he is not being allowed to be a Superman.  In Man of Steel there were glimmers of a Christopher Reeve type character but that seems to have been lost in this movie.   Lex Luthor played by Jesse Eisenberg in the beginning there were remnants of Heath Ledgers Joker, but Jesse is too good an actor to copy and not be original.  I think he's just interpreted Luthor in this manic way.  There was talk of Kevin Spacey reprising the role or even Bryan Cranston being Luthor and I think this was a missed opportunity.  The film needed an elder statesman of an actor to play Luthor someone who could be calculated rather than crazed, someone who could be calm yet devious.

Gal Gadot looks as though she will be a fabulous Wonder Woman and her movie I think will stand in its own right.  Afflecks Batman may also have legs to stand on its own two feet at the box office and also against this slating towards him.  So as I said at the start these are fortunate times in that we don't have to wait forever and a day for our heroes to come to life.  Batman V Superman is not the worst film ever it's no Superman IV.

Will I go and see Batman v Superman again at the cinema probably not.  I will buy the Blu Ray and watch it a few times.

As a film I'd give it a 6/10.