Finally got to see it and I have to say I'm shocked....
...by how much I enjoyed this movie.
Yes, it was far too long, bloated with forced references to a Shared Universe. Yes, the dialogue was George Lucas-level clunky at times. Yes, there were plot holes so big Doomsday - who looked like the unwanted result of a drunken, regretful hate fuck between an Ork and a Ninja Turtle - could have walked through them and not touched the sides. And yes, every time he opened his mouth, I wanted to set fire to Jesse Eisenberg's face. Then beat the flames out. With a baseball bat.
But when it was good, it was fucking
awesome.
Affleck is not only the best thing about this movie, he's the best Batman to appear on screen. Full stop. Period. Affleck crushes it both as Wayne and Batman. This is the closest we'll ever get to seeing Miller's
Dark Knight on screen; battle-scarred, war weary, cynical and brutal. The fight scenes rank among the best I've seen in any comic book movie. When Bat's punched the Russian scumbag's head straight into the floor, I had to stop myself from shouting, "Fuck, yeah!" The training montage showed that Affleck, always a big guy, went full TRT Beast Mode for this movie(No Homo...OK, maybe a little Homo...
)
Purists may dislike the fact this Batman kills people, but I loved the shout out to both Miller's Dark Knight - "I believe you" - and the OG Batman, both of whom gave zero fucks about racking up a body count.
Gadot did a surprising amount with her very limited screen time. I freely admit I was not a fan of her casting, but she was fine in the role. Her,
yeah I like it rough, big boy! sex face when fighting Doomsday was a particular high point.
Cavil was the weakest of the Big Three, but even a much better actor would have struggled with the script. The biggest flaw in this flim was making both Batman and Superman, "dark". We expect and want the Dark Knight to be a brooding, rage-filled psychotic bastard. And when it's done well, as it was here, he's too cool for school. What we don't want is an Emo, angst-ridden Superman. The two are supposed to be opposites. Hell, even Zuckerburg - sorry, Lex - gets it when he describes them as, "Day versus Night". By making their personalities too closely resemble one another, the lack of contrast works against the dramatic tension.
One final point: I've seen Amy Adams described on here as, "haggard". Seriously? I know she's looking at 40 from the wrong side, but I'd still hit her so hard, whoever managed to pull me off her would be crowned King of England. Dat bath tub scene...
TL/DR: an entertaining film. Flawed, but with moments of brilliance. I gave it an 8.
