Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (The Review)

The Dawn of the Review

Here at TruffleShuffle we stock what we think is a super range of products, and amongst our expanding collection is of course our Batman v Superman Merchandise.

Because of this our Chief Geek at TruffleTowers ventured out into the dark night to see the battle unfold for himself.

**Just a little note to say that this review contains Spoilers**

What is Batman v Superman?

If you have been hiding from the comic book boom that is flying around, this is the latest movie in the DC line-up. Batman and Superman are taking their positions ready for what was anticipated to be a showdown of super proportions.

Is there a story to it?

Yes, there is a story, however it is rather disjointed in places (lots of quick changing between locations, dreams and time zones), making it potentially hard to follow for non die hard fans.

If you haven't seen "Man of Steel" there are certainly areas of the film that will not make sense.

Man of Steel: In Short

This was the origin story for Superman, you get to see how Kal-El came to Earth, how he grew up and became the Man of Steel.

During this film an escaped convict from Superman's home planet comes to Earth, this escaped convict is General Zod.

Long story short, Superman and Zod end up leveling/decimating/anihilating/destroying (heck insert any word for total destruction) the city of Metropolis. SPOILER: Superman wins and destroys Zod....queue Lois Lane and Superman becoming an item and roll credits.

But what is this story about?

Whilst Superman and Zod were destroying most of Metropolis, Bruce Wayne was racing to Wayne Tower to do what he could to help his staff. Unfortunately he gets there just in time to watch helplessly as his building is leveled.

Believing that someone helpful from another planet (Superman) could potentially turn nasty in the future, Batman decides that the only right thing he can do is destroy the Man of Steel.

Insert into the plot a healthy dose of the public questioning the motivation behind superheroes, mix in the public misunderstanding their intentions and you end up with quite a good concept.

Lex Luthor was potentially the most annoying character in the film (this was apparently his rushed origin story as well). He wants to create weapons to destroy Kryptonians / find people with abilities (Cyborg, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Flash) / set Batman up to fight Superman / manipulate Superman (by kidnapping Martha Kent and Lois Lane) and generally play with things he doesn't understand.

Batman and Superman go to head to head whilst Lex brings General Zod back to life by playing with Alien technology, the result is a very powerful creature called Doomsday.

Doomsday starts destroying Metropolis. This results in Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman working together to destroy Doomsday.

Superman is fatally wounded by Doomsday as he deals the final blow.

Batman and Wonder Woman discuss how they need to get a team together to deliver Justice.

What were the highlights?

- Batman: Ben Affleck (AKA Batfleck) wasn't that bad a Batman, the script didn't help him in the slightest, but still he put in a very strong appearance.

- Wonder Woman: Not much to say other than the fact that she simply put in a blinding performance, the Wonder Woman movie is one that I am looking forward to.

- DC introduces: As you will see / hear DC are heating up ready for a Justice League movie (This was is "Dawn of Justice"........bit of a hint), during Batman v Superman you are introduced to Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and Flash.

- Batman v Superman: The actual fight scene between these two giants was actually well done, Batman has Kryptonite gas, Superman gets weakened and it is a pretty even fight.

- Batman v Supergoons: Once Batman and Superman realise that their mums have the same name they become Super-friends. At this point Batman takes out a warehouse full of armed guards where Martha Kent is being held. He does this in what can only be described as a level out of the Arkham game series, for those who haven't seen the game series it involves stealth, gadgets and pure skill.

- Superman Returns: At the end of the film Superman paid the ultimate price and was buried in a coffin.........however the last second of the film shows that Superman may just be back again for Justice League.

What were the lowlights?

- Superman "The Monster": Most of the scenes where you find Superman you will find destruction and death, in total there must have been around 5 minutes of Superman showing any sign of Humanity.

- Lois Lane:Magically decided to retrieve the Kryptonite weapon when she didn't have a clue about the existence of Doomsday.

- Martha Mad: The reason that Batman and Superman stop fighting is because they both have mums called Martha, alternatively Batman realises Superman has a mum. Either way this moment of revelation stops the fight instantly.

- Jumpy Scenes: There was a lot of jumping from one scene to another......and then into Batman's dream scenes. At times it was disjointed and irrelevant to do so.

- Runtime: The runtime was 2 Hours and 31 Minutes!!!!

What did you think about it?

Well honestly I thought it was a very visually pleasing but very dark film (not just the story, the actual colours used as well). That doesn't mean it was a bad film though!!!

Batman v Superman is the creation of a world where every action has seismic collateral damage, where not only life is lost, but where the superhero loses a sense of who they are. This leads to a very dark and gritty film (that we would expect from Snyder and his cynicism).

To finish off it may not have been the best entry for DC (especially when you compare it to the Marvel Cinematic Universe), however it opens the way to:

- A Batman prequel movie (well a potential prequel to BvS)

- Wonder Woman movie (2017 release)

- Justice League movie (2017 Release)

It is a gateway film to what is an ever expanding DC Universe and for that reason it is worth a watch.

TruffleShuffle gives it 3 Chunks out of 5.