Superman is coming back _ this time with Batman

[dgwphotography]

A great short shown at NYCC:

[youtube:thgryxj7]ebXB0lBoaQ0[/youtube:thgryxj7]

[Edgy MD]

So, anybody?

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: So, anybody?

all 5 of my coworkers, from old to young, liked it. All said it was plenty flawed, but still fun.

myself, I'll get there eventually..

[Benjamin Grimm]

Better than I thought it would be, but that's because many of the early reviews were very negative.

I have to say, I really hated Jesse Eisenberg's take on Lex Luthor. It was every bit as awful, and in much the same way, as Johnny Depp's interpretation of Willy Wonka.

[Vic Sage]

i liked it overall, particularly Affleck as Batman! which was a nice surprise. I still like Henry Cavill as Superman, and Wonder Woman was perfection. However, Jesse Eisenberg was just a terrible idea from the start and he buries the movie every time he's on screen. The movie also tries to do too much, telling parallel storylines, while also trying to set up the upcoming JUSTICE LEAGUE movie. DC tried to do in 1 movie what Marvel was able to do with all their movies leading up to AVENGERS, and it just doesn't work. The DOOMSDAY villain comes out of absolutely nowhere and makes even less sense than everything else. So this movie isn't exactly a masterclass in storytelling.

But Snyder's got style (if nothing else) and a real feel for visually adapting comic book characters to the big screen and, unlike MAN OF STEEL, the fight scenes work well.

Sure, it's got some wince-inducing moments, and i can see why the critics savaged it, but i like Snyder movies and i liked this one. Alot of other folks don't, and didn't.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Haven't seen it yet, but Eisenberg seems like he would've made, say, a better Arcade than a Luthor.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Vic Sage wrote: ...and Wonder Woman was perfection. But Snyder's got style (if nothing else) and a real feel for visually adapting comic book characters to the big screen and, unlike MAN OF STEEL, the fight scenes work well.

I totally agree about Wonder Woman.

The setup for the other Justice League characters (Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman) seemed to be shoehorned into the movie and could (and should) have been left out. And that "dream scene", or whatever it was, when Bruce Wayne had when downloading a file, was confusing. My mind wandered while all that was happening and my attention didn't snap back until it ended and I realized that Bruce was still downloading a file. My son later explained to me what that was about, but it seemed like a weird muddle to me.

As for the fight scenes, there was one, somewhere in the first half of the movie, where Batman was wearing a trench coat and fighting off one attacker after another. It had been going on for a little while before I noticed that it was all done in one continuous take. And after I noticed that, it continued for a while, all in the same take. It was really well done. I can imagine how difficult it must have been to coordinate all of the actors/stunt men and the slowly moving camera. I don't know if I'll ever rewatch the whole movie, but I would like to watch that scene again.

[Vic Sage]

i just rewatched this last night on cable. i still like it, despite its obvious (and significant) problems, which i noted above. And i once again have to do a mea culpa in my premature criticism of Affleck's Batman. It's the best version of Batman after Bales (and Kevin Conroy). He offers an older Bruce Wayne, but with a prep school obnoxiousness that is spot on, and his Batman is truly a deadly monster. They've gone back to both the roots of the character, where he carried a pistol and had no problems killing bad guys, while updating it with Frank Miller's version of an older Wayne.

But that "Martha" twist... it's just awful, practically destroying the movie (along with Eisenberg and Doomsday).

[TransMonk]

Vic and I must have been watching this at the same time last night.

My reaction was lukewarm. Cavill does a great job with Superman, IMO. I wasn't quite as impressed with Affleck's performance, though.

I think part of it is that Cavill is a relative unknown outside of his work as Superman. To me, Cavill IS Superman while Affleck is just another guy (with more than a couple questionable acting performances on his resume) in a long line of well-known actors to play Batman. However, I thought that the writers did a decent job with the character.

Eisenberg...ugh.

[Vic Sage]

i agree about Cavill. I even liked him in MAN OF STEEL.

[Guest themetfairy]

Cavill was excellent in The Tudors.

D-Dad watched most of this film on an airplane a few months ago but the plane landed before the film ended, so we watched it on cable the other night. I was only half paying attention, but I did notice the Martha scene and it was wretched. D-Dad felt that the ending wasn't as bad as he feared it would be (and now he has his closure).

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Finally caught this on (FREE!) HBO.

Good GOD, is this long. And it feels long, too. Exceedingly long. Punishing, almost. And although it aims (and stretches, and strains) to consider and incorporate themes of power and control and homeless-man's-Greek-tragedy... good God, it doesn't come together. And when it doesn't, Snyder just piles more on. And more. And MORE.

I made it through, though. For that, I'm grateful. And also, half-filled with self-loathing. Why didn't I just switch it off, and put on something a little more fun, or at least less ill-tempered?

[metsmarathon]

i forget when, but i saw this on the backside of a headrest on an airplane recently. the audio was intermittent and i couldn't get the screen was all jumpy and frequently self-paused. overall not a fun experience, and i'm sure it helped un-immerse me in the movie.

that said, batman was awesome, and awfully written. superman was also quite good, and quite badly written. and wonderwoman was superb... and... well, they managed not to fuck her up too badly. the villains and the drama and the whole "versus" thing was stupid and silly, but not stupid and silly in a remotely good way.

it made me weep for what could have been the foundation for a much, much better movie. or, well, maybe just hte window dressing of a much better movie. the foundation would be the story, the plot. and all that was just terrible. nonsensical and pointless and dumb and brainless, with things happening either for no reason or simply because hte movie needed things to happen to have a reason to keep showing us things get destroyed.

but, ysy. i guess bits of dirt can fly, so superman might not be dead. hopefully they can figure out how to write a story for the next one.... and maybe retcon some better villains...? is that asking too much? sigh...