Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

http://batmanvsuperman.dccomics.com/

Where do I begin? Anyone who follows this blog will know that I am a huge Marvel fan. Having said that, I very much enjoyed the recent Bale/Nolan Batman movies and have been a life-long fan of Superman - up to the release of Man of Steel. For anyone who missed my thoughts on that you can read them here. 

Despite my loathing of Man of Steel, and despite my trepidation for what Ben Affleck would bring to the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne, I wanted to see Batman V Superman. After all, I cannot critique a movie I have not seen. And after seeing said movie, I can tell you I didn't hate it.

That's not to say I liked it, there was a lot that I took issue with. The continued underdevelopment of Clark Kent as a character, some absolutely appalling dialogue that made me angry rather than just having me shaking my head, and some very unnecessary dream sequences. But on the whole, it was a much better movie than Man of Steel.

Ben Affleck actually isn't awful in the Bruce/Batman role. But Christian Bale he is not. So you really have to go in there with a fresh slate in mind. If you can do that, he does an admirable job. Gal Gadot was surprisingly good in the Diana Price/Wonder Woman role, even if she doesn't have a lot of time to create those much needed foundations for her character (this is still a Zack Snyder movie after all). All those reviews that say this is 3+ movies rolled into one, are all correct. But it's watchable. Even enjoyable in parts.

For me, Jesse Eisenberg didn't work at all as Lex Luthor. And I'm not one of those people who thinks he's annoying in everything he's in. I grew up watching Lex Luthor being portrayed as a very powerful man. He may not match Superman in physical strength, but you always felt he was fiercely intelligent and matched him in other ways. I do not feel this about Eisenberg's portrayal. And I do think that is one major chink in the movie's armor. 

I am trying to keep this review as spoiler free as possible, so I will end with this. There is a moment at the end of the film where you are compelled to feel something for Superman. I say Superman because in this Snyder led world  there is only really Superman, because he's not bothered to introduce us to Clark at all (we're two movies in and I still don't feel I know Clark at all in this universe). 

As I sat there, knowing that I was supposed to feel something, I recalled all of the previous versions of Clark that I have known and loved, and I did feel the thing they were striving for. But it was not as a result of the writing or directing that made me feel those emotions, but rather the memories of the Clark's that came before. Because ultimately, the way to make your audience care about Superman is to have them fall in love with Clark. Maybe not in the traditional sense, I'm not saying that all the little boys who looked up to Superman were really in love with Clark, but what I mean is that without introducing Clark to the world, a guy we can all sympathise with and connect with, the world doesn't care about Superman. 

Someone really needs to explain this to the writers before they make their Justice League movie. If you don't get to know the men and women behind the masks and capes and tights, you're not going to care about the invulnerable heroes either.

After thinking about this a lot in the hours that followed my viewing of BvS, I decided to re-watch Lois and Clark, the TV show that really solidified my love of Clark Kent, and in turn Superman. The special effects may not have held up but the storytelling certainly has, the characterisation, especially of Clark, has. I just wish Zack Snyder and David Goyer had watched that, or any of the preceeding Superman movies before they made the monstrosity that was Man of Steel, and continuing their legacy of under-appreciating their characters further in Batman V Superman.

A 'better than Man of Steel' but still disappointing 6 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 28th March 2016

UK Release Date - 25th March 2016

Cast Overview:

Ben Affleck ~ Bruce Wayne/Batman

Henry Cavill ~ Clark Kent/Superman

Amy Adams ~ Lois Lane

Jesse Eisenberg ~ Lex Luthor

Diane Lane ~ Martha Kent

Laurence Fishburne ~ Perry White

Jeremy Irons ~ Alfred

Holly Hunter ~ Senator Finch

Gal Gadot ~ Diana Prince/Wonder Woman 

Michael Shannon ~ General Zod

Kevin Costner ~ Jonathan Kent

Director ~ Zack Snyder

Writer(s) ~ Chris Terrio, David S Goyer (Written By).

Bob Kane and Bill Finger (Batman Created By)

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (Superman Created By)

Runner Runner

Mini Review

http://www.runnerrunnermovie.com/

Princeton student Richie (Timberlake) decides to gamble what little money he was saving for his tuition on an online gaming site, in the hope that he will win enough to pay for his tuition in it's entirety. He loses everything, but rather than putting this down to bad luck, Richie is convinced that he's been played by the site, and that they made sure he lost. He takes his grievance to the owner of the site, Ivan Block (Affleck), a man who has clearly made his fortune through more than running a gaming site or two. Block hears Richie out and offers to compensate him for his loss. But more than that, Block offers Richie a job, and with it, the chance to become richer than his wildest dreams.

I didn't know much about Runner Runner going in. I'd only seen the trailer for it a week or so previously, and wasn't particularly grabbed by the storyline or the stars. Although I have enjoyed Affleck and Arterton in their recent releases. My reason for seeing the film was simply that there wasn't an awful lot to choose from that week. This probably worked in Runner Runner's favour as I'm sure I wasn't the only one who saw it for that very reason, and I'm not sure it would have made much of a dent in the box office if it had been released in a week when say Captain Phillips or Thor 2 were out.

I enjoyed it enough but I must admit that it's not the most gripping plot or the greatest acting on display. I think Affleck's best work these days is as a director, or when he's directing himself. I don't know if that means he tries harder or if the other directors he's working with aren't very good at getting the best out of him, but he certainly wasn't at his best here, putting in a rather cheesy panto villain performance. Arterton had little to do other than look pretty, which she's great at but she's capable of so much more. Timberlake for me is watchable but can't really carry movie, and with Timberlake as the lead, this leaves Runner Runner in a bit of a stalled state. 

It's watchable, but the twist at the end is underwhelming. I'd only recommend it if you don't have something better to watch. 6.5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 1st October 2013

UK Release Date - 27th September 2013

Cast Overview:

Richie Furst ~ Justin Timberlake

Ivan Block ~ Ben Affleck

Rebecca Shafran ~ Gemma Arterton

Agent Shavers ~ Anthony Mackie

Director ~ Brad Furman

Writer(s) ~ Brad Furman and David Levien

Argo

http://argothemovie.warnerbros.com/

I went to see Ben Affleck's directorial debut Gone Baby Gone with my good friend and occasional guest reviewer, Faye. As you might have guessed from her reviews, she is not a woman of many words. But what she does say does tend to resonate and have meaning. Needless to say we both loved Gone Baby Gone and when we discovered Ben had made another film, The Town, we went to see that one too. And loved it. 

When we discovered that a third film had been directed by Mr Affleck we again had to see it, together, as we had the two previous films. But this time we allowed a third person into the mix, a person who had not seen the two previous Ben Affleck directed movies. So the other night we set about rectifying this with a screening of his first film Gone Baby Gone. As we settled down to watch it I commented that I felt like our friendship had formed over a mutual love of Ben Affleck movies. And in a sense I believe it was. 

I hadn't seen Gone Baby Gone since the initial viewing at the cinema and neither had Faye. But it was just as good as we remembered and I urge anyone who's not seen that or The Town to rent them at the first available opportunity. 

Argo, on the other hand is a very different beast to those first two movies which are set in present day Boston. Argo is set in late 70s, and the location is split between Iran and Hollywood. Not exactly two places that you would expect to go hand in hand. But then this movie is based on a true story. One of US Embassy Diplomats working in Iran, who escape the Embassy when it's raided by Iranian revolutionaries, and who hide out in the home of the Canadian Ambassador. In order to get them safely out of Iran, the CIA's top extraction expert Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), concocts a cover story of them being a team of Hollywood hotshots, on a location scout for a science fiction film called Argo. Will this hair brained idea actually work?

Well I won't spoil it of course, but what I will say is that the 30 or so minutes set in the airport at the end of the movie, were so intense that I not only held my own hand to get me through it, I don't think I breathed! 

The cast is a tight ensemble and film is as well acted, scripted, shot and produced as any of Affleck's previous movies. The difference for me was that you feel like you've learned something when you walk out of the cinema from seeing Argo. And in my book, that is never a bad thing. So see his other movies but most importantly, see Argo. And you'll forever be saying "Argo f*ck yourself" to those you've seen it with. 9 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 8th November 2012

UK Release Date - 7th November 2012

Cast Overview:

Ben Affleck ~ Tony Mendez

Bryan Cranston ~ Jack O'Donnell

Alan Arkin ~ Lester Siegel

John Goodman ~ John Chambers

Victor Garber ~ Ken Taylor

Tate Donovan ~ Bob Anders

Clea DuVall ~ Cora Lijek

Christopher Denham ~ Mark Lijek

Scoot McNairy ~ Joe Stafford

Kerry Bishe ~ Kathy Stafford

Rory Cochrane ~ Lee Schatz

Kyle Chandler ~ Hamilton Jordan

Director ~ Ben Affleck

Writer(s) ~ Chris Terrio (Screenplay) and Joshuah Bearman (Article)