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)

Secret Screening - Now You See Me

http://nowyouseememovie.com/

It turns out Cineworld membership has some serious perks. Other than making it incredibly cheap to watch as many movies as I want per month, and giving me discount on food and drinks, they recently introduced a 'secret screening'. For Cineworld Unlimited members only, you could get a ticket to an as-yet-unannounced film which would be revealed on the night of the screening. I hope, from the success of this one, they make this a regular occurrence. Especially as the film they chose to secretly screen - Now You See Me - isn't out here until the start of next month.

The film tells the tale of four magicians who are brought together by an unknown figure and given a fantastical plan to bring those in power, a bank, a millionaire who built his fortune on the misfortune of others and the police force, to their knees. And they achieve this, all by the art of illusion. Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco play the Four Horsemen, while Mark Ruffalo and Mélanie Laurent are the ones in pursuit.

I had a feeling from the clues that had been given to the secret screening, that we were sitting down to watch World War Z. I would have happily sat through any film, but I could not have been more pleased that we were actually sitting down to this. I am a huge fan of Mark Ruffalo and had been looking forward to this movie for some time. And I have to say that I really enjoyed it. 

I love a mystery and this one had me guessing right up until the reveal. The cast are a dream. We know from Zombieland that Eisenberg and Harrelson work well together, but throw in firecracker Fisher and James Franco's charismatic and cute younger brother Dave and you have a team that can't be cracked. Ruffalo's ruffled cop has great chemistry with Interpol detective Laurent and the thesps Freeman and Caine are clearly having a whale of a time. And so the audience does too. 

It's well put together, pacy, got a good story and great actors. I really don't see what more you could want? How about locations? Vegas, New Orleans, New York and Paris all look stunning in this movie. It's not going to win any awards but if you want a fun and intriguing night out, you can't really go wrong. 8 out of 10. 

Viewing Date - 17th June 2013
UK Release Date - 3rd July 2013

Cast Overview:

Jesse Eisenberg ~ J Daniel Atlas

Mark Ruffalo ~ Dylan Rhodes

Woody Harrelson ~ Merritt McKinney

 Isla Fisher ~ Henley Reeves

Dave Franco ~ Jack Wilder

Mélanie Laurent ~ Alma Dray

Morgan Freeman ~ Thaddeus Bradley

Michael Caine ~ Arthur Tressler

Director ~ Louise Leterrier

Writer(s) ~ Ed Solomon (Screenplay), Boaz Yakin (Screenplay and Story), Edward Ricourt (Screenplay and Story)

30 Minutes Or Less

http://www.30minutesorless.com/

My best friend of the south recently pointed out the grammatical error of this film's title, it should in fact be 30 Minutes Or Fewer. But as the title is taken from a pizza commercial in the film I don't think we can berate them too much for their lack of grammar. In fact, it's likely to be a reference on how youths today have no grasp of the english language and end up working in pizza places as a result. Or that could be me reading too much into it. 

Either way, let's get on with proceedings. 30 Minutes Or Less is story of how a pizza delivery boy, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg), gets himself kidnapped and a bomb strapped to him. He is ordered to rob a bank by his kidnappers and told that if he doesn't get them $100,000 in 10 hours, he'll blow up. He can't go to the cops as they'll be watching him closely, so he enlists the help of his friend Chet (Aziz Ansari) and the two of them come up with a plan to get the money.

30 Minutes Or Less was directed by Ruben Fleischer who also directed Jesse Eisenberg in Zombieland, which was in my opinion one of the best films of 2009. And possibly Eisenberg's best performance to date. Forget about The Social Network, he was perfectly cast as the nervous geek opposite Woody Harrelson's tough nut and the two of them had great chemistry together. Fleischer hasn't quite managed to reach the heady heights of Zombieland here, but he has pulled off an above average comedy with another good performance from Eisenberg as the likable pizza boy who just wants to have things go his way for once. The teaming of Eisenberg with Ansari creates a believable friendship and some of the films funnier scenes are borne out of their banter.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Danny McBride's character Dwayne and his sidekick Travis played by Nick Swardson. Their friendship in comparison feels much more uneven as Travis is basically bullied into doing whatever Dwayne asks of him. Their conversations don't flow as easily as those of the good guys and seem a lot more dumbed down, I think to put across that they're not the sharpest tools in the box, but the end result leaves their scenes feeling a little flat.

Someone I did enjoy seeing in this movie is Fred Ward. An underrated and underused comic actor who should be doing more high profile movies. He puts in a small but great performance (as ever) as Dwayne's disapproving father, The Major.

To be honest, there's not a lot else to say about 30 Minutes Or Less. If you're looking for a genuinely funny comedy that will make you laugh, this is definitely the best of the comedies out at the moment. 7.5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 21st September 2011

UK Release Date - 16th September 2011

Cast Overview:

Jesse Eisenberg ~ Nick

Danny McBride ~ Dwayne

Aziz Ansari ~ Chet

Nick Swardson ~ Travis

Dilshad Vadsaria ~ Kate

Michael Pena ~ Chango

Bianca Kajlich ~ Juicy

Fred Ward ~ The Major

Director ~ Ruben Fleischer

Writer(s) ~ Michael Diliberti (Screenplay and Story) and Matthew Sullivan (Story)