Man of Steel was pretty okay right? I just want to put it out there that I quite enjoyed Zack Synder's installment of the American hero, especially the action-packed fights during the film's second half. Well, Synder's back at it again with Superman in tow, and he's brought along a certain bat vigilante and Amazonian warrior along for the ride in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (BvS). Using the aftermath of Man of Steel as a template for bigger things to come, BvS continues Clark Kent's journey into Superman, while having to introduce a new Batman and our first film iteration of Wonder Woman. The trailers released over the past year have been great, save for that one which basically condensed this 2 and a half hour film into a two minute synopsis, complete with story beats, Doomsday spoiler and Wonder Woman reveal.

The beginning of Dawn of Justice drops us right into a reiteration of the Metropolis destruction seen in Man of Steel, which showed us the destruction caused between Superman (Henry Cavill) and General Zod's (Michael Shannon) neck-snapping battle from the eyes of Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck) down below... but not before we were treated to yet another rendition of Bruce Wayne's family murder for the umpteenth time (also: bats floating Bruce out of a well). Anyway, Batman feels responsible for taking down Superman for his reckless savings (and I don't mean in terms of money) while a sinister corporate leader (Jesse Eisenberg) intents to have the Son of Krypton and Bat of Gotham butt heads... because reasons.

That is where the film derails on itself. After that promising action-packed opener, which clearly provides the audience with the motivation Batman needed to stop Superman, we instead get an array of subplots in an attempt to add more layers to what was a perfectly simple plot. Superman questioning his actions while moping around, Bruce Wayne AND Lois Lane (Amy Adams) investigating Lex Luthor, a mysterious ageless women, plus something about grandma's sweet tea. Luthor's introduction the story looks to be Synder's only means to connect all the characters together, and what fine, thin threads did he use to wove them all. These 'motivations' were dragged and screaming over a duration of almost 90 minutes before we were finally treated to what we actually paid for to see this film - Batman duking it out with Supes. The pay-off wasn't that spectacular anyway, as identical names of their mothers served to be the catalyst from saving the day. Thank goodness Martha Kent (Diane Lane) wasn't named Bertha, or else Superman would've been toast.

The theme and inspirations for BvS have long been believed to come from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns comic series, and that is true... for the titular fight anyway. What we did get though was a massive shoehorning of what is a teaser movie for the upcoming Justice League two-parter in 2017, all told in the most shameless of ways. "Want to tease Superman baddie Darkseid? Let's insert him into not one, but three Batman nightmare sequences (we see Bruce Wayne sleeping a lot)". "Want to introduce audience to the almighty Justice League? Let's show them showing someone watching video clips off a laptop! And add them in one of those dream sequences for good measure". The scene transitions also halts the flow of the storyline as we had to sit through multiple plotlines which get bungled together with Synder's favourite screen transition - 'cut to black'. 

Nonetheless, as with 300, Watchmen, Man of Steel and even Sucker Punch, Synder's strength lies in creating gorgeous imagery as well as beautiful action sequences. Joining in from the beginning scene, Batman's fight scene seen from the trailer was great, while the eventual titular battle was a titanic (albeit unfair) treat to behold, even if the fight boiled down into a sparring match between two superheroes, while the cherry on the top is the final fight between the Trinity, of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), against the Krytonian beast Doomsday, who appears more like a macho version of the cave trolls from Lord of the Rings. To sum it up, most of the scenes from Dawn of Justice would look good as screengrabs/wallpapers. All these admittedly cool scenes are accompanied by amazing themes from Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight) and Junkie XL (Mad Max: Fury Road). Speaking of themes, Synder sure loved inserting the Man of Steel theme into every scene Henry Cavill was in.

The host of new characters are quite a mixed bag as well. Beginning with the most prominent, Ben Affleck is great as a Bruce Wayne/Batman who is much older and experienced that those that have graced the screens before him. Equally brooding and determined, it shows us yet again casting reactions are as premature as they are childish, even if Affleck seems hindered by a weak script (and mercilessly beating a tire for training). Superman is as brooding as ever since the days of Man of Steel, even more so than the Caped Crusader, and his appearance in the film only serves to pose for hero shots and have someone for Batman to fight with. This isn't slagging off Henry Cavill, who I found to be charming in The Man from UNCLE, but his character is yet another hindered by poor choice of words.

By far the best thing to come out of this overcrowded film is Wonder Woman, as Gal Gadot channels both mystique and toughness in as a superhero who completely trounces her male counterparts whenever she appears, aided by an immense, guitar-strumming entrance tune. You know she's good when 10 minutes of her in this movie was enough to get one excited for her standalone film due next year. The same can't be said about our latest iteration of the villain Lex Luthor, played by Jesse 'the Facebook guy' Eisenberg. It's hard to say that the role's been miscated, given that the character's purpose was mainly to connect the plot elements and set up subsequent movies (the recently released deleted scene didn't help matters), but Eisenberg's channeling of Heath Ledger's Joker character felt inappropriate for a character known for his intelligence and power, and this has to more to say of either Synder's direction or Eisenberg's portrayal. 

Amy Adams' Lois Lane surprisingly gets a lot to do this time around, even with 1,596 new characters around, and her character isn't too bothered about making out with Superman in public given that she's now dating Clark Kent, while Martha Kent is around even when the story negates so. Heck, contract obligations probably meant everyone from Man of Steel were required an appearance or so, including a dead Michael Shannon resurrected as the previously mentioned Doomsday, and ghost Kevin Costner atop a mountain. Jeffery Dean Morgan and The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan also appear here as Bruce's parents, thereby nullifying any chance to be in another DC film, but hey, there's always a dream sequence for them to reappear! Scoot McNairy's in this too as a Wayne Corp employee, but his inclusion in this film only seems to grind this film to a halt whenever he's around (being the baddie in Non-Stop didn't help matters either). Jeremy Iron's (the best Die Hard villain, IMO) take as Alfred Pennyworth is definitely my favourite new casting here, as his equally sarcastic yet humorous portrayal as Batman's butler (combining some traits/roles of Lucius Fox as well) makes me excited for his future appearances in the franchise.

On Doomsday though, the death of Superman at the end feels more anti climatic than anything. Nowadays when studios are planning an interconnected series of  films five years from now, the death of a main character so early on fails to have the intended effect the director/studio had expected it to have on the audience. The aftermath of his death was also exaggerated due to that same reason, I mean the characters wouldn't know it, but for all of us in the theater room, we all know he'll be back very, very soon. Similarly, Batman looks pretty useless against monsters like these, which doesn't bode well for his Justice League audition either.

To close this all out, BvS represents a poor man's result, in this case Synder's, trying to juggle too many storylines into what was essentially the audience's big opener to the DC Extended Universe. Instead, Dawn of Justice felt like a poor mixture of a Wonder Woman prequel, a new Batman and ultimately an introduction to the Justice League, all lumped on top of a Man of Steel sequel. Perhaps a standalone Man of Steel sequel should have been made first to flesh out the characters before proceeding to the biggest gladiator match-up in history. If you thought Man of Steel was unnecessarily dark, Dawn of Justice only amplifies that sentiment. The end product of BvS could only described as overstuffed, overcooked and generally very depressing, but it has enough sweet bits to keep you interested.
Last year's Avengers: Age of Ultron was vilified by some quarters (for partially good reason) for setting up for many of its future slate of films, but it didn't have the burden to introduce everyone at once, think an Avengers film carrying the responsibility of introducing the rest of the Avengers sans Iron Man. Having to present a new Batman, Wonder Woman, Justice League all in one film, along with further developing the Superman and the Man of Steel characters was a massive task that ultimately could not meet the expectations of both fans and casual moviegoers alike. I don't like to compare Marvel and DC films together, but it begs to be compared. A great comparison for Marvel's Dawn of Justice equivalent is probably 2010's Iron Man 2, a film hastily made as its purpose was to shuffle new people in while building up for the eventual superhero team-up film.

Plus, given that they had a year's worth of post production (filming ended in late 2014) would have given the studio and the team plenty of time to iron out any (and many) plot holes or complications Dawn of Justice had. Is it a bleak beginning for the DC Extended Universe? A rude awakening to Warner Bros? Hell no, but at this juncture the team has enough time, not to mention resources for damage control before Zack Synder goes ahead with the Justice League films.

Can't wait for Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman though, those two are looking great.