Final Thoughts On Superman vs. Batman: Dawn Of Justice

So I watched the trailer last night and watched it again not too long ago to maybe absorb what I may or may not have missed and while my initial reaction was...well...underwhelmed, I unfortunately remain underwhelmed. Let's talk about the positives. For starters I'm still liking Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. We've seen the brooding, cold, calculated Lex Luthor. Superman's elder who's fixated on power and control. Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor is less of a physical presence and more of intellectual titan. His first appearance on the screen he's visibly small in size and stature to both men, his voice is higher pitched and he's much more jovial than either of them, however he is completely self-absorbed and is delightfully devious. I think I will enjoy this Lex Luthor...and that's about the ONLY positive I have to say.

First of all, I wasn't in the camp of thinking Ben Affleck as Batman was a horrible choice, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it and now after having seen the trailer...I'm sorry I'm not sorry but I can't see Bruce Wayne here, I see Ben Affleck. He doesn't disappear to me. I'm not saying he'll do a terrible job as Batman...although I'm none too keen with him as Batman either. I just don't see it. And no, I'm not a hater! I'm not saying anything about "Daredevil" and all that other crap, I just don't seen Ben Affleck as Batman or Bruce Wayne, unfortunately I see him as Ben Affleck. I understand the trailer ain't the full breadth of the movie but from that little stare down between he and Clark and his Batman voice...I don't know what to make of it other than, "Oh look, Ben Affleck in cosplay."

The sequences of Superman ripping off Batman's mask is obviously a dream sequence. I'm calling it right here, where Batman is imagining from post apocalyptic scenario in which Superman rules the world with his Superman task force and Batman is forced to hide out in the desert as some kinda freedom fighter only to be found and vaporized by Superman. *sigh*. I doubt I'm wrong. But this what makes me very skeptical of the film thus far, the need to pit Batman & Superman against each other (I'm gonna sound a little hypocritical in a bit). Take "Captain America: Civil War", what makes that trailer work is that Ironman & Captain America are friends, they know each other, worked together and are ideologically different but ultimately on the same side. They're going to be fighting but they're not going to be fighting out of mean-spirited hatred of one another, it's more of a "I gotta do what I gotta do but you went and made this personal." kinda thing.

With Batman & Superman it appears that they're going to be going at it from the majority of the film until the very end when Teenage Mutant Ninja Doomsday (oh, we'll get to him) shows up and Wonder Woman has to show the boys who the real threat is and make them stop fighting...that...sounds exhausting. What sucks is that these two Superman and Batman are just now getting wind of each other. I have a feeling that Lex Luthor will largely be working in the background while Batman & Superman duke it out (sort of) and Wonder Woman remains behind the scenes trying to uncover what Lex Luthor is doing. As a matter of fact, I don't think Batman & Superman won't actually duke it out until very late in the movie. The rest of the movie will probably be spent on cameos and rebuilding the Batman universe and setting up "Suicide Squad" tidbits. Now I'd like to talk about Doomsday

...or whether what I assume to be Doomsday. My simple question, what in the living hell? It's a very sad reality when the small screen (ie, "Smallville") manages to make a more accurate looking Doomsday than a major motion picture studio with millions of dollars at their disposal. Granted, the "Smallvile" Doomsday didn't look great but at least I could tell it was Doomsday.

The creature in "Dawn Of Justice" looks like an escaped Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle from the Michael Bay films! Good gravy! Also, while most of the fans were jazzing their pants over the prospect of Doomsday showing up, I was not interested. Doomsday is not a character in so much as he is an event, a thing that must be stopped as opposed to an actual person with an agenda like Loki or Ultron.

Depending on the hows, whats and how much control Lex Luthor has over Doomsday will determine how well he functions in the movie but for my movie it looks like a mistake to have him in the film. Also what would be Lex Luthor's reasoning behind creating Doomsday? If it's just to stop Superman well then what will be Doomsday's reason for being afterwards? How will Lex Luthor compensate for the massive destruction the fight between Superman & Doomsday caused? In this regard I'd think a "Watchmen" type scenario would be in order with Batman playing Rorschach, Superman as Dr. Manhattan, Wonder Woman as Nite Owl and Lex Luthor as Ozymandias. It could easily be that Lex Luthor could be planning a MASSIVE attack that would ultimately point to Superman as the culprit, Batman comes in to take Superman down but finds that certain evidence isn't adding up and Wonder Woman exposes the frame job.

All in all, I'm disappointed with how this trailer turned out and how this movie feels. I'm not sure what to make of it, but ultimately this movie will get by on spectacle alone but once the spectacle is gone and people stop and start to think, I doubt it'll hold up and that's really sad. Once again, I'm left scratching my head as opposed to raising the roof and cheering. DC/Warner Bros. continues to perplex me with what they're doing while Marvel is hitting it outta the park again and again. Hopefully, I'm wrong but even if I am wrong this movie, in fact the whole DC Extended Universe (as they're calling it now) will leave a bitter taste in my mouth that won't wash out anytime soon. Those are my thoughts, let me know what you guys think and I'll catch you later. Peace.