I, in no way, shape or form, am an expert when it comes to the comic book stories that shaped the movies that we have come to know and love over the past decade and change. From Marvel & DC, there have been countless amount of movies, and each one has their own impact (or not) within their own right. Two of the more storied comic book heroes of all time are pitted against each other in battle and it was hyped up to be the greatest cinematic experiences of the year – at least that’s what everyone was led to believe. As the initial reviews poured in over the first week, it was an all out onslaught of either praise or heavy slander towards the DC film’s first film of 2016, in answer to Marvel’s Deadpool, before their run continues in May (X-Men & Civil War).

The movie, which continues where Man of Steel left off (so, it would make some sense to watch that before this, but it’s not all the way necessary if you don’t want to) and it combines the two famous fictional cities of Metropolis & Gotham (they treated them like San Fran/Oakland or New York City & New Jersey). The (big) difference comes with a new Bruce Wayne/Batman, and that is played by Ben Affleck. Yes, him. That guy. Absolutely. Believe me, I wasn’t happy when I heard that he’d be playing the Caped Crusader, because of experiencing the last 10 years with Christian Bale (arguably, the best Batman yet), I was highly cynical (and plus, we all remember that disaster that was Daredevil). I’m an open-minded person, but this just didn’t sit well with me. Apparently (because it helps to know people who are comic book nerds) he fit the physique of the story arc (no idea what that means) that Zack Snyder was portraying, so it made sense. That’s for the Comic Book purists to digest and unravel, but from the outside looking in, you’d have to understand why so many people were outraged.

Beyond that, this is part of the building up to the Justice League movie that is due for release in 2017 (I know – so soon) as it would make way to introduce other characters (don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything – I never do). What needs to be understood is that this is a very long movie, and I didn’t expect it to be that way at all. With two massive characters like Bruce Wayne & Clark Kent, you have to build up as to why they have beef with each other, introduce Lex Luther (that’s not a spoil), and gear it up for what’s to come in later movies. There’s a lot of constant build up and for me it definitely felt as long as it was because I felt as though it could have been cut down to get to the main details and leave out things would have been deemed irrelevant to the average viewer (i.e., me). Outside of the fact that it dragged, Jesse Eisenberg’s role needs to be addressed, because he’s got to go. Here’s my beef with him. Everyone knows he’s a fast talker and in essentially every role he’s taken on since The Social Network, there’s no difference in his delivery and it’s quite irritating when the characters are not depicted in their accurate state. There are moments of shock and he does have his antics that are maniacal, but Lex Luther is a relatively calculated individual, and this portrayal was far from that – I wasn’t impressed or amused.

I understand why Snyder was brought on to direct this movie, because of his success with bringing tales of ink to life on the big screen, as we all saw with 300 & Man of Steel. It’s a very dark atmosphere that you’d have to prepare yourself for, and also there were parts in it that had some moments that didn’t exact connect to the story and that threw me off, but for the most part it was straight forward; just longer than it should have been. I got my entertainment when it happened, and also as far as building up for the next movies, it did provide some intrigue although they revealed the situation in a way where Marvel did it with more suspense and mystery – they kept you having to watch each movie to see who would be coming next.

You don’t have to rush out to the theatres to see this movie, and I’m glad I took my time and wait it out to watch, because as much as it was hyped, it was underwhelming to a certain degree, but was still a good movie. Would I rush back to see it again? No. If it were to be playing on TV and I just watch it out of boredom? Sure. It’s one of those movies. But here’s to the competition between the two brands to see where the movie madness heads. This is my opinion, this is my review

That’s My Word & It STiXX