I suppose it sounded like a good, commercial idea. Spend about a quarter of a billion dollars making a big, noisy, splashy movie involving two of the most popular super heroes of the past seventy years and watch the money roll in.
A week after its release 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' had just about covered its budget in box office returns which I presume means it now needs to cover its marketing costs before it moves into profit for its investors. A pretty expensive gamble which may pay off in the long run but probably not as yet.
The plot such as there is one is that Superman has become odious in the minds of the public - represented by the citizens of Gotham City and Metropolis - and an unprecedentedly down and charmless Bruce Wayne (Batman's alter ego) is going to rid the Burghers of those two cities of their fallen hero.
This requires two hours and thirty minutes of the loudest, most lurid action sequences imaginable interspersed occasionally by a minimal amount of insipid and unhelpful dialogue. Huge chunks of the film are quite confusing. Who is fighting who and why? What is going on? I didn't know and mostly I didn't care.
When in the final act of the film it turns into a 21st Century King Kong like epic with Wonderwoman added to the mix I would gladly have done away with Superman myself to end the torment.
Traditional lovers and students of the two super heroes must be aghast at the liberties taken with the well established characters. Or maybe not? I don't know.
What a muddle.
★1/2
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