DC Rebirth is making more things exciting in the DC Universe again!

DC Rebirth

So yes, I have never been shy about my disdain for DC's New 52 reboot after they did not properly put an end to the old DC Universe by coming up instead with a haphazard way of introducing their new Universe via a Flash centric event called Flashpoint. They tried to rectify that mistake by introducing Convergence, their effort to finally tie up the loose ends of their old continuities dating back from the Bronze Age until the the Post Crisis continuities. But a year after Convergence, they are rebooting (or to be correct Re-birthing) their entire Universe again. The DC brain trusts however are not saying that this is a reboot, in fact they have a brilliant master plan as to how to explain the recent constant interruptions of their Universe. Geoff Johns is the handpicked man for the job, and I'm in full support with the direction that he is taking the entire DC Universe with him (though controversial choices were made as to the one responsible for the disruption of the DC continuity, which I will explain later). Johns has been credited for resuscitating almost dead (in popularity) characters like the like of Green Lantern, Flash, and Justice Society of America to name a few. And since writing those titles, those characters managed to gain back the lost popularity they once possess. So I have big confidence that under Johns, he would be able to right all the wrongs committed by the New 52 blunder.

The Death of the New 52 Superman

The big changes began when DC decided to bring back the Post Crisis Superman (which is my Superman by the way) in the Convergence event. paving the way for the existence of two Supermen. The New 52 Superman's existence was left in question when DC decided to give the old Superman a comic book series of his own. Somehow, in their drive to make the New Superman more interesting and relatable, DC bombarded him with so many perilous challenges by even introducing a new super power ability, the Solar Flare. This ability is explained as the dispensing of the solar power charged within the New Superman's body, dispensing an explosive solar outburst but left the New Superman discharged from the solar energies which renders him powerless, and almost human. Countless adventures were written with a de-powered Superman which ironically had him clothed in a Superman T-Shirt and jeans, mirroring his first appearance in the New 52 universe when he was still starting his career as a superhero. And when the final plans of Rebirth were concocted in a secret location in the war room of the DC offices, the final fate of the New Superman was signed and delivered. The New 52 Superman will have to regain his powers no matter the costs and eventually consigning himself to die after all of the sacrifices hat he has made. And in his final adventure, he would battle it out against a Solar energy Superman by the name of Denny Swan (a mash up of Dennis O' Neil and Curt Swan, two of the Pre-Crisis Superman's greatest creative brains). This battle, along with the appearance of the Post-Crisis Superman, was a subtle impromptu battle between three generations of Supermen. With the Post-Crisis Superman emerging as the only one alive in the aftermath of the battle of the Supermen. This would set the stage for the Post-Crisis Superman to retake the mantle as the lone Superman of the DC Universe (or so we thought?).  

Three generations of Superheroes trapped in time

DC Rebirth meanwhile tells the story of Wally West, the Post-Crisis Flash who somehow was forgotten in the whole New 52 brouhaha. His sudden return to the DC Universe (albeit with no one remembering his existence) would create repercussions in the DC Universe as they try to solve the mystery why all of a sudden 10 years of their memories (as well as relationships) were wiped from existence. DC Rebirth would take us into a journey of one emotional ride as we meet old friends, rekindle old relationships, appreciate Legacy, and start relearning how beautiful it is to HOPE again. This however does not diminish the need to discover a whole new universe ahead as mysteries begins to pile up. And what better way to fix the DC Universe by starting with the Watchmen again. Now I know and fully understand how this very divisive decision had made some comic book fans feel agitated with the decision of DC to bring back the Watchmen and be a part of the DC Universe. I mean this is a consistent New York times top selling book which continues to remain a classic even now. This is perhaps the Sacred Cow of all the graphic novels that ever existed. And utilizing these characters in the present times might only diminish the historical value and importance of these characters specially if a bumbling story teller would ruin these characters. But we have to admit, the Dark Ages (or when heroes began dealing with real world situations) of the Comic Book genre began when Watchmen soared to fan approval as the demand of lesser funny books and more mature themed comic books were needed back in the 80's. Watchmen made our heroes bleed, they made our heroes real enough to be caught in dilemmas that we ourselves struggle in our daily lives. They made our heroes succumb to the intricate philosophies of the world. They made our heroes human. And there was no problem with that. Because for the first time since the super heroes' inception, they became a visual reflection of the real world politics. And I have no problem with that. But as a storytelling narrative, it makes perfect sense that Dr. Manhattan is involved. That the Watchmen characters are involved. Because their success brought about the current storytelling style that are prevalent in comic books nowadays.

With Rebirth now being started, the Post-Crisis Superman is brought to the forefront as the Superman of the DC Universe once more. Last seen on his own limited-monthly series since the events of Convergence (where Lois Lane gave birth to their son, Jonathan Kent), Superman juggles his superhero duties under the shadow of the New Superman while starting a family of his own. His new born baby Jonathan Samuel Kent, now 5 year old is beginning to grow suspicious about his father's alter ego, while also discovering that he has emerging super powers on his own. Superman: Rebirth is a very pleasing jumping on point for New 52 Superman fans who never had any idea who the Post-Crisis Superman was. The issue even highlights the Death and Return of the Post-Crisis Superman, perhaps offering a glimpse of hope that the New 52 Superman might even come back from the dead. There are rumors that the New 52 Superman might be resurrected under a new persona, a Chinese Superman, but the developments for this is one bear watching. Superman's son is also the new Superboy. I think the current plans for Superman is exactly what I wanted DC to do when they announced the New 52. I think down the road, it would be better to eventually replace Superman with his own son, and I think that's more acceptable to the majority of Superman fans if DC's intention is to come up with a younger Superman that the new generation of Superman fans can relate more to.

Reign of Supermen two?

I also have a special liking to the redesigned Superman costume despite the absence of the classic red trunks, and now the red boots. Somehow this costume is bringing us a closer resemblance to the costume of the current Superman movieverse Man of Steel (sans the red boots). I never really liked the New 52 Superman costume and preferred the movie's costume better. I guess it was because beforehand in the New 52 reboot, DC was pretty much vague if the New 52 Superman costume was composed of armor or not. And there were pretty much inconsistencies in the art work where one artist drew is as an armor and another drew it as a synthetic cloth or whatever material that was left unexplained. It really does have a Henry Cavill feel in the visuals seen on the left. Of all the superheroes from both Marvel and DC, it seems that only Superman has never had a makeover that updated his costume and appearance. There were some attempts in the past, but none really stuck and artists continued to revert back to drawing him in his classic duds. Classic characters like Batman, Captain America, and the likes had subtle makeovers to update their looks, but Superman without the red trunks seems unacceptable to die hard fans. I think this has to change. And the Rebirth costume is one that I really like to update his looks. Though this is alien looking than let's say the classic spandex look of Superman but this feels right at home with the current times.


One last trivia of information that I have noticed is that the Rebirth Superman seems to be inspired by the 90's DC Elseworlds Story, Son of Superman. In Son of Superman, Clark and Lois had a son named Jonathan Kent which they hid the identity of Superman as his father. Jonathan Kent would eventually discover his powers and goes on a search to find Superman as he literally grew up without a father. Once he found Superman, Superman would reveal his identity to his son and both embarked on a mission to save the world. Superman even wore the black costume that he is wearing in the New 52 Universe. In the end, Superman would bequeath to his son his costume, paving the way for a new Superman. Now this was not part of any continuity since this was only an Elseworld Story, but personally it is one of my favorite Superman story when it comes to Superman retiring his cape in favor of his son. With Rebirth on the horizon, and with DC's plans of making Jonathan Kent a regular fixture in Superman's adventures (as well as having his own book with Damian Wayne Robin, titled Supersons), I wonder if DC ever took a page at the book for inspirations in their Superman Rebirth plans. So yes, interesting times are indeed within the horizon of the DC Universe once again.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Action Figure Reviews

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Wave 1 Action Figures

Well I have finally done my Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice movie review as well as my thoughts on the criticisms of the movie. So this time around, I'm doing a review of the movie tie-in action figures. Initially, I was hesitant to purchase the BVS action figures because the BVS action figures are so pricey here in the Philippines (costs around P1,899 or $45 each). I also was bummed and got burned years back by the Man of Steel Movie Masters action figures when I purchased it at retail price (P1,799 or $40+) only to find out that two years later, the prices went down as much as half the retail price. It also did not help that the local distributor seemed to have brought in only a limited number of BVS action figures here in the Philippines, making your chances of getting a Gal Gadot Wonder Woman action figure to almost none. I only bit the bullet when I came across a set of 3 (Batman, Armored Batman, and Wonder Woman) loose BVS action figures that were being sold at 30% off the retail price. I figured this price should be ok than instead of taking the risk a few years from now. But at the rate with how critics are killing the movie with their negative reviews, there's a huge chance that Mattel might be forced to sell these figures at clearance price. Anyway, on to the reviews!

BVS Superman (left) V MOS Superman (right)

Superman: I couldn't find Superman anywhere and I actually had no plans of purchasing one. One reason for that is of course the price. Another is that it seems the figure is just a straight repaint of the Man of Steel Movie Masters Superman but with a new (and better) head sculpt and some minor changes on the buckle and S shield logo on Superman's chest. But I could be wrong. Pictured on the left is a comparison photo of both Supermen which I got from the fwoosh forum as posted by Muthasucka and annotated by Enforcer. From the photo, it would seem that the BVS Superman is slightly taller than the MOS Superman. I'm kind of irritated that Mattel couldn't make up their mind with regards to the scale of their movie based action figures. They started off their Superman Returns action figures at 5 inch, followed by the 5.5 inch Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy Movie Masters action figures. Then they tweaked and redesigned a rail thin Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern Movie Masters action figures (though it went in good scale with the Batman figures). Then a 4 inch DC Multiverse Michael Keaton Batman and Christopher Reeve Superman action figures. Then came the Man of Steel movie masters which were a tad taller than the Batman movie masters, but still they basically are in good scale. This time around (and still using the Multiverse title), the BVS action figures are standing at exactly 6 inch. Bringing it in scale with the legendary DC Universe Classics (comparison photos for Batman and Wonder Woman below). I just hope that this is the final time that Mattel is changing their scale size. Superman by the way is short packed at one per case, so he'll be harder to obtain. Mattel must have been thinking that the Superman figure will be a peg warmer because of the existence of the MOS Superman figure. Maybe down the line if I come across with a cheaper BVS Superman I might buy it. As far as I know, there are Superman variants coming out. So maybe some collectors might dispose their BVS Superman in favor of the variant ones. So for the meantime, my MOS Superman will have to join the BVS action figures in my shelf display.

Batman

Batman: To tell you honestly, the BVS Batman action figure looks totally better in person than in the pictures. When I first saw the photos of this Batman on the internet, I was totally aghast at how bad the figure looks like. But when I finally saw him in person, he looks way much better than I have thought. Snyder and company adhered faithfully to Frank Miller's Batman designs (which was the inspiration of the movie), which explains the bulkier and heavier look of Batman. Some non-DC fans call him as Fat-Man. But this version of Batman in my opinion is the only Batman that is worthy to go toe to toe with Superman. He has to bulk up if he intends to survive a match up against a super powered alien being like Superman. The action figure's sculpt is ok, but if only Mattel gave us a much darker shade of grey, then this Batman figure would have been perfect. Not much Ben Affleck could be seen under the cowl, though there is a variant version in the second wave that features a removable cowl and sports a Ben Affleck head sculpt. The figure features standard DCUC articulations which are ball jointed neck and ball hinged shoulders, swivel biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs, pivot torso, hinged elbows, knees, and ankles, and double pivot hips. Like I said before, the figure is pretty much taller than the old Dark Knight Trilogy Movie Masters line, and stand approximately as tall as the DCUC. Sadly, this figure does not come with any accessories besides the CNC part. Batman can also be seen warming the pegs here in the Philippines. I think among the wave, he is packed in more numbers than the others. Check out the photos below.

Bat-Fleck

BVS Batman V The Dark Knight Trilogy Batman

From Left to Right DCUC Batman Beyond, BVS Batman, Mattel Arkham Video Game Batman, and BVS Armored Batman

Armored Batman

Armored Batman: I think this is the best figure of the entire wave. Armored Batman again sports the same articulation as that of Batman and the good thing about the figure is that his armor does not hamper any movement of the figure's articulation. The figure's sculpts are done pretty well with nicely done details on its armor. The figure comes with a gun which I believe is the same gun that Batman used to spray a dust of Kryptonite particles to weaken Superman. I was actually torn if I should get this or the cheaper basic version since I actually prefer the cloth capes rather than the rubbery plastic ones. But I realized that the basic version does not feature a cloth cape, but rather a cellophane type plastic cape, which actually looks awful. This figure also looks imposing when displayed side by side with the Man of Steel Superman action figure. But I actually find no problems with that because an armored Batman should supposedly look imposing and should be bigger than Superman (pictures below). Armored Batman is also the second (not counting Superman) most in demand figure in this wave. I hardly see him (and Wonder Woman) in the pegs. Fans must have loved the way Armored Batman looks. It also helps a lot that this figure could work well side by side with the DCUC action figures. I mean you could have owned a lot of Batman in your collection but this is the first time that you will be getting him in this armor. And it also helps that the armor design resembles very closely to Frank Miller's designs. you can ditch the other figures in this wave, but you can't let this one pass.    

The Dark Knight Returns

Size comparison

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman: Well when you are skipping Batman and Superman because you are satisfied with the Man of Steel Superman and Christian Bale Batman action figures in your collection, then Wonder Woman is all that you need. This must be the reason why she is selling like hot cakes as I never chanced upon seeing this figure in the pegs. I told myself then that I can skip the other figures and is willing to settle for Wonder Woman instead at the price point that she is selling at SRP. But let me warn you, the figure's articulation is very frustrating. Wonder Woman sports the same DCUC articulation like the others but she lacks the pivot torso articulation. Her head is also non-moveable because her hair is obstructing the articulation that the figure is supposed to have. The hip articulations will also be limited by her skirt. The figure though looks great with enough amount of detailed sculpts in the costumes and armors. Unfortunately she looks more like comic Wonder Woman than Gal Gadot. The figure also comes with highly detailed sword and shield accessories, with nicely painted metallic colors finish to it. We also got a non-removable lasso of truth on her waist, which is actually a waste. I don't know why Mattel continues to disappoint us by not giving us a removable lasso of truth accessory. It would have been cooler if we get to have a lasso of truth accessory to this figure. I managed to find a replacement lasso for my DCUC Wonder Woman by using a gold thread. Check out the fifth photo below.

Gal Gadot she's not

Basic Wonder W

Basic Wonder Woman: I'll have to include the Basic Wonder Woman action figure in this review to give you readers an idea what to get in case you missed out on the DC Multiverse Wonder Woman above. I actually bought this Wonder Woman figure because I had fears that I may never get to own the DC Multiverse version. So she could be a nice replacement. And also she sells like hot cakes among all the BVS basic action figures, which makes her also hard to find. The figure looks cartoony and features a lesser detailed sculpt designs than the Multiverse one. It also has lesser points of articulation, which is limited to ball jointed head, swivel arms, swivel and hinged elbows, swivel hips, and hinged knees. I also want to share to you that I managed to get a defected figure as the right hip were stuck, making it non-movable. I don't know what happened to it but I managed to unstuck it by slicing it entirely and repaired it with super glue to recover the swivel articulation. Now, it works like there was never a problem at all. The hip articulation is limited by the skirt again, though the head is more moveable than the multiverse version. There is also a useless swivel articulation on the knees as the knee pads hampers the movement. I don't know what got into Mattel as they could have instead put the swivel articulation on the thighs instead on the knees. The figure also comes with a sword and shield accessory albeit with non-existent paint applications. Just a plain gray plastic with minor details. But this move of changing their basic figures' size into 6 inch instead of the 4 inch ones from the Dark Knight Trilogy, Green Lantern, and Man of Steel is a good move for Mattel. Those 4 inch figures were just too godawful. These 6 inch ones can pretty much be good substitutes to the multiverse ones. Well if you could get pass the simplistic sculpt presentations. This Wonder Woman figure goes pretty well with the Christian Bale Batman and the Man of Steel Superman in terms of her scale. Check out the third photo below.

Wonder Woman still no Gal Gadot there

The best pose I could get with this figure

Trinity!

Wonder Woman scale comparison

Tell me? Do you bleed? You will!

Fight Night!

Black and Blue

Day v.s. Night

God v.s. Man

The Bat of Gotham v.s. The Son of Krypton

Save Martha!

Is she with you? I though she was with you?

Doomsday!

What if Batman and Wonder Woman aided Superman during the Kryptonian Invasion?

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

New Trinity v.s. Old Trinity of the DC Universe Live Action Movies

In with the new, out with the old!

Well that's it. As of this writing, the BVS movie is still climbing up the sales charts of Superhero themed movies. Whether it hits the One Billion sales mark or not, I think it accomplishes the task of being one of the most hotly debated Superhero movies of all time. People can dismiss the movie all they want, but it does not take the fact that a few years from now, people will still debate the merits of this movie. And if DC/Warner can come up with a much improved follow up which is the Justice League movie, then people will look back at this movie and probably appreciate it as a part of a greater scheme of things.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Movie Review

Batman V Superman

So I'm posting my review proper of the movie a day after I posted my response to critics for their bad reviews. Check out the entry here.

Clark, Lex, and Bruce meets for the first time

 Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice opens with the murder of Batman's parents. Critics lambasted Zack Snyder's choice of retelling the story for the Nth time because this has been already told again and again in the big screen via the 1989 Micheal Keaton Batman movie and the more recent Batman movie starred by Christian Bale. But comic book fans who could remember their The Dark Knight Returns comic book pages jumped in glee upon seeing Snyder's decision to bring a page from the comic book to the big screen. This scene was the gun wrapped by Martha Wayne's pearl necklace as the robber shot Martha in the head. This was only one of a dozen or so scenes in this movie that were lifted from the comic books. The source of some critics of Snyder's works is that Snyder is so fond of bringing comic book pages to the big screen, that they accuse him of lacking in creativity when shooting his movies. This can be traced back to his 300 movie and Watchmen. But in an interview as the movie was released, Snyder defended his work stating that he has always shot his movies as a comic book fan and made these for the comic book fans. So critics' actual bias criticisms of Snyder's is borne from their bias opinions of Snyder. What follows that scene is a build up of different attempts at character development as we are refreshed to the events of the climactic battle between Superman and Zod from the Man of Steel movie through the eyes of Bruce Wayne. This sets the tone for Bruce Wayne/Batman's motivations as to why he needs to stop Superman. We are then ushered to 18 months later where we are treated to Superman and Lois Lane's story as to what was the current status quo of Superman in the present. Superman saving Lois in some african country from terrorists sets the tone of Luthor's attempt to frame up Superman for the deaths of some african bystanders. The following scenes segues to Luthor's story, and how he tries to manipulate the U.S. government (and Batman) in making Superman accountable for the threat that he poses to the world if left unchecked.

Batman's nightmare and vision of things to come?

This was basically the premise of the first half of the movie to which some critics deemed as too dragging or too confusing. I personally understood what Snyder and team is trying to build as the movie progresses, but critics found it too confusing. I do agree however that there were a lot of going ons that Snyder and team could have trimmed down further. But then again what I don't understand from critics is that some are saying that the attempt at character development was too dragging or confusing, while some critics are saying that there was no character development. I think it was a giveaway that the movie is a prequel for the Justice League movie as the subtitle Dawn of Justice suggests, so Wonder Woman's appearance as well cameos by Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg were included in the movie. But then again maybe since this is the first time on the big screen that we are going to see Superman and Batman together and in it for a mighty slugfest that critics might already have been too excited to see and could no longer wait for it that they eventually felt that the movie was too dragging (or failed to understand the build up). Believe me, I too had that sense of feeling because as the title suggests, this is Batman V Superman! So let's get it on already! So yes, the first half was spent on the build up to the Batman and Superman fight and was peppered with some Justice League cameos and even nightmares that Batman had of perhaps a portent of things to come? I personally love the nightmare stuff because we are treated to the existence of the Parademons, the evil Darkseid's army, which probably sets the possibility that Darkseid will play a part in the DC Cinematic Universe. The be all and end all of Universal comic book crossovers, DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths is even given a nod when Flash appeared in Batman's dream within a dream, warning him of a grim future and what's their best chance from preventing it from happening. To the casual moviegoers, these are stuffs that are not important in the movie, but to longtime DC fanboys, these are the moments where we excitedly look forward for the upcoming DC Cinematic Universe to come to its full fruition.

Fight Night!

I will no longer argue the merits of the opening half of the film, critics can have their feast on them, but the second half down to the climactic scenes, woah! This is the Superhero movie that we all have been waiting for. Snyder crafts an amazing cinematography and action packed scenes where we literally see our comic book pages come alive on the big screen. The Batman/Superman fight is a sight to behold as two superheroes who are responsible to perhaps one of comicdoms greatest debate (Who wins in a fight, Batman or Superman?) come alive. The intense showdown will literally put you in the edge of your seat as Batman and Superman pounds each other. I personally liked Superman's statement to Batman "If I want you dead, you'd be dead already" because as a Superman fan, it holds true to end the debate of all debates. But of course some Superman fans were turned off by Superman's arrogance in this scene. But let's get real, in character or not, that statement holds true. And Superman still did not kill Batman despite that stern warning. In fact Batman had Superman under his heel as he was about to stab Superman with a self made Kryptonite Spear. Only to be stopped in his tracks when Superman asks Batman to save Martha (the shared name of Superman and Batman's mother). To some critics, they found it silly, I on the other hand found it amusing that I only realized it now. The movie however does not end there, as we are treated to further catastrophic damages when Doomsday (or should I say DoomZod) appeared. Earlier in the movie, Lex Luthor manages to acquire the corpse of General Zod and accesses the abandoned Kryptonian scout ship that was under the possession of the U.S. government. He takes control of the scout ship, gathering information from it as he creates a monstrous figure using the corpse of Zod and his blood.

Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman on screen for the first time

Of course this new threat brings in Wonder Woman to the fray, as DC's beloved trinity is finally seen together on screen for the first time. Another round of slam bang action ensues as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman team up to stop the world threatening threat of Doomsday. And with the heroes in a losing battle, it took a sacrifice from Superman at the expense of his life to finally end Doomsday's threat. Superman thrusts the Kryptonite Spear right through Doomsday's chest as Doomsday punches a hole right through Superman's chest too. This seemingly kills Superman and the final moments of the film would dwell on Superman's funeral and Batman's realization (under Luthor's unsolicited lip service) that an evil threat is coming, as he must gather metahumans like Superman and Wonder Woman to form a league. And right before the film closes, we are given some strong hints that Superman might not be really dead after all.    

DC's vaunted Trinity

You have to give credit to Snyder and team as they were given the task to bring DC's mythical and legendary heroes onscreen. Let me tell you something, the weight of bringing these heroes together on the big screen totally outweighs whatever Marvel has done in their own cinematic universe. You want to know why? Because none of Marvel heroes are as mythical, legendary, historical, and pop culturally as huge as DC's trinity. So understandably, I can get where the critics are coming from. The expectations were too heavy for Snyder to match. I mean Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, and whichever Avengers member can fail in their cinematic debut and not a lot of criticisms would go Marvel's way. Because these critics don't see those characters in the same breath as Superman, Batman, nor Wonder Woman. Because let's be real, DC Comics brought about the birth of the Golden Age of Comic Book Superheroes, they were the first. I don't want to argue with Marvel fans with this statement but they can check their facts that Marvel came alive during the Silver Age, brought about by the emergence of Stan Lee. So DC and Warner has a lot of pressure to make things work, all eyes were on them as they build their own cinematic universe. It also did not help that Warner/DC has always been vocal with the direction of their Cinematic Universe, that they want to distinguish it from Marvel by grounding their movies in realism and thought provoking storylines. So yeah the pressure was on them, and critics expected too much from their movies.  

The Best Comic book Batman on screen!

The casts did well in trying to give us a satisfying movie. Ben Affleck soared well as the definitive comic book Batman on screen, beating Michael Keaton (who was more of a cinematic gothic Batman) and Christian Bale (who was more of a realistic/political Batman that you could easily substitute with a police or detective character and the movie would still work) on that front. Henry Cavill on the other hand, I have began to accept that his version of Superman is still on the rough edges and not as fully formed as the Superman that we all know. Because let's be real, his Superman has existed for around 2 years only, so he's still in the process of building the right heroic characteristics as the experiences will show him along the way. Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman did well in her fight scenes, but I will have to judge her further in her own Wonder Woman movie. Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor is polarizing to fans as they clamor for a more composed and mature Luthor, but one thing I've learned in dealing with live action movies and comic books is that to separate both, because you can never appreciate the beauty of art if you constrain them to one incarnation or another. We can always go back to our comic books if the movie universe fails us. So Lex is still a character in development. Eisenberg did brilliant work with the assigned character that he was given by Snyder and team, so why blame him. I'm partial with Amy Adams as Lois. The blonde never really worked for me, and her beauty is not the Lois that is on my mind. Teri Hatcher is still my favorite Lois, but Adams is beginning to grow on me. I just find her soft voice distracting. The other casts did ok for me. Kevin Costner's ghostly appearance was a surprise though.

Batman V Superman weighted by critics expectations and it's rich legendary history

Overall Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is not really a bad film as critics suggests. I still stand by my opinion that the movie was just weighted down by it's own legendary expectations. And we all could not wait for the big fight to happen, so screw the build up and let's just get it on, and hanger ons like Wonder Woman and Doomsday are not welcome as critics suggests. Is the film perfect? Not really. Could it have been better? Probably. Is it worth the price of admission? Most definitely! The fight scenes and breathtaking cinematography alone is worth seeing. The movie draws heavily from the comic book storyline of the Dark Knight Returns and the Death of Superman. After you've done watching the movie, I suggest you go get these two books which are now collected in graphic novel format. Believe me, it will open your eyes to the possibilities of how great the DC Cinematic Universe will be. I'm giving the movie a solid 8/10.

My thoughts on the critics of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

The long wait is finally over! After 3 long years, the movie that DC FANS (with an emphasis on DC FANS) has finally hit the screens, and boy oh boy, it's getting mixed reviews and being clobbered by film critics. My take? somewhere in the middle, but leaning towards on the positive end. How did I arrived with that judgement? There are two train of thoughts here. One can review it as a casual movie fan who is accustomed to superhero movies done by Marvel because Marvel seemed to be the trendsetter for superhero movies because as of now, they get the head start in terms of the volume of superhero movies produced. Secondly, one can review it as a longtime DC fan who is well knowledgeable about the DC Universe. As much as I am a DC Fan first, I will try to review it somewhere in between those two train of thoughts. And that's why I'm giving it a mixed review. But it doesn't mean that YOU should not watch it, because there are a lot more good reasons for you to watch it if you wanna get introduced to DC's cinematic universe's way of telling their story.

But let me get this off my chest first. I absolutely hate the bias that critics are giving the movie. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (BVS for short) does not deserve the negative ratings that the critics are giving it. Mixed would be acceptable, but Negative? No! it is wrong. I'm numerating the most common criticisms in the movie below.
 
1.) It's joyless/humorless
2.) Too Dark
3.) Dragging
4.) Too many plot threads happening all at once
5.) It's done by Zack Snyder! (and the bias kicks in for all Snyder movies)

Smile Superman please?

If you look at number one, it can only mean that critics has preconceived biases that superhero movies should be light, humorous, and fun. They have already put superhero movies in a box in the same way Western movies should be about cowboys, horses, indians and shootouts. Or terrifying horror movies should have a traditional ghost in the mold of Sadako (of The Ring Fame). They have already put Marvel as the gold standard for Superhero movies, which is really unfair. Because in the world of comic books, Marvel and DC is never the same. To be fair, let us commend Disney/Marvel for their attempts to connect their superhero movie to kids, because this brings in the dollars in terms of merchandising, and what nots that widens their products reach and not limited to a few. In fact if you compare Marvel's animated series/movies to DC's animated series/movies, Marvel's always are lighthearted. But the problem is, it doesn't get too much legs as they have to compete with other kiddie shows. DC on the other hand is serious in tone, and it owes to the success of Batman: the animated series, which spawned the so called Timmiverse (named after producer/director Bruce Timm), extending their animated series to multiple titles like Superman, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, which lasted at a minimum 3 seasons each. BVS cannot win the critics over because they have already prejudged and shoehorned the Superhero movies, and that started with how they blasted Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, the precursor to BVS.

Batman is the Dark Knight, get it? So why should he be sunny?

Number two works almost in similar with number one, but to be fair, Critics let Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy pass and get rave reviews. Wanna know why? Because Batman works for them! If the word "The Dark" is no giveaway, Nolan's epic trilogy is grounded on crime drama and sets it's feet in a world where Batman can be real. And it works for the critics. But when Man of Steel hits the theaters, it was bombarded by negative reviews. You can read my reactions about that movie here. The criticisms of BVS being too dark can be solely trace back to Man of Steel. Most often critics still hasn't gotten over with the thought that Superman should not be dark. They still have a hangover with the Christopher Reeve Superman. As a fan, I can understand that, because I too never gave the DC New 52 Superman comic books a chance, because I was too hangover with the idea that my Superman is the Post-crisis Superman that John Byrne started. Batman works well being Dark as evidenced by the Nolan trilogy, it's just that they could never accept Snyder's Dark Superman. So how can a movie that has Batman in it too Dark?

Superman dragging a ship, like BVS opening moments?

Number three in some way I will accept. I agree the first half of the movie tends to be too dragging. But maybe it's because we want Batman and Superman to fight already? Snyder and his writers (Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer) valiantly tried to set up reasons why Batman and Superman should fight. To some the reasons worked, to others it don't. So let me recall the reasons, Luthor set up Batman and Superman to fight each other by playing their emotions. And I personally love the fact that Luthor used Superman's mother Martha Kent as his bait for Superman to fight Batman. While Batman's reasons smartly interconnects with the Man of Steel climactic battle was a brilliant move. In the comic books, Batman has this paranoia that Superman might turn evil when left unchecked. So yes their interpretation of the fight remains faithful to the source materials. Snyder and team could have shorten the groundwork for that to happen though.

Dawn of Justice right? Of course this is a Prequel for the Justice League movie

But then number four can be tied directly to number three. Because Snyder and co. were also setting up Justice League as the title Dawn of Justice suggests, there were plot threads that were incorporated in the movie that eventually made the movie dragging. I personally have no problem with that. Because I understand that this movie is also a setup for Justice League, in the same way that Iron Man 2 was a set up for the Avengers movie. The only fault DC had is that they only have one movie prior to BVS to set up their Justice League. So understandably it gets crammed up in one movie. Contrast that to Marvel where they had 5 movies to set up their Avengers movie. But again we shouldn't compare DC to Marvel because both are not the same in the first place. But yes I do agree that there were too many plot threads going on. Let me count the ways, there's Batman's story, Superman's story, Lex Luthor's story, Wonder Woman's mini-story, factor in Lois Lane and the Daily Planet, so yes there were too many going ons.

Zack Snyder movies anyone?

Lastly number five, Zack Snyder! Critics had already killed the movie the moment Zack Snyder is mentioned as the director. It is ostensibly the same way when Michael Bay is mentioned. Transformers is being killed by critics and fans but it didn't stop Michael Bay from creating more Transformers movies. When it comes to Snyder, I thoroughly enjoyed his 300 movie (though I haven't seen the sequel yet). Watchmen is also a movie of his that I thoroughly enjoyed, although critics lambasted it. Watchmen is almost a complete page by page adaptation of the graphic novel (except for a revised plot thread), which angered critics because Snyder never made any effort to differentiate his movie from the source material. But really, there was no other way to do Watchmen but to try to faithfully adapt the source material because for me that is the only way of telling the Watchmen story on screen. BVS combines elements from perhaps two of the best Batman and Superman comic books, The Dark Knight Returns for Batman and The Death of Superman for Superman. And like Watchmen, I saw some scenes that faithfully appeared in the comic books. Simply put, it's like the scenes jumped right out of the comic books! As a comic book fan, these were the best moments of the film. Critics won't appreciate it because for sure they couldn't view the film from the eyes of a comic book fan. Take my advice, read those books, it will help a lot in appreciating this movie. Zack Snyder is a great visual director. And I'm all for him for the DC cinematic universe moving forward. Maybe to tightening up their story telling, DC should consider to hire brilliant writers moving forward. Chris Terrio is a step in the right direction. For this movie, he just came in too late as basically the premise is already set, and Terrio had to do rewrites under the given premise.  

See it in IMAX. All your money's worth!

In closing, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is far from being a perfect movie. Could I say that so far this is the best Superhero movie to date? Probably. If we take out the dragging setup and just watch the movie starting from the Batman vs Superman fight down to the last frame of the movie, then hell yeah! This is the best Superhero movie ever! What we saw from those action scenes and climactic battles is worth the price of admission (not to mention the breathtaking cinematography). And I'm telling you, you should not miss this movie. Screw the critics! There was never a perfect movie anyway. Each has their flaws, it's just that critics were dead set on killing this movie before it was already released yet because of the critic's baggage of the Man of Steel movie. My feelings as a whole is mixed If I'm not going to be biased because of the flaws of the storytelling, but like I said earlier, it's mixed leaning towards the positive because the fight scenes and the cinematography eventually will totally outweigh the negatives of the movies. Take my advice, do not miss this movie!