Movie Review: Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice - Warner Brothers (2016)

Zach Snyder directs his second film for the DC movie universe, bringing his particular style of directing with him.  Whether you like that type of thing is entirely up to you.

Batman V Superman gave us the fight we were anticipating and also introduced the audience to some new characters.  The pacing of this movie was pretty slow going early on with an artsy dream sequence explaining Batman's(Ben Affleck) origin.  Much of Batman's view of the world and Superman(Henry Cavill) being in it is fueled heavily on his delusional dreams(of which he has plenty).  I had a hard time figuring out if Bruce's butler/assistant in the Bat-Cave, Alfred(Jeremy Irons) is the voice of reason or someone feeding into Bruce Wayne's fears.  Bruce Wayne is Batman for you non-superhero loving folks.

The world is starting to fear Superman and he's being framed for violence across the world.  The framing of the Man of Steel seemed a bit of a stretch but you got to do something to get this movie going.  With all this fear, Lex Luthor(Jesse Eisenberg) is on the hunt for Kryptonite after discovering how it affects the other Krytponian, the now deceased Zod.

I won't go to much further into the plot points of this film but I will give some of the higher and lower points of the film.

• The fight between Superman and Batman went as expected.
• Amy Adams as Lois Lane was great.
• Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor was much better than expected.
• I wanted more of Wonder Woman(Gal Gadot).
• The funeral scene was Peter Jackson long!  I could have went to Mordor and back by the time that ended.  

Overall I liked the movie.  It was worth watching.  I didn't love the movie however and I am in no rush to see it again.  If you need a comic book movie fix, go check it out.  If you wait for blu-ray, I wouldn't blame you there.

What are your thoughts on Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice?  Is this on your must see list?  Please respond in the comment section below.

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Check out my good friend Handsome J's review as well here.

Comic Book Review: Superman: The Coming of the Supermen #2 - DC Comics (2016)

Writer/Artist: Neal Adams
Colorist: Alex Sinclair

Superman and the Supermen must go another round with Kalibak and the forces of Apokolips.  Lex Luthor appears to be assisting the Superman's side in this battle.

Neal Adams is crafting a very good story about Superman and some of his biggest fans who have similar powers and the desire to live like their hero.  The Supermen dress like Superman and attempt to ward off Kalibak and his band of baddies but without near the success of the Man of Steel.  Lex Luthor is in this story as well and you know he has nefarious actions he is looking to keep hidden.

There is also the story of Rafi, the boy Superman saved in the Middle East that he has brought to America.  I find this story fascinating as one of the political hot buttons in the real world is whether the United States should welcome refugees from other countries; particularly countries in the Middle East.  Neal Adams has not been shy in the past when it comes to bringing political views to the comic light and I'm glad he doesn't appear to be shy to this day.

Neal Adams' art is, as always wonderful to look at.  Detailed facial expressions are a specialty of Adams and this book illustrates his talent amazingly well.  Comic book readers that appreciate the superhero story should definitely check out this six issue mini-series.  It's only on issue number two so you can catch up pretty quick.

What are your thoughts on Superman comic books?  Where do you think Neal Adams ranks on the all time list?  Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice - Why You Need To See This Film

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice - Why You Need To See This Film

Starring: Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Jesse Eisenber, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Daine Lane, Jena Malone

The critics hated the movie, what did you expect from a Comicbook adaptation? I’ve seen critics complain about the religious undertone, the political ties and moral dilemma. But when everything is said and done, we are watching a movie where an indestructible man fly’s while another dresses as a Bat. This movie isn’t being made to enlighten, it was made to entertain and it did just that. The best part of this movie we received the best Bruce Wayne/Batman I’ve seen. Ben Affleck was amazing and I can’t wait to see what he does with the future of Batman. And for everyone that was worried about Gal Gadot, she was amazing and sold me on her as Wonder Woman.  

Batman V Superman had to do something which the marvel movies haven’t had to do the entire time, Introduce new character, tell the story of all those character and actually give us movie which made sense. Yes the editing was a little choppy, but every scene was worth it. Every dream sequence from Bruce gave you the perfect insight to the mind set of a man afraid, scared of what could happen. Every time we were introduced to Lex we saw a lunatic going crazy with power, and every time we saw Superman we were treated to man dealing with the reality that the world around him may fear what he is.

The movie itself was more a starting point, a origin story of sorts. This earth hasn’t been introduced to Meta-Human’s yet. As the scene with the few clips of The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg showed us. There seems to be more at play than just a starting point for a Justice League movie, and if we are lucky we will be treated to a Crisis on Infinity earths movie. As seen during one of the dream sequences The Flash appears but looks like he is reaching out from the future. If that looked familiar, well it was basically pulled from the Crisis on Infinity Earth Story line.  

Finally there was Doomsday, was it the Doomsday i was expecting? No, they pulled from way to many points of the DC Universe. But it was nice to see that Doomsday was still the powerful villain that we needed. I said from the moment that they revealed that Doomsday was in Batman V Superman, we needed the Death of Superman Story. That is exactly what we received and it didn’t disappoint. 

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice was exactly what i wanted. The film didn’t disappoint. If you have an doubts about this movie or if you walked away from it disappointed, I suggest taking a moment and see it again.  

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Comic Book Review: Justice League #46 - DC Comics (2015)

Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Francis Manapul

The Darkseid War rages on.  Darkseid is dead and now everyone is after the Anti-Monitor, but only after they're done with each other.  Cyborg, Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor have enlisted the help of Mister Miracle and he has the help of his new bride, Big Barda.  With nobody knowing how to defeat their largest nemesis todate, our heroes need to turn to a group that had their planet destroyed by the Anti-Monitor.  Other members of the Justice League now have god-like powers and that has corrupted many of their minds.
Batman: God of Knowldge
Superman: God of Strength
The Flash: God of Death
Shazam: God of Gods
Green Lantern: God of Light
Lex Luthor: God of Apokolips

If you have not been keeping up with this story, things may be a bit confusing for those jumping in.  There are a lot of moving pieces to this war.  As one can imagine, this is a team book with a lot of personalities and many things going on.  As you see above, many of the heroes have been corrupted with unfathomable power so the heroes on Earth no need to turn to a very unlikely source.  Fans of the Forever Evil story line should be excited.

I've enjoyed Justice League from the start.  This series is not following the stories of the individual books as Bruce Wayne is Batman, Superman still has powers and there's a giant war happening.  It would be difficult to weave this level of war into the individual hero books without confusing the readers.  I used to be against this but, as long as I know it's a different place in the multi-verse, I'm okay with it.  Besides, how is Batman really supposed to be in all of these different books?

What are your thoughts on the Justice League?  Are you enjoying the Darkseid War?  What other comic books would you like the Maskerpiece Theatre staff to review?  Leave your comments below.

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