Scene spoilers! Beware if you care and haven't watched the film yet!!!

Here are my original and mostly non-spoiler thoughts after the first watch a week ago: http://atariage.com/forums/blog/618/entry-12817-batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-league-spoiler-free-review/

For my 2nd viewing of Batman v Superman, my son and I went to a higher quality Cinemark theater. The screen was much bigger, brighter, and I saw details I missed watching the 1st viewing elsewhere. I caught more clues this time, explaining stuff. The sound was also so LOUD it gave me a slight headache by the end. In fact, overall I enjoyed the film about the same as the first time, not more or less. But this time I really felt exhausted by the end of it. Come to think of it - both times I was feeling fatigued before the film was even over. My son , who is 21 years old, said he thought the film wasn't bad (he HATED Man of Steel and still does).

I'm feeling done with BvS now. I doubt I'll buy it on Blu-ray. I can't see myself watching it over & over. I enjoyed it, but it isn't a hugely enjoyable experience. By way of comparison, I can rewatch most of the Marvel films over & over and love 'em.

My rating of Man of Steel: C- on first watch, C+ after multiple watches.
My rating of Batman v Superman: B-

My top 3 favorite scenes:
1. The fight between Batman and Superman. It was pretty good.
2. Batman rescuing Martha, taking down all the armed criminals and their leader, the "KGBeast" dude. Quoth the KGBeast, "I'll kill her", and Bat says "I believe you". Then ... BOOM takes him out. All great stuff.
3. The Senate bomb. Best twist of the film to me.

Least 3 favorite scenes:
1. The scene where Lois and Superman are depressed, and Lois says "I don't know if you can love me being who you are blah blah blah". Emo / dull. Who cares? You know, Vicki Vale said something quite similar in Bruce in 1989's Batman the Movie.
2. Doomsday . Although WW is great and there's lots of action in the battle, overall it shouldn't have been tacked on to the end of this already too-long film. Plus, just how Doomsday was created and *why*, by Lex, makes little sense to me.
3. Lex's trailer-quoted dialogue, "Clark Kent meets Bruce Wayne! I love bringing people together! Do not pick a fight with this person!"
==> EDIT: wait a minute. Isn't the film showing the Lex already figured out who Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent were? So in this scene, its like he is breaking the 4th wall and winking at the audience. still don't like it.


I found the Injustice comics series online and read through most of the first 3 years worth recently. In this series (a prequel of sorts to the video game Injustice), Superman suffers the death of Lois and her unborn child , then decides its okay to kill and be more active stopping wars, governments, and criminals. Then Superman turns the world into a police state, basically. Just about all the Justice League support him except for a few with Batman. The rest of the series, its Superman vs Batman along with the supporting characters. You can read the entire series (I grew tired of it after a while, it goes on & on & on and despite a few bright humor spots with Harley and Oliver Queen, the repeated fighting gets old ) at http://readcomiconline.com/for free (not sure how long that will last).

I wonder if the writers and Zack Snyder were fans of this story? Because its a little bit off-putting , just like BvS. Also similar scenes (maybe from other comics too - I haven't read many Superman books so I don't know). The way Superman takes Doomsday into outer space; the visions showing a violent Superman willing to kill and clearly HATING Batman are also found in Injustice. I grew tired of Injustice, mostly because it has several years worth of comics, all with a killing and more despot Superman, which lasted too long. Similarly, Bvs lasted too long for me as a film w/the heroes mostly in conflict with each other.

Its pretty obvious that The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel was an influence too. Several scenes plus the nature of the conflict are right out of that comic. I was waiting to see a Kryptonite arrow in BvS ! But it was changed to something else for the film version. The cover scene of the comic, with a lightning bolt behind the thick Batman outline, found its way into BvS too.

This is curious to me, as The Dark Knight Rises film was also strongly influenced by The Dark Knight Returns with Batman being older & out of action for years, plus certain scenes like young & old Gotham cops seeing Batman on his returning night ("Son, you're in for a treat tonight!").

Finally, I thought it poor taste in the funeral scene that a bagpipes version of Amazing Grace was used. That was Spock's funeral music! (Wrath of Kahn).

(_)3