Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (3-D)

First Hit:  A very long, overly complicated, saga that makes little or no sense and is a waste of 151 minutes.

To make a film where Superman/Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) and Batman/Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) meet each other, let alone go to war with each other is a flawed concept because each are heroes in their own towns.

The film begins with a very convoluted sequence of scenes that attempts to build a story. It doesn't do this well. The strongest acting and segments of this film include Jesse Eisenberg (as Lex Luthor) because he’s actually interesting. That we have “Gotham” and “Metropolis” just across the river from each other is even more ridiculous.

Somehow a government Senate committee led by Senator Finch (Holly Hunter) is investigating Superman’s unfettered and unguided way he decides whom to help and when. Given that he is indestructible (faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful that a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…) the government wants to have more control about his deeds. The motivation for Batman's actions against Superman is that he believes that when Superman saved the human race from aliens, his actions hurt his family’s business and all the people inside the family's building that was destroyed.

In the meantime Luther is doing his best to stir the pot because he knows that getting rid of Superman, he’ll have more power. The film also finds a ridiculous way to introduce Wonder Woman/Diana Prince (Gal Gadot).

That the resolution to Batman and Superman’s disagreement ludicrously comes because their mothers’ shared the same name (Martha) seemed far fetched and was telegraphed from the opening scenes in the film.

Cavill is OK as the stiff, socially uncomfortable, other worldly and powerful Superman. Affleck was interesting as the brooding Batman. Many of Batman’s fight scenes seemed stilted with Affleck’s lack of smooth movement. Hunter was wasted in this unneeded role. Eisenberg was perfectly manic, intense, and strong as the antagonist. Gadot was somewhat interesting as Wonder Woman. Laurence Fishburne was wasted in his role of Perry White managing editor of the Daily Planet. Amy Adams was sincerely doing her best in the role of Lois Lane. Jeremy Irons was OK as Alfred, Batman’s gentlemen's gentleman. Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer wrote this absurdly convoluted script that was created only to draw box office receipts. There was no effort to make an interesting film. Zack Snyder directed this mess.

Overall:  All told, the story, the direction, and much of the acting was poorly fabricated and executed.

Man of Steel

First Hit:  By the last 45 minutes I got bored stiff with the relentless ill conceive battles.

A little over a week ago I was watching the “Colbert Report” and he posed a question to the director (Zack Snyder) of this film: Why did you forgo the red trunks this character has always worn? Snyder’s response was we wanted to make this film more realistic. Really?

Make a film more realistic about a man who flies faster than a speeding bullet, leaps tall buildings in a single bound, and more powerful than a locomotive, realistic? I will say that Snyder did do a good job of making Clark Kent / Kal-El (AKA: Superman) (played by James Cavill) somewhat human as we go from his childhood to adulthood. It is when we get to his having to fight General Zod (Michael Shannon) his home planet Krypton for his and earth’s survival that it loses steam.

Be prepared to spend 40 – 60 minutes watching an ill-conceived battle. It is a wasteful use of CGI and my time. Superman is about helping individuals in trouble on earth, not fighting some alien invasion.

Cavill as Superman is good. There is some depth in his character but made to spend all his time fighting Zod. Amy Adams playing Lois Lane is wonderful. I really like her. Shannon was very good as Zod but unfortunately his role was too large. Diane Lane and Kevin Costner play Clark Kent’s earthling parents and they were very good – grounded. Russell Crowe as Jor-El (Superman’s father) was overplayed. The only reason we saw so much of Jor-El was because he was Zod's arch enemy and I'm sure they felt required to beef up the role for Crowe. David S. Goyer wrote an overly long battle driven script. Snyder wasn’t able to make Clark Kent both human (he did this better) and savior. He made this film about fighting Zod – so what.

Overall:  Wasted my time despite some wonderful moments.

The Watchmen

First Hit: Mesmerizing visuals in sometimes cohesive scenes strung together by popular songs as the vehicle for transitioning between them.

I was mesmerized by the strong visual scenes in this film but the lack of a strong story line reduced its potential power.

The film begins during the opening credits and if you don’t pay attention; the history of why the world is as dark as it is, as depicted in this film, will be lost. From what I could guess there were two plots of somewhat equal value. One plot is about finding out who is killing past super heroes and the other is about the world coming to an end if someone doesn’t do something about it.

In both plots it is the combination of Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson playing their superhero roles that make and the attempt to create bridges between the beautiful scenes while making sense of the story.

The most glaring, obtrusive and enjoyable part of moving from scene to scene was the use of popular songs (songs I liked). However, their use felt too abrupt and most of the time out of context.

Zack Snyder directed this as he did 300; stylized and other worldly. For my taste, neither one is a really great film but they are fun to watch. There are attempts to create substance in the stories he tells, but both films fall short. In this film, the illusion that there is much substance in this graphic novel is hopeful at best. There was a lot of pre-release hype about this film and a pumping up of how important this graphic novel was, but for my taste, the story less than strong and the film exemplifies this. However, the positive side of this work (and 300 as well) is that he has a great visual eye and draws from a wide range of sensory queues. The use of colors, varying angled shots, lush backgrounds, interesting sounds, and intense detailed interiors are his strong suit. The characters in Watchmen that compelled me to pay attention to were Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian, and Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan.

Overall: Visually stimulating film with a weak storyline but well worth the time and money to see.