Yes, I love Batman V Superman (both cuts, with the Ultimate one being superior), and I have to say that this is the weakest link in the establishing DCEU so far.
The Editing. Quite funny, considering if done right, you don't even notice the editing in the final product. However, anytime it's bad - it's noticeable. And boy, bad editing stands out in this one. It makes a few sequences look really out of place, like shoehorned in. Whoever did the job needs to seriously punished.
Lack of the Joker. Seriously, you hired an Oscar-winning guy to play the Clown prince of crime, basically were promoting entire film with him... aaand you cut out maybe 50 % of his scenes. Seriously, the hell is wrong with you, WB? Leto as Joker was fine, I think, based on those few scenes we got, but the exact lack of those didn't convince me that he is better than late Ledger. Which is unfortunate, because I was looking forward to Leto becoming the final Joker. This is essentially my biggest gripe - not enough of Joker. When I think about it, he is pretty much pointless to the ..."plot" of the film. Makes no impact, whatsoever.
The plot. It was going to be simple, sure. I mean, so was Mad max Fury Road and look good that one turned out to be. BvS was aiming for greatness, and say what you want about it, it reached the epic of the clash of the World's finest. Suicide Squad? Basically makes fun of itself, which is NOT the way to go. First half is the actual team-up process, with all the origins stories, setting up and introducing each member. Other half is trying desperately to catch up to the rest of the story and offers very little suspension. There are a lot of plot devices just to make the story moving forward, and that's cheap. Don't get me started on the final fight between the Squad and the main villain - it was retarded. Like, Marvel-level retarded.
The Antagonist. Haven't delivered, not one bit. You see all that build-up, expositions of how damn strong he/she is, showing off all them sweet powers and abilities, rendering the villain almost Superman-level OP. His/her plan is silly, with no real reasons to do that, it just happens, and you kinda go with it, because the film itself is entertaining, but.. that just ain't enough.
Some members of the Skwad. are beyond useless and out of place. The one is there only just to serve as a comedic relief, another one is wasted in like first 5 minutes after the team is deployed into action (I know it's in the cannon, but this is a film - act like you give a damn), and some other that is seriously underused and looks like he is there just to do that one thing the plot requires in order for the Skwad to succeed.
The Music. I was afraid this would be an issue, and I called it. The whole film made an impression of a 2-hour MTV music-video-mash-up. It was refreshing for the first 40 minutes, but then it keeps on going and going, playing another tune after another, with no particular need, it's just there to "lighten-up" the mood of the film - I call bullshit. On the other hand, the movie made a damn good job of making me guess all of the classic hits from the past, so props for that!
Batman cameos. You are going to see Batman from a different perspective, they said. You will get to experience the fear and thrill the bad guys experience when they see The Bat show up, they said. None of that happens. You get regular "Batman interacting with the bad guys" sequences, that do NOT stand out. Another wasted potential.
The pluses are: visuals - those are top-notch (obivously, Mr. Snyder was involved as an exec. producer)
Deadshot, Harley, Joker (given the screen time he had..), Amanda Waller (you are going to hate her.. A LOT. Makes Nick Fury from the friendly Marvel neighbor look like one-eyed tooth-fairy), El Diablo (surprisingly enough, he is the MVP during the last 30 minutes), soundtrack (good choice of tracks and spot-on timing) and that's pretty much it.
Final thoughts. It is obvious that for some reason, this film turned out to compete with the Guardians of the Galaxy instead of being full-scaled dark action thriller with formidable Bad Guy, bad-ass team that gets stuff done, supervillains acting like..you know, supervillains (not some wanna-be heroes they ARE NOT), and an occasional one-liner here and there for the healthy laugh. Instead we got the DCEU version of GoTG with far more music and far less chemistry.
I still liked this film, took it for what it was. It just didn't deliver. The entire mid-credit scene was somewhat good, but at the same time unnecessary.
Bottom Line: Batman V Superman remains on the top of the DCEU (and entire comic-book films genre for me) food chain. Here's hoping that Patty Jenkin's "Wonder Woman" will be better (which for now seems like will happen) and that the Justice League will be the best comic book film ever made, finally topping The Dark Knight.
Interesting fact: Zack Snyder directed Flash's cameo scene in this film - one of the good parts of the Suicide Squad.
The Editing. Quite funny, considering if done right, you don't even notice the editing in the final product. However, anytime it's bad - it's noticeable. And boy, bad editing stands out in this one. It makes a few sequences look really out of place, like shoehorned in. Whoever did the job needs to seriously punished.
Lack of the Joker. Seriously, you hired an Oscar-winning guy to play the Clown prince of crime, basically were promoting entire film with him... aaand you cut out maybe 50 % of his scenes. Seriously, the hell is wrong with you, WB? Leto as Joker was fine, I think, based on those few scenes we got, but the exact lack of those didn't convince me that he is better than late Ledger. Which is unfortunate, because I was looking forward to Leto becoming the final Joker. This is essentially my biggest gripe - not enough of Joker. When I think about it, he is pretty much pointless to the ..."plot" of the film. Makes no impact, whatsoever.
The plot. It was going to be simple, sure. I mean, so was Mad max Fury Road and look good that one turned out to be. BvS was aiming for greatness, and say what you want about it, it reached the epic of the clash of the World's finest. Suicide Squad? Basically makes fun of itself, which is NOT the way to go. First half is the actual team-up process, with all the origins stories, setting up and introducing each member. Other half is trying desperately to catch up to the rest of the story and offers very little suspension. There are a lot of plot devices just to make the story moving forward, and that's cheap. Don't get me started on the final fight between the Squad and the main villain - it was retarded. Like, Marvel-level retarded.
The Antagonist. Haven't delivered, not one bit. You see all that build-up, expositions of how damn strong he/she is, showing off all them sweet powers and abilities, rendering the villain almost Superman-level OP. His/her plan is silly, with no real reasons to do that, it just happens, and you kinda go with it, because the film itself is entertaining, but.. that just ain't enough.
Some members of the Skwad. are beyond useless and out of place. The one is there only just to serve as a comedic relief, another one is wasted in like first 5 minutes after the team is deployed into action (I know it's in the cannon, but this is a film - act like you give a damn), and some other that is seriously underused and looks like he is there just to do that one thing the plot requires in order for the Skwad to succeed.
The Music. I was afraid this would be an issue, and I called it. The whole film made an impression of a 2-hour MTV music-video-mash-up. It was refreshing for the first 40 minutes, but then it keeps on going and going, playing another tune after another, with no particular need, it's just there to "lighten-up" the mood of the film - I call bullshit. On the other hand, the movie made a damn good job of making me guess all of the classic hits from the past, so props for that!
Batman cameos. You are going to see Batman from a different perspective, they said. You will get to experience the fear and thrill the bad guys experience when they see The Bat show up, they said. None of that happens. You get regular "Batman interacting with the bad guys" sequences, that do NOT stand out. Another wasted potential.
The pluses are: visuals - those are top-notch (obivously, Mr. Snyder was involved as an exec. producer)
Deadshot, Harley, Joker (given the screen time he had..), Amanda Waller (you are going to hate her.. A LOT. Makes Nick Fury from the friendly Marvel neighbor look like one-eyed tooth-fairy), El Diablo (surprisingly enough, he is the MVP during the last 30 minutes), soundtrack (good choice of tracks and spot-on timing) and that's pretty much it.
Final thoughts. It is obvious that for some reason, this film turned out to compete with the Guardians of the Galaxy instead of being full-scaled dark action thriller with formidable Bad Guy, bad-ass team that gets stuff done, supervillains acting like..you know, supervillains (not some wanna-be heroes they ARE NOT), and an occasional one-liner here and there for the healthy laugh. Instead we got the DCEU version of GoTG with far more music and far less chemistry.
I still liked this film, took it for what it was. It just didn't deliver. The entire mid-credit scene was somewhat good, but at the same time unnecessary.
Bottom Line: Batman V Superman remains on the top of the DCEU (and entire comic-book films genre for me) food chain. Here's hoping that Patty Jenkin's "Wonder Woman" will be better (which for now seems like will happen) and that the Justice League will be the best comic book film ever made, finally topping The Dark Knight.
Interesting fact: Zack Snyder directed Flash's cameo scene in this film - one of the good parts of the Suicide Squad.