Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
DIRECTOR: Zack Snyder
CAST: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, Jeremy Irons, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Holly Hunter
REVIEW:
To put it simply, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a mess: a big, loud, flashy, garish mess that piles on the flaws of Man of Steel while discarding the strengths, with Zack Snyder again showing the most lopsided contrast between a strong visual style and haphazard grasp of narrative of perhaps any high-profile mainstream filmmaker with the arguable exception of the Wachowski siblings (I would argue Snyder surpasses them for narrative sloppiness). A confusing jumble of oddly-cut abrupt scenes, excessive use of unnecessary dream sequences, superfluous subplots meandering around, and plot developments both facilely simplistic and incoherently convoluted, the movie guaranteed itself a big opening night with the draw of Batman and Superman having a one-on-one throwdown on the big screen (and the trailer’s comic book geek boner-inducing money shot of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman standing together), but as DC/Warner Bros’ obvious answer to the “Marvel Cinematic Universe”, the overall experience here is a far step down from the orgiastic glee of The Avengers, to whom it comes across as a slapdash wannabe that fumbles what should have been an epic cinematic occasion. The iconic characters on-hand deserve better than this. Continue reading
London Has Fallen (2016)
DIRECTOR: Babak Najafi
CAST: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Charlotte Riley, Radha Mitchell, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Jackie Earle Haley, Alon Aboutboul, Waleed Zuaiter
REVIEW:
2013’s Olympus Has Fallen wasn’t any kind of great movie, but it was a surprisingly enjoyable Die Hard knock-off with enough hardcore action to satisfy fans of the genre. But while an entertaining enough diversion, it wasn’t a movie that particularly cried out for a sequel, and London Has Fallen has the hallmarks of a sequel that was slapped together because the original did well at the box office, not because the filmmakers (with Antoine Fuqua replaced in the director’s chair by Babak Najafi) had any fresh or innovative ideas. London Has Fallen is tired and generic with a low energy level. For undemanding, mindless diversion, it might still be adequate, but those seeking those qualities would be better-served just re-watching the first one (or better yet, the granddaddy of them all, the original Die Hard). Continue reading