I always thought – and I said quite openly – that Batman v. Superman seemed like it was going to be awful. I went to see Man of Steel in the theaters, and while I liked some parts (Michael Shannon’s Zod, Amy Adams’ Lois), overall the movie was not great. But the film was financially successful enough for Warner Bros to throw more money at Snyder for BvS, and I truly hope some people at Warner Bros lose their jobs because of that decision. BvS cost Warner Bros more than $400 million just to MAKE. That’s just the production cost. We don’t even know how much they’re spending on promotion. Basically, this film will have to make half a billion just to break even. Which… I kind of think it will make that kind of money, but let’s be clear: it’s not going to make that kind of money because it’s a good film.
The reviews coming out this week have been nothing short of disastrous. Rotten Tomatoes has the film fluctuating around 30%. The only actor being spared, consistently, is Gal Gadot. Most critics love her Wonder Woman, so… yay for the Wonder Woman film, I guess. Here are some assorted comments from the reviews:
Collider: “Can Batman serve as judge, jury, and executioner on the criminals of Gotham City? Can Superman go into a warzone and take out a warlord? Sadly, these fascinating questions are buried beneath the debris of a convoluted, horribly written story featuring poorly written characters making inexplicable choices. It doesn’t matter who wins in Batman v Superman because the audience loses either way.”
The New Republic: “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a joyless slog. Filled with scenes of gloomy characters confronting their demons or wrestling with their insipid moral quandaries, it’s not a superhero movie so much as it is an excruciating therapy session in which there are occasionally huge explosions and guys in capes… Batman v Superman is simply soulless.”
Consequence of Sound: “Somebody stop Zack Snyder. Somebody save the world.”
Rolling Stone: “In the battle between Batman and Superman, I pick Wonder Woman for the win. It’s not that the Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel don’t get in their licks in Zack Snyder’s Freudian free-for-all between two mama’s boys — it’s just that Gal Gadot’s wowza of a Wonder Woman is the kick-ass revelation at this party.”
British GQ: “Ben Affleck is fine as Batman, once you get past the fact that he’s Ben Affleck in a waistcoat. The problem is the film’s vision of Batman. Fans of the same old beats will be thrilled to see the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents. Again. And young Bruce falling into a bat cave. Again. For fans of new beats, there’s the fact that this Batman is apparently some sort of demented Oracle, enduring endless, detailed visions of possible pasts and futures complete with fully choreographed fights. Oh, and this Batman repeatedly shatters his “one rule”, and kills willy-nilly while demonstrating a disturbing taste for sadistic mutilation.”
And on and on. It’s pretty bad, you guys. The one thing I’ll say – and this is pretty consistent in nearly every review – is that the problem is mainly with Zack Snyder and the script. Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill could have been better if only they had more to work with.
Hilariously, Affleck and Cavill were still doing press late into the week, as the reviews were coming out. In a dual interview, a British reporter for Yahoo UK asked them about the sh-tty reviews, and this happened. SAD BATFLECK. [via Reddit]
PS… DC Comics just released this teaser image from Wonder Woman, perhaps because she really is the only hero anyone cares about at this point. This shows Wonder Woman (Diana) with her mother Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) and her two aunts, Menalippe (Lisa Loven Kongsli) and Antiope (Robin Wright). Everyone’s talking about how kickass Robin looks here. I totally didn’t know/forgot that she was in this, honestly. You can read more about the women who made Wonder Woman here.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet and EW.
Lolololol at Sad Batfleck!
That video was so well done & absolutely worth the one minute and four seconds watch time. Stick with it until the end, you will not be disappointed. Thanks for the review/collection of reviews Kaiser! I sure won’t be seeing this in the theater.
Best soundtrack choice ever.
I never click on the video’s. So glad I took the time to watch that one. Sooooooo worth it!!! 😎
He looks like he’s on the verge of crying. I love every second of it. I’m a bad, bad person. 😀
I feel sort of bad for bursting into laughter when SoS started, but I just couldn’t help it. Bad, bad Susanne.
#NotYourFaultBen is also pretty great
I started off laughing but then felt kind of sorry for him. He seemed so checked out.
The BEST. So funny – I thought he was going to cry at the end. Can we nominate the video for Best Comedy or short at the next Golden Globes?
The film cost $200M in production and $200M in promotion. Not $400M in production alone.
And yeah, it’s a garbage heap.
–TheRealPinky
They’re very lilely obscuring the true cost so this doesn’t look like a career ending disaster. That movie definitely cost more than $200m
Apparently the movie cost more than $300 millions just to be made
No. production cost itself is 410 million.
@CornyBlue
No, it didn’t. Not if every other site with knowledge of production costs is to be believed. Those were just rumors.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2016/03/22/review-batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-is-a-beautiful-disaster/#f31e4ce76a09
“Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice cost around $250 million to produce and around $150m to market, which is par for the course on these kinds of tent poles and obviously not the rumored $410m in production expenses alone as was rumored last year.”
–TheRealPinky
Warner Brothers is notorious for their shady accounting (they claimed several of the Harry Potter movies lost money, hid over spending on Mad Max, etc). I think BvS cost *a lot* and we’ll never really know how much because they’ll cook the books before they have to do any kind of on the record accounting.
if the production cost was $400M the break even box office would be approximately $1B not half that. A 2.5x for profit takes into account the cinema’s cut and the marketing costs. However, it is my understanding that production was actually closer to $250M, although there is a lot of politics involved in these numbers and I am always a little dubious.
Haha. Sound of silence indeed!
Lmao
Dead! That video was hilarious!
I usually never watch the video clips in these posts but that was *totally* worth watching! It’s a good thing my workplace is dead because it’s Good Friday, because I’m sitting here giggling like an idiot!
One of my Facebook friends posted this morning that he saw the movie last night and it wasn’t *great* but it was enjoyable and he didn’t agree with the reviews. Also, my chiropractor said this morning that he’s taking his two kids to see it this weekend, because a 13yo and an 11yo aren’t going to care what the critics say, they’re just going to watch to see superheroes. I think a lot of people have that mindset — it’s probably going to be cr@p, but it’s Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman, so whatever.
My husband really, really wants to see it and I am thinking of every excuse I can for us to not see it. I am not a huge fan of superhero movies anyway, and it’s getting awful reviews and didn’t some people say it is way too long? No thank you, I do not want to torture myself. PLUS he found himself disappointed by Deadpool, I can’t imagine how he’s going to feel after seeing this movie.
Yea, my writing partner’s husband and brother went to see the movie last night, and they loved it–her brother actually dragged her to go see again when they got back. She liked the movie. And I’ve been hearing just from a few other casual acquaintances that the movie isn’t TERRIBLE, but it’s not great either. Which I think is down to Zack Snyder–who thinks we’re all idiots who can’t understand subtle metaphors.
I’m taking my 13 year old brother to see it later today, so we’ll see.
It was a crap movie with great moments. The acting was actually quite good…the problem was the writing and direction. I couldn’t tell if the writers needed Ritalin, or took too much of it.
So funny
Sad Batfleck: “I agree” MIC DROP! Lololol
Sad midlife crisis batfleck! He will start hanging out with Johnny Depp next…
I am a Marvel fan and was never very keen on the idea of this film, but I can’t bring myself to look at that video.
Don’t shoot me but….I didn’t think the movie was nearly as bad as critics are making it out to be. To me, the biggest issue seems to be that the movie was clearly too long and was cut too much which means scenes are jerky and don’t flow. But I really was moved by the Clark/Lois love story in the movie. I legit cried a few times. Wonder Woman’s fight scene was wonderful buy jury is still out on whether she can act because she really has only one note in the film and it’s the same “sexy sexy” note Gal did for Fast and Furious. Amy Adams is the heart of the movie. She made me cry.
I disagree with the critics. I think this was a good movie. Henry”s acting was much better, you felt for the character. Gal ”s scene were short until the final battle but I think she did a good job.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but I liked Ben”s salt and pepper Bruce Wayne/Batman better than Bale. I definitely like Ben”s Batman voice better. Also Ben looked hot as Bruce. His acting was good. I’m so glad he proved me wrong.
Now I don’t see the hype about Amy. She was nothing special.
They didn’t over saturate the film with too many battle scenes or CGI as they did with MOS, lesson learned. So screw the critics, the movie was good and enjoyable.
“Nothing special?” Yeah, no, I’m gonna have to fight you there. She was acting her butt off and was the emotional spine of the movie. Lois was the true human hero providing the hope. Batman was not a source of hope and his humanity was so dark at this point he had lost his way. It’s actually Lois who is the human hope in the movie amidst all of these gods and capes. I loved Amy and I thought she was wonderful.
It’s ok you can fight me but I think you’re letting your love for Amy get in the way. What hope was she providing? The only thing she was trying to do is prove her boyfriend was not a murderer. I don’t think her acting was a standout performance. She could be replaced with anyone.
Superman is supposed to be the beacon of hope, not Batman. That’s why I was disappointed with MOS because they were taking Superman down the Batman route with all this angst. And Batman is supposed to be dark. He’s rugged and damaged. He’s a troubled hunted superhero who cloaks himself in darkness in order to defeat it. Though he does fight for good he himself can’t find inner peace. If you know the character Nolan and Synder got it right. Some say Batman is Bruce Wayne’s alter ego but it’s actually reversed. Bruce Wayne is Batman’s alter ego. He is the Dark Knight who disguises himself as billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. But he’s really not a playboy. He’s more comfortable in his skin as Batman. Now Tony Stark is the true definition of a playboy.
From what I’ve read from fans going, the editing more than anything is what killed the movie. That there was a decent story in there if someone had had a heavy hand in the editing of the movie and paring it down , besides Zack Snyder calling the shots. Our neighbors went and they texted me that they liked it. They didn’t rave about it, but they enjoyed it. We kind of like the same movies, so that’s a good thing to hear that they liked it.
And ninety percent of fan reviews and even critic reviews are giving Ben a thumbs up as Bruce Wayne/Batman ranging from good to really great. So I’m sure WB will push Ben, if it isn’t already solidified, to co-write and direct in a standalone Batman with him in it,. The fans seem to be behind this and want him to direct one.
I do feel bad for Zack Snyder. These kinds of movies take years to put together in preproduction, making it, and postproduction. So when it’s slammed, it must hurt terribly because you have invested so many years in it.
I have a hard time feeling bad for Snyder. His movies have been so bad (though I’ll qualify and say I enjoyed 300, but he was basically putting someone else’s vision on the screen the whole time and that was why it worked) it was obvious that he was going to do a terrible job with the DC Universe. So I guess he could be pitied for being in a job that he was utterly out of his depth for… but realistically, unless this somehow makes money, this movie is going to cost people jobs, and for problems that every person saw coming.
Ben was awesome as Batman. I’m so glad he proved me wrong. Keaton remains my favorite Batman but Ben is about to edge him out. I will say that the editing could have used some work but good job overall. I think the problem is that a lot of people think that these Batman films go too dark but they are supposed to be. That’s remaining true to the character.
I get that they’re supposed to be dark, but it doesn’t need to be a joyless punishment to whomever is watching it. To me, the balance in Batman movies came from the supporting players and the villains (Michelle Pfieffer’s Catwoman remains my favorite), and not to mention that Superman isn’t obligated to be bleak. Superman fans were incredibly unhappy with how he was handled in the first movie, and it sounds like Snyder chose to double down on the elements people disliked the most.
And I too have read almost across the board praise for the Batfleck.
I liked the movie. The superheroes were “human” with angst, existential dilemmas and all. But yes, the editing could have been better.
Agreed, I liked the movie. Editing the few weak moments could improve the story telling a lot. The dream sequences were a little too much, some others as well. The story itself was ok, the acting was good, the visuals were amazing. No, the huge amount of negative reviews seems more like a mass hysteria. Also, look at the user score on rotten tomatoes.
From what I’ve heard, despite having the magnificent trio of actresses that is Holly Hunter, Amy Adams, and Diane Lane, Zack Snyder and DC still managed to make them all damsels in distress who constantly need to be saved. Oh, and I guess Gal Gadot shows up for two seconds to serve as eye candy while creepy Bruce Wayne hits on her. Jury’s still out on her acting ability. But I’m so disappointed with what I’ve heard about the portrayal of women in this movie that was so purported to be “revolutionary” or something in terms of its treatment of female characters (at least according to Warner Bros). Wasn’t planning on seeing this in theaters but now it’s not even worth a DVD rental.
No shock there if you’ve seen a Snyder movie.
Nah. Lois Lane does get rescued but she’s no shrinking violet in the movie. She has a big career and is fearless. And she is Lois Lane – you know, the one who Superman rescues in the comic? And she comes to his rescue as well, and does it without any superpowers.
Holly Hunter is awesome and doesn’t get rescued. And Wonder Woman gets in her licks.
All of these women are portrayed as smart and brave.
go check out for yourself. Agreed with Josephine, none of the portrayed female characters are weak. Yeah, Lois gets rescued, but isn’t that a given?
I saw it as well and it was fine. The kids really wanted to see it and I found it about average for these big blockbuster type movies. It was definitely on the dark side and it felt a little incomplete despite the long playing time, but the acting was decent and there were some great fight scenes. Really wish Wonder Woman was in more of it.
That video is hilarious. Perfectly timed too.
“I agree.”
That clip is so beautiful I lost consciousness for a second.
Considering the wailing and gnashing of teeth at Affleck’s casting, I’d say he’s coming out pretty good. The writing and directing are taking way more hits than he is. But then I probably like Ben more than a lot of people on this site so I might be biased.
I refuse to see this movie because of Batfleck. He’s sooo not my Batman.
And I’ve seen London is fallen in cinema 🙂
Ben is coming out great in this.
Affleck’s Batman has actually been praised as one of the few highlights.
He’s fine. Not amazing. When not in the batsuit you don’t forget for a second that you’re watching Ben Affleck and not ‘Bruce Wayne’. It still kind of works in this particular film, but it’s not some brilliant performance.
I haven’t actually seen any rave reviews for him. The film is pretty bad in a multitude of ways, so saying he’s one of the best parts isn’t that meaningful. He is one of the better parts of the film, but only because the other parts suck so bad. In a good film he wouldn’t be notable at all, in a great film he’d be very far out of his depth.
Yes, but it’s getting better reviews than Gods of Egypt or Divergent pt. 300!! /snark
The fan reviews have been better, but this is something I’d get from the library and skip to the parts of Wonder Woman.
HW really needs to stop hiring Zack Snyder, or at least not indulge him so much.
Gods of Egypt isn’t exactly a high bar to vault over, so… yay anyway?
Something nice: I like that they didn’t Photoshop the muscles of Gal’s thighs out and turn her legs to toothpicks in the photos. Sorry, that’s all I got. I LOATHE Zack Snyder.
I really don’t understand how Zack Snyder keeps getting jobs. He’s had a couple of high profile bombs, right? And his movies are generally somewhat praised for visuals, but excoriated in everything else: storytelling, coherency, editing, etc. Not the person I’d go to kick off a rich, universe which needs a good mythology and story behind it.
But at least it looks pretty, I guess.
Lmao! I feel like even Ben would laugh at that video…
I dunno. The only superhero flicks that I ever cared about were Burton’s Batman and Nolan’s Batman so I’m probably not the best judge, but all these comic book series seem like a cheesy waste of time to me so….meh.
ha, you just wrote everything I thought when reading that article (had to share that video, too 😀 ). WEll that and yay to a good wonder woman (still wouldnt watch it though). I also am high and will be watching Burton’s batman with michelle pfeiffer (LOVE her) again, so thank you for that. happy holidays!! lol
I’m high too! Maybe that’s why we’re so much in agreement-because we’re both stoned.
Happy Good Friday, mimi!
OK super jealous! Can’t get high til after work. 😛
Hahaha you guys are funny. 🙂
I’m cackling at the Sad Batfleck video and the 10/10 use of Simon & Garfunkel. Other than that, i don’t care for this dreckitude.
Hmm, I heard Batfleck was one of the best Batmen to emerge.
He is actually. Ben is pretty much the only decent actor in the film. Surprising, given the controversy.
I agree and I was one of his doubters.
Mild Spoilers in this comment and thread response
I didn’t like the movie. Maybe it’s because I just saw Deadpool this week finally and that was hilarious but BvS was so bleak and such a downer. There was a lot of stuff blowing up but it was like scary terrorist explosions that never seemed to end. The plot was tedious, Lex Luthor was awful and I didn’t care what happened to anyone. After two hours I gave up and Wonder Woman hadn’t even shown up in costume at that point. It was a bad film. The writing was awful and I while I liked the scene where Lois kind of intervened for Superman (I’m being vague on purpose so it’s not spoilery) it wasn’t enough to keep my interests. The filmmakers should be ashamed, Affleck is obviously ashamed. It was poorly structured, too long and just depressing.
So you’re saying I should see it?
ROFL
@Kitten – LOL
That’s exactly the vibes I was getting from the trailer! I don’t have any interest in seeing this and I love superhero movies.
The movie was def too dark and I definitely think the script was all over the place. I didn’t think Ben was bad per se—I thought his acting was fine. But his Batman was just such a terrible person. I did really like the scene with Lois and Clark in the bathtub. Basically that should have been the whole movie.
I left with a half hour to go in the movie. That scene in the bathtub was the only cute one I remember. So there wasn’t like any other levity in that film was there. Also what was up with all the dream sequences? I couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t because it wasn’t clear.
My husband watched the movie ( I don’t and won’t because I HATE Zack Snyder’s style ) he said that the movie was an ambitious bloated wasted failure ( He stole my words)
He saves Affleck,Gadot(“she has the attitude”) and Adams .
I was shocked that he says me that now Batman is a terrible person and that the reason why Affleck ,Adams and Gadot shine is that the movie ( plot,edit,directing,music,cinematography…) is an industrial accident and they are decent actors.
I have to disagree with C/B. The movie was quite good . Every DC movie as of late are getting complaints that it’s too dark. Have you guys ever read any of the comics, sometimes it’s pretty dark and gloomy. Not every comic book movie is going to keep to the fluffy light humor. DC goes dark, Marvel goes a bit light. That’s how you separate the two. All Nolan’s Batman were dark.
Why should Ben be embarrassed? I think he pulled it off and perfer his Batman over Bale’s. He proved me wrong. Now I will say Luther came off as annoying and not believeable .
There’s always room for improvement but good effort. I’m now looking forward to The Justice League
What I’m hearing from fanboys is that even though Batman has always been a little darker, this one crosses a very distinct line. For instance his moral code makes him avoid killing while Batffleck apparently relishes in straight up murder. They feel it isnt true to the character
@Naya
Not to mention that while Batman is dark-er it is not this soulless vaccum of shadows that he became on the big screen. I tend to think Marvel is better at getting the inner quality of their characters on the big screen and DC is better at getting the overall gist of their characters. Throw in bats and add trauma repeatedly, turn Batman into unthinking bulk of skull smashing muscle.
Well I’m hearing a lot of fanboys and I’m a fangirl, who are loving the way he is portraying the character. He’s a dark, damaged tortured soul but there is still good in him as you will see as the movie progress. You see there’s good in him right from the start when he saves that little girl and seemed bothered when she points… oops don’t want to give it away. Something to do with her mother. But he struggles with the darkness inside him. Now if this was Superman, you would have a point but this is The Dark Knight and there’s a lot of angst within him. That’s the demon he struggles with.
I’m familiar with the comics, and the issue isn’t *just* that it’s dark. I get that Batman is a dark character, but ultimately the biggest problem is when the movie is dark and gritty just for the sake of being dark and gritty. Especially when it’s a subpar re-tread of the Nolan Batman trilogy. If Snyder made a movie that was dark and gritty but still great I think we’d be having a different conversation, but all he really seems to be able to do is a literal translation to screen of Frank Miller’s comic book aesthetic.
Daredevil season two shows it’s possible to go dark and still be entertaining.
This movie is a mess, and I’m saying that as a DC fangirl. The script is muddled and choppy. It felt, to me, like they took three different movies and tried to shoehorn them in together. Worse, the fights aren’t even good. There are flashes of cool things, but overall the fights run on and become a chore to get through–and it looked like the CGI was half finished for some of them.
Affleck was better than I expected, but that’s not saying much. Superman seemed like an afterthought.
I’ve waited my entire life for a Wonder Woman movie, and they wasted her on this. Hopefully it won’t doom her solo film.
@Samtha: don’t forget Jessica Jones
I haven’t seen this one yet, but I always liked DC films more than Marvel because they were so dark and bleak and I quite like that. It helps me ignore tha fact that half of the superheroes are billionaires ( seriously, a biliionaire risking his life to help poor people? A God from Asgard seems more realistic). I’m really looking forward to Suicide Squad.
I havent seen BvS yet, but for me its not about the dark and gritty as much as the feeling of realism. Not a cartoonishness of comic books or cartoons. Thats why i liked MOS its comic booky but still with a real world feel.
Thanks for the review, CB. Had no intentions of seeing this due to the castings, Snyder, and the DC stans, who have been beyond ridiculous about it. Reading reviews has been the best part of this entire debacle.
I watched both BvS and Deadpool. To summarize: BvS is a $250M mess with absolutely no direction. Deadpool is a $58M masterpiece. I can’t believe with all the money that WB spent, that’s the result they put out.
Does Batman look like he has been eating a few too many donuts and Oreos? He looks rather pudgy in that top pic.
I was hoping to take my son and my nephew to see the movie. Hope the reviews are wrong
Bad reviews did not deter my son and his friends from seeing it last night. Haven’t heard his thoughts yet though, he got home after I was asleep. He did text me about 30 min into it saying he didn’t realize it was 2.5 hours. I asked if that was a cry for early rescue and he said no.
yeah Batfleck looks bloated but in the other poster Superman looks downright PRISSY so I don’t know which is worse but Imma vote for prissy.
Seriously, the hollywood people didn’t saw the previous Zack Snyder movies, each of them made no sense.
Affleck’s face in those end photos. So smooth, so young. Almost creepy looking.
My fairly sophisticated 15 year old (he goes to a performing arts high school majoring in Drama) took himself off to see this today and upon his return said ‘mum this was sooooo bad, like z grade bad’.
Nuff said!
That video was perfection. Wow. Thanks guys, I needed that before work today!
Ahahahahahahahahahaha
Agreed, OMG, that video was EVERYTHING! lmao!
Saw this last night. I love a good super hero flick but this was just awful.
***SPOILER ALERT***
They spent the first third of the movie mansplaining why Batman hates Superman (never once seeing the irony that he does exactly the same thing) including ridiculous dream action sequences that make zero sense, then there is a godawful brutal fight where Fat Transformer Batman beats that absolute bejesus out of Superman and finally Batman has an epiphany over a random name coincidence and just like that they’re best friends ready to take on the big bad creation from the Facebook guy?? Wonder Woman should have wiped the floor with the both of them on her way out of town.
***
I would not be taking young children to see this. There is no comedy, no brevity and no stars from PJ.
Thanks! Still not going to see it. 🙂
FAT TRANSFORMER BATMAN! Pure poetry
I laughed so hard! That is a marvelous description!
I loved your take on fat transformer Batman. What was the purpose of the glowing eyes for the “Dark Knight”? A sign that says please place high-velocity projectile here?
I’m so glad that ZS is taking most of the blame. I rather enjoy watching Ben and Henry in movies, actually, and was never bothered by either of their casting. I just feel like the whole movie from the get go was ZS’s wet dream that we have the privilege (“privilege”) to watch…
I adore that video. LOL
Yeah probably going to get attacked for this but.. I saw the movie last night and it was really good. Ben Affleck was a good batman there was so much Frank Miller and Wonder Woman was amazing. I think that people really want this movie to suck.. and it doesn’t.
I agree. Even some on here only want it to suck because of their hate for Synder and Ben. Ben was really good as Batman. The film had it’s issues as with any film. Hell I’m a bigger Marvel fan than DC but I will admit That Age of Ultron could have used some work.
I think some people on here never read the comics, think all comic book movies are supposed to have humor and don’t really know the characteristics of the characters. I was actually happy that Superman wasn’t made to be full of angst as he was in MOS. It wouldn’t have worked since Batman is the one with the anger and darkness and Superman is supposed to be the light; the beacon of hope. The movie was good and I hope it makes a lot of money. Now on to Civil War.
I’m really surprised people say Gal was so good because I saw her in the Fast and Furious movies and she was soo bad. Appalingly bad. Paris-Hilton-trying-to-act bad. She seems like an awesome woman though, so it’s good to hear she’s improved.
I can’t wait to see the numbers come in. This is going to be hilarious.
It’s still going to make crazy huge money this weekend. All the die hates will be out. The problem is next weekend. And the weekend after.
According to Variety this needs $800 million to break even. Just to break even! If it doesn’t hit a billion WB is going to flip.
It might get there (see: Transformers) but if they lose public goodwill Justice League is in big trouble. Make no mistake, this is about to get messy.
This is what I was just thinking. It needs a billion to really be a box office success so the current $250 million(Forbes is giving it), which seems great for MOST films, is NOTHING. And if word of mouth isn’t there to drive it the next two weeks, it’s going down, down, down.
The opening weekend take is going to be high because WB’s marketing team was smart enough to have it come out on Easter weekend (with enough daylight from Captain America: Civil War’s opening on May 6). But word of mouth is going to be key as well as other movies coming out.
I’m kind of surprised at how hard Jesse Eisenberg is taking it in the reviews. I know he’s not the most popular guy, but I think he usually turns in good performances. I’m not sure yet whether my Batman fandom will override my Affleck Derangement Syndrome enough to get me to see this, though.
He is the actor taking the hit in the movie a lot. Some like him, though. I think I will like him fine in it.
I read somewhere that the early comics’ Lex Luthor had frizzy hair and was kind of dweeby/dorky, that his transformation into the badass version we’re all familiar with took time… so apparently, Eisenberg’s annoying, fast-talking Lex is pretty close to canon.
The issue I had with Eisenberg was how HARD he was trying. From cheek twitches, mumbles, and random references, it seems like he was trying to get his Heath Ledger on. Didn’t work. The only thing I could think of when I watched him was: as the head of a multi-million dollar research and development company with government contracts, hasn’t anyone–investors, for example–called into question his decision making abilities? Dude could not get through a a library speech without answering the voices in his head.
Also, there was no real reason they gave for his engineering the title fight other than “no one saved me from my daddy’s fists, therefore gods are not real.”
That Wonder Woman outfit is so Kardashian! I totally want to see Khloe in it!
Saw it last night. It wasn’t as good as what is happening with the Marvel cinematic universe but I enjoyed it. I am a huge Wonder Woman fan and was giddy when she came on screen and kicked ass! I think one of the problems is that this is largely a Batman film, not so much a Superman film, and Batman is such well trodden real estate. I wanted more Superman- he’s a savior, so let’s see him saving more people! He does a lot of moping around in this movie and comes off rather lame. It robs us of the emotional impact of the end of the movie, which I won’t give away. And don’t even get me started on what they’ve done to Lois Lane- one of the best comic book non-superhero characters ever just sort of wanders around getting into trouble.
Ben Affleck was pretty good, I must admit. To me, his performance saves the movie. We see the danger of a being like Superman from his point of view and he is believable. I would go see a Batman movie with Affleck in it.
I still think Jesse Eisenberg was all wrong for Luthor. It should have been Bryan Cranston! He just wasn’t intimidating and I kept wondering when Batman or Superman was just going to squash him like a bug.
I agree with you about Jesse. I just wanted to bitch slap him. I also agree with you about Lane. She just seemed like a wasted character in this movie. She was just more the love interest for Superman.
I hated MoS SOOOOO much and loved Bale’s Batman so much, there’s 0 chance of me seeing this in the theater. But I’m glad to hear Wonder Woman is getting good reviews though, because if she didn’t, everyone would hang any failures on her and we’d hear crap about female superhero movies for years.
I think it will at least make it’s budget back, but I don’t see it being some huge billion dollar juggernaut like the Avengers.
Away from the movie, Affleck and Cavill have awful chemistry in all their interviews. The junkettes are supposed to help sell this film, theirs turn me off. Someone should force them to watch Chris Pine and Zach Quinto or RDJ and Jude Law or even Chris Evans and Hemsworth.
rdj and jude law really were cute during sherlok movie tour! ❤️
Affleck looks miserable through this whole thing. And I don’t blame him.
Cavill on the other hand needs to be paired with someone with a lighter touch, and whatever it is that he’s doing to himself that’s taking away his pretty needs to stop NOW.
Cavill played well off Armie Hammer in the Man from UNCLE promo tour so we know he can do it. Affleck can play too. It’s just not working here.
“I’m so surprised to hear that!” – said no one.
I don’t ever take a critic’s opinion seriously. Movies are made for the public, the fans. For me they are the true judges of the movie. I personally think it’s a good movie, gritty and dark. A freash breath.
My son-in-law and my grandson went to see it last night, my son-in-law has read all the comic books, and he said it was great and he really liked it, my grandson who is 17 loved it!!
I am excited to see this. I always make up my own mind and do not go by critics ever. For those saying that this batman is breaking his one rule have never truly been a comic fan. The early batman killed and killed often, he even used guns. Batman has had many times excused his decision to kill as for the best of society. Both batman and superman have at different times gone off the rails and killed even killing those they cared about example superman and lois lane. So yeah the comics are not sparkles and cupcakes. They can be dark and horrible along with triumphant. Some of the worse death pics are from superhero comics. Comics were never truly geared to young children.
Finally a true fan who knows the comics. Nice to meet you. I said something similar up thread.
But Superman has always had hope in the comics, he’s not been dark except for those Bizzaro times. Even in Death of Superman graphic novel, he’s a hero. Sorry, Superman is my all-time favorite comic book character.
I’m not sure that Zack Snyder gets Superman like he does Batman. I like Dark Knight Batman, rather than the older versions of Batman, Detective Comics. I want Bruce Wayne/Batman with an edge. However, dark, gloomy Superman? Yeah, no, I’ll pass. Most of the criticism from fanboy and fangirls is on that point. I don’t blame Cavill, I place the blame firmly on Snyder, who seemingly hates Clark Kent/Superman, if you go by these last two movies.
Not exactly surprised. I went to to see Man of Steel in spite of the bad commercials, negative reviews, and my own gut instincts and it was terrible. Not every superhero is dark and they don’t all operate like wild animals without logic.
Superman is a lighter character who deserved a sunnier film and smashing him against Batman in a film meant to show that we should immediately proceed to a Justice League film was just a bad idea. Congrats to Gal Gadot but even her casting shows how off this whole movie is. Get your basic understanding of a character right before you try to compete with Marvel and make a bazillion dollars.
To be fair, it took Marvel several decades to make a commercial rendering of their universe, and even then, DC comics beat them to it with the Superman films starring christopher reeves and the Batman films starring Michael Keaton.
Marvel licenced Spiderman to another studio because they couldn’t get their own creations together.
Marvel eventually worked because they hired the executives (Kevin Feige) that made those other films work. Kevin worked on XMEN and SPIDERMAN
And of course thank said executives that they hired someone as radical (at the time) as Jon Favreau to direct IRONMAN and allowed him to hire, with much resistance, RDJ.
Not forgeting that it took until the millenuim for anyone to really understand how to put out a good superheroes film – see every horrid attempt from every single decade until then.
One of the things that Marvel has really gotten right since Feige came on board is that their casting has been right on the money. They’ve really matched the right actors and actresses to the right roles, and in a way that people have been genuinely excited to see the movie. I don’t think anyone got too excited about Amber Heard as Mera in the Aquaman movie.
OMG!! I’m so glad I clicked that video. It was so PERFECT. Great morning laugh.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but probably will, because I want to judge for myself. It looks like a hot mess and I’m not a big fan of Snyder’s directing, but I am a huge Batman and Wonder Woman fan. When Affleck was cast as Batman, I wasn’t sure how he’d do, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. My personal favorite is Christian Bale, but we’ll see how Affleck does. I think he looks great as Bruce, but I’m not a fan of his batsuit. I’m excited to see Wonder Woman. But I don’t think I’m paying full price to see this.
I saw this for free and still wanted to go and demand my money back
+1
@ Cornyblue:
My favorite comment of the year!
Well, Miracles from Heaven won’t make money because it’s a “good movie” either, but it will make money. I haven’t seen BvS yet, but I will. I’ve been reading all of the reviews on RT. There are actually quite a few “top critics” that give it a good review, and most of them say the Ben is good – just that even he can’t overcome some of the failings of the movie overall. They’re even saying Ben is a bright spot over at Lainey. The audience reviews on RT are also good and many are saying they’re not sure what the critics are talking about. I’ll still check it out for myself.
I know I should laugh at the “sad” video, but I just can’t. I know I’m outnumbered, but I really do think there’s just sort of a “pile on” mentality toward Ben, and it bugs me.
I thought it was cute. I could smile at it, because Ben is being praised for the movie. And it’s the most emotion in his eyes I’ve ever seen. LOL If he was the one being bashed because of his portrayal also, I would be hurting for him.
Ben won’t regret this movie. One, he takes movies also to learn from the director. He has always talked about what he learns from every director. As many weaknesses as Zack Snyder has, he is visually a strong director. And this type of movie is a different animal from anything Ben knows. He said he really watched and learned a lot of what it took for Zack to direct a movie of this magnitude. He will use that when he directs the standalone Batman movie, and he will have witnessed a lot regarding the script of what he doesn’t want in the script department and where to take Batman. Ben has always said he favors leaner movies in scripts and not extraneous lines or scenes that feel false or that add nothing to the movie.
Plus, he redeemed himself playing Batman. And the fans are clamoring for Ben to direct the next Batman.
I know he wants this to be a success, though, and that he is feeling the pain not just for himself, but all his castmates, and for Zack. This weekend will pull in a massive haul. It’s what happens after this weekend because of the bad reviews that will be telling.
But, yes, there is a pile-on mentality regarding Ben on here. We’re one of the few that aren’t. LOL I always root for Ben professionally. I love his comeback starting with Gone Baby Gone and Hollywoodland..
Yeah, you’re right, Jayna. He just looked so sad. LOL.
I’m not a Ben hater either. He’s a talented director and I have liked some of his movies.
For some reason his personal issues don’t deter me from him. *shrugs*.
JoJo and others- right there with you but I can laugh at it because as I said above, I honestly think Ben would chuckle at it. I know people will disagree with me, but I just don’t think he takes himself as seriously as people think. He’s no stranger to self-deprecating humor, you know?
That video is so awesome!!!
Can’t wait to see Robin Wright
That might be the best thing I’ve seen in a long time! Sad Batfleck is sad
I hope you guys don’t have a problem with me using the phrases “joyless slog” and “demented oracle” in as many of my posts as possible. OMG, golden. HAHAHHA the reviews are awesome!
It’s….not good. Not really the fault of Batfleck or WW (who are pretty good and watchable in their own right) but the movie is a bit shit.
To put it in very Celebitchy terms, the movie is to movies what Kate Middleton is to celebrities. Vastly pointless and underwhelming, lazy and expects the audience to love it because of a name/s and nothing else, and needs either blind fandom or savvy PR to dress up the little it does do, as an achievement.
Maybe he should have waited to get his new face until after he went into hiding bc of this movie.
Why would it break even if the film makes half a billion and it cost more than 400 millions to make and promote ? I don’t know how much the cinemas get, but I guess around 40 %. In that case, 500 million BO would mean that they lost a ton of money.
They need 800 million to break even.
Studios get the lion’s share of the revenue for the first weekend (which is why there’s more and more emphasis on opening weekend numbers) and then theaters get about a 50/50 split once that window has passed.
And what a terrible business model. In order to break even it has to be one of the biggest hits ever. Great strategy guys.
Jayna, that’s what I mean. CB says it needs 500 million and that doesn’t make any sense to me.
$400 Million Dollars and NO one got fired?!?
I miss up my boss’ coffee and i’m gettin’ evil eyes all damn day.
I’m in the wrong business!
Anyhoot – zero desire to see yet another superhero film. I’m pretty done with comic book films – remakes, re-imagined films, turning books into films that span over a flippin’ decade.
“Sad Batffleck” is better than “BvS: DoJ”
All I have to say is that I just bumped into some pictures of Ezra Miller at one of the premieres and OH. MY. GOD. If you can, please look them up. You won’t regret it (nor believe it!)
At your urging I went and checked out pics of Ezra Miller at the premiere and holy crap, he was beautiful before, now he’s just hot as hell. Bulking up definitely did nice things for him.
Right??? I really hope the Flash movie does great. It’ll look great, that’s for sure.
Love Ezra! First saw him in “We Need to Talk About Kevin.” So talented.
So is Gal Gadot not going to play Wonder Woman in an upcoming Wonder Woman movie?
They’re filming it as we speak, I think. But Zack Snyder isn’t directing it.
I think they’ve already finished. I think they’re in post right now.
In the Wonder Woman image, why do the costumes have a giant pen!s dangling between their legs?
because men.
Not surprising, although I was hoping.
I said it from day one. MoS was a clusterf**k of visuals; they had no coherence. It was a bunch of sh** on screen. (I distinctly remember tuning out in the middle of the movie and sitting there thinking about how much my butt was hurting.) I mean it was the same origin story so at least make it look good but nope, failure. I attributed it entirely to Zack Snyder at the time. Hopefully WB will not give him another story to mess up.
Sad Batfleck proves that Ben clearly knows it’s bad but he’s stuck in and has to play along.
I saw it and I enjoyed it. I knew this wasn’t going to be some comingedy driven flick like the X Men movies (who managed to screw up my favorite character Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix) and to be honest I’m glad it wasn’t like Dradpool (I though a LOT of Ryan Reynolds jokes were corny and cringeworthy). But I did enjoy BvS and thought Affleck was great. Superman seemed more adjusted to Earth and a lot less angsty in this film and I loved his bond with his Mother. Lois and WW both have their moments where they save the men’s behinds and at the end you see Lex becoming the man we know from the comics. Also the dream sequences were clearly visions of the future with an attempt by a certain character to make contact to warn them of the impending fight that is to come. The dark vibes actually worked for the movie and I think the public is ready for it, as seen with the success of the show Daredevil on Netflix which is also dark and gritty and has gotten great reviews from their fan base. I’m glad I didn’t’t listen to the critics. And I’m looking forward to the WW movie. Although I would have liked to see Gal looking a bit more muscular, she was totally hot and stole the scene where WW was finally introduced.
My neighbor called me to give me the lowdown because we’re going tomorrow. They had texted me that they liked it. But we finally had a chance to chat, and she said she and her husband really liked it and so did their teenage son. She didn’t consider it amazing, but they liked it and enjoyed it. She didn’t get why such awful reviews. But they knew going it it was a darker movie and not a ton of action in the first half, so were prepared.
I haven’t seen the movie yet (we’re supposed to see it this weekend) but if it’s getting bad reviews, I already know a couple of friends and family members who are going to have mini-fanboy (and a few fangirl) meltdowns.
Ben looks hung over. I bet he smells of stale liquor and cigs. And hotdogs.
People are used to seeing Marvel type Super Hero movies and think it’s the only way to do it.
As soon as it’s different they say it sucks.
I liked the movie, Super, The Watchmen, Kick Ass and Man of Steel.
In Man of Steel I thought that the ending and all the destruction was way over done, but turns out it was a way to set the table for this movie so I’m ok with it.
I’m a fan of Marvel I really enjoyed Spider-Man 2, Winter Soldier and first Iron-Man.
I look forward to Wonder Woman, Batman movies and the Suicide Squad.
I think we are to fast to dismiss it because it’s darker then Marvel and I think it’s great, I don’t mind at all.
I’m watching it. I’ve never cared about anyone’s else’s opinion on movies…(not going to start now)…I prefer to judgefor myself. I actually like dark movies and so does my adolcent daughter. 🙂
The tube vedio hilarious I saw not sad really more like pissed off BA and the poor HG guy try to make good excuse..
I guessed already that the movie didn’t score with critics when the reviews delayed.
Basically, from what I read, it looks like BA did the movie cause his character is well developed and super man is just like after thought and etc..anyways with the momentum it was bulilding before reviews it would make just fine no?
His eyes looked really tired to me. Those guys when promoting a movie are crisscrossing around nonstop, attending premieres, screenings, interviews for TV, press junkets in hotel suites with back to back interviews, small shows, radio interviews, on and on, flying overseas.
“BvS cost Warner Bros more than $400 million just to MAKE.”
No it didn’t. It was $250m.
More than $250 millions .Some journalists asked to Snyder and Roven about the budget .They refused to reply .Roven said it was the biggest budget movie that he produces until now .TDKR already cost $250 millions so it is more.
The real budget will NEVER be revealed but it for sure cost more than $250 million based on the time it took to shoot and the post production effects alone.
And I’m not going to even start adding in marketing. It’s easily $400 million all together and probably closer to $500.
I’ve read the same 250 to make, 400 icluding promotional cost. Deadpool had 100 million for promotion alone. Ryan Renolds was desperate for that movie to be a hit and you could tell.
Ben on US Weekly, “We don’t know what the future will hold.” Ummmm, ok – that sounds like they’re not pulling the trigger on the divorce, as I’ve suspected…
@Jo Jo, I knew you would be gloating on that remark. LOL I could just hear you saying, “I told you so.” It threw me. I have to admit. Maybe he’s feeling vulnerable after all this promotion and tired and the bad reviews. Jen was always his safe haven. Although, the rest of the remarks about her were just that as parents they were focused on what was best for the children and how great Jen is, etc.
The Sad Ben video is on YouTube. And I couldn’t believe it, but all the comments were really sweet and feeling bad for him taking the reviews so hard. I’ve never seen a YouTube video that didn’t have lots of trolls on it, but all the comments were for the most part really nice, saying they felt bad for him or that he was a great Batman so not to feel sad. Ben hasn’t had this much compassion thrown his way in forever or ever.
@Jayna -Haha! I was waiting for you to tell me, “It’s never happening!” LOL But he did also say, “Life doesn’t always turn out the way you want,” so it’s hard to know what he really meant. But I agree, she is the safety net, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he falls back into that since he’s taking such a public hit right now, and like I’ve always said, I don’t think she ever wanted the divorce anyway. She’s in a position of power with him now, unlike last March/April when it seemed he wanted out.
I’ll check out the YouTube video…
Love the video with music. It is so funny. I knew it when they first came up with this idea. They should have left Superman and Batman movies alone separately.
I feel like Henry Cavill is the ultimate personification of white male privilege in Hollywood. There is nothing remarkable about him as an actor or personality, so I don’t know why they keep dropping millions on him trying to make it happen. He’s not bad per se, but playing an iconic character and owning it rather than have it own you takes a certain caliber of actor, and I’m not sure he has that spark, eh?
I’m mostly just amazed that DC manages to trip over themselves where superhero movies are concerned. They have some of the most well known and popular superheroes at their disposal, yet they still can’t seem to figure out what formula they need to make it work. The casting alone is kind of baffling. You don’t have copy Marvel’s approach, but you do need to have an understanding of these characters and how you want to portray them before you can nail the portrayal to the wall.
On the positive side, Ben does have some good hair in this flick. The grey at his sideburns really works for him.
That YouTube video is sooooo funny-sad. It’s like he’s given up already. And Henry Cavill’s still trying hard. Good for him.
I think we’re a little spoiled by Marvel and Nolan, it wasn’t an awful movie. It wasn’t Fantastic 4 bad or Toby Spider-Man bad.
I think it was too ambitious. Setting up too many story lines. Marvel did the opposite, starting with some orgins and weaving others between the Avengers movies.
My criticisms are this 1) watching Bruce Wayne’s parents die AGAIN, seriously you’ve put it into so many movies I don’t know where his childhood trauma begins and mine ends. 2) Superman = Jesus isn’t even subtle. It’s basicially watching the Passion of the Christ with leotards. 3) Lex is a maniac Zuckerberg. 4) Kal Drago wasn’t in it long enough.
That being said, my 10 year old nerded out like a Big Bang character and my 7 year old is excited for more female superheroes.
ETA: batman does break his own rules and both superman and batman are very dark. But idk, doesn’t that reflect our current culture? It’s a dark world out there right now and the people are angry enough to have created and sustained Trump. I feel like it’s appropriate.
Even though there is cannon for these characters, at the end of the day our mythology mirrors our culture. Hence campy Adam West vs someone needs some lithium Ben Affleck versions of Batman.
My 12 yr old daughter’s friend saw it and liked it. That’s all I’ve got.
I saw it yesterday and I really liked it. It’s too long and you need to accept that it’s Snyder’s Superman you’re watching but the rest works well. I really like Ben as Batman. He’s better than Bale to me. Henry Cavil does well with what’s he’s got to work with. Amy Adams is a fine Lois and Jesse Eisenberg is good at being really annoying, as Lex should be. Gal Gadot is downright amazing – I can’t wait to see the WW movie. She’s the first femal superhero on screen done right and I hope the WW movie becomes a big kick in Marvel’s teeth for not doing a Black Widow movie.
Just saw the movie and yes it was just as bad as the critics said.
The editing, direction, cinematography, and the acting were all over the top.
All the women except for stick thin Wonder Woman are all useless, damels in distresses.
Jeremy Irons has all the warmth of a ice cube in the movie.
Ben Affleck is Ben Affleck throughout the movie. Never do I see “Bruce Wayne”. Sad, anger, flirty are all the same.
Gal Gabot is just eye candy while Amy Adams just runs around the whole film.
Henry Cavill is a bore.
Jesse Einsberg was terrible, terrible, terrible.
Overall I put all the blame on the director because at points in the movie I had to force myself to say awake. Too much over handed Jesus metaphors and etc.
I don’t care about any of this shit. I just want a wonder woman movie.
Oh, one more thing. Jesse Eisenberg can go f%ck himself. Merry x mas.
My boyfriend watched it with his brother. My bf thought it was hilariously bad in the first 40 minutes or so and then it was just boring and stupid. His brother said it was by no means a good movie, but not THAT bad either.
Both agreed if you’re not a fan of the DC universe, you might as well wait until it pops on TV. Not worth paying a ticket.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAAHHAHAAHAHHAA
Thank you for Sad Affleck!!!
BvS didnt cost 400 million to make, it was 250 to make. The 400 is including promotional costs.