Were you still holding on to the hope that the movie you were about to see would be good? Because that happens to me sometimes. If I want it to be good, I'll get hung up on the bad details, even if I know about them going in.

But going into this one, what with Zack Snyder's film history suggesting that he is incapable of making a movie that puts substance before style, and given how absolutely uninspiring Man of Steel was, my investment in the success/quality of the DCU was near nonexistent. Thus I was able to enjoy it for what it was: a dumb action movie that tried and failed to be poignant + Batfleck.

 

I'm thinking maybe WB could ring up Shane Black for a movie or two with Zack advising on visuals. #cheapshot

But seriously, if they want a grimderp Batfleck movie that will be successful (which they do, because so far Ben is the closest to being DC's RDJ), they should let Batfleck direct it.

 

Something that may interest some people who want to know why a film that makes $900m worldwide may not be considered profitable with its outcome from the cinemas alone.

Profit projection for BvS.

Domestic Box Office
Gross: $370m
Profit: $203,5 (~55%)

Foreign Box Office
Gross: $450m
Profit: $180m (~40%)

China Box Office
Gross: $100m
Profit: $25m (~25% - unless the film was co-produced by China which is the reason why so many recently are)

Total
~408,5m

Production Cost
-$250m

Global Promotion
-$165m

Profit
$408,5m - $415m = -$6,5m

Close enough, if just barely and it may actually be on plus depending on exact percentages. For any other film, I would say it's an amazing performance, but BvS was expected to do a lot better than that.

Of course, it's going to make money later on as you add other things like DVD/BD sales, selling right to TV, toys rights etc. But for the film to be considered a true success for the studio, it should return its investment in the cinemas, allowing everything else to be a pure profit for them.

It also shows why giving Avengers: Infinity War a production budged of $1b (for both parts, but it's still $500m each) is just insane.

 

Well, i consider Synder's Watchmen adaption to have as much synergy of substance and style anybody could reasonably expect from a Watchmen film. It was a great film, imho.

I get your uninspired impression from MoS. I thought it had something lacking in the middle part to keep my attention all the time.

But the film had rich characters and actors which could deliver outside of Superman himself. The anguish of General Zod was palpable because the motivation made sense. It was a classic tragedy. Despite its weaknesses I still consider it the best Superman film ever made.

IMHO the problem of all Superman films is mostly Superman as the protagonist (and the joke Lex Luthor as antagonist).

How do you create tension with a more or less omnipotent hero? That usually ends in deus ex machine solutions with cheap drama mixed in. Superman is just not an interesting character in essence.

 

Saw it, laughed through most of Luthor scenes, cringed in a lot of them. The movie felt like it could have been great, but I'm massively disappointed in it.

 

So, I finally got around to seeing a big 'ol IMAX version, and I'm SERIOUSLY, in the minority.

I loved Lex Luthor's scenes. It was cringe early in the flick, but that was the point, see his awkward speech at his party and his orchestrated awkwardness during his conversation with the good senator. But that scene where he was threatening Superman with Martha's death whilst trying to force the conflict with Batman, with the pictures? His scene in the archive thingy? I loved every single fucking bit of it, and I can't wait until further Justice League stuff including him. Eisenberg was my favorite part of the movie. The fights n shit? As awesome as I thought they'd be. I've never been as viscerally satisfied by my desire for wanton fucking destruction as I was as I left.

Jeremy Irons was fucking glorious, you could taste the exasperation; Affleck's Batman was fucking awesome, and even Cavill wasn't cringebad in this flick like he was in Man of Steel.

Lois Lane is still Lois Lane and thus awful, though.

 

One almost worries that Jeremy Irons pulled the guy aside for a showing of his performance in Dungeons and Dragons.

 

I felt like every character was portrayed in a compelling way and well-acted. I liked the look and the themes. The only problem was the plot. Introducing your main villain 30 mins from the end is a bad idea because we have no investment in their defeat. And the movie was seriously weighed down by dream sequences, flashbacks and so forth, much of which was set-up for future movies or fan service.

The result was a movie that felt like it was too long and too short at the same time: a ton of unnecessary scenes that don't develop the plot or characters, while simultaneously not enough scenes that fully explore the themes presented. The Superman vs the Senate stuff was massively underdeveloped.

Still, I enjoyed it. Thankfully I'm not one of those people who feels the need to judge the quality of something by how similar it is to some other thing. I.e. whether or not it is "correct".

 

This would actually fix the movie. I agree.

Spoiler

Especially cutting the dream sequence and bringing the Superman Batman fight earlier. I think my biggest disappointment was with how sudden they became 'friends'. I mean, would a dying man say save my mother or save Martha??

 

Ben Affleck to Direct Stand Alone Batman Movie

All knew it was coming...still hyped

 

Unless rumours about a R-rated version appearing in the cinemas are true, BvS is going to make less money than Deadpool. My estimates put it around $340m right now compared to about $360m from the Merc with a Mouth.

It shows two things. That a passionate team of people can make a great film everyone will enjoy and that if you add an inspired marketing to it you can do wonders in the cinemas.

Yeah, it was pretty much given. I'm sure Affleck is going to do a good job with it, but it would be great if he asked Snyder to help him with fighting scenes because in BvS they were the best Batman ever had.