Whilst Superman defends the world from Zod all Bruce Wayne can do is watch as his city is destroyed around him. Determined to defend the people, Wayne makes it his personal business sets out to build the arsenal to take down a God. Meanwhile Lex Luther attempts to import Kryptonite as a defence against any more Kryptonians, or so he says.

The clash between two of the most infamous super heroes is bound to cause tension even in the world of the geeks, but the latest addition to the DC Universe (DCU) has left everyone with such a verity of views and all we really want to know is “Is this film any good?” The reason why no one can agree is simply because there are so many different elements that have made up this film which don’t always work well.

One of the first surprises we were treated to was the inclusion of Ben Affleck as Batman. Definitely not everyone’s first choice, it was even a shock to predecessor Christian Bale. Never the less Affleck accepted the role and wasn’t completely awful, which gives me hope for other choices such as Jered Leto as the Joker in suicide squad, although both his suit and bat-mobile did feel like a huge step backwards. Affleck stepped up to the mark physically and his interpretation of someone hurt to the core is very real. If you don’t believe me just look at his reaction to being told that critics didn’t like the film. Comparing this to Henry Cavill who tries to diplomatically say he doesn’t mind bad reviews as long as the fans like it. Maybe these guys aren’t such choices after all?

My interest peaked when meeting Lex Luther for the first time, a young egocentric philanthropist who has a hankering to knock down Superman a peg or two. This borderline psychotic performance was definitely the part that stood out the most for me. Again yes there are some problems: Eisenberg isn’t bald, old or very masculine but the only other performance I enjoyed for this level of insanity was Heath Ledger as the Joker.

Zack Snyder reported that he is comic book guy and tried to make the movie as much based on that aesthetic, unfortunately this does not mean original or including much more than we either knew or could guess. The first 10minutes you are subjected to yet another interpretation of death of Bruce’s parents. Yes this is a huge traumatic event influencing his transformation to become the Dark Knight, but this isn’t the only thing. Snyder even shows he knows this by including a brief nightmare scene. It’s not explicitly said this is Jason Todd but a reference earlier in the film would strongly suggest this. Snyder, why didn’t you bring this in more? Interestingly this film has been critiqued on the script, not for its annoying consistent references to the god and the devil or for the simplicity of spelling out the exact plot, but because Superman isn’t funny. No doy! These are serious characters. DC is, on the whole, a lot darker than Marvel. If you were expecting 4^th wall breaks or gags along the way go to a Marvel film!

This film also starts to set the new cast for the Justice League, which includes Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) as The Flash and Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) as Aquaman. Although this does look promising it does feel very rushed. Did DC look at Marvel’s plan for future films and realise they needed to catch up pretty damn quick? think so!

There were some interesting choices regarding the filming style. It feels much darker than Snyder’s previous DC film: Man of Steel. This fits in more with the TV version DCU, which in my opinion is where DC make better content outside of the comics. The only thing that could make this film feel any better would be to get one of the greats to do the sound track, someone like Hans Zimmer… oh wait, they did!

So where does that leave the film: is it a good film? I think that some interesting choices were made in regards to the cast but this doesn’t make it a terrible film. The parts that let it down are big like the painfully obvious story line, either cater to those who read comics or who don’t. Snyder has tried to include both which pleased no one. There are many reasons to go and see this film, such as Grandmas Peach Tea, and I would advise you go see it at some point but there is no need to rush, Batman Vs. Superman will be in cinemas for a while.