Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

The second of the six superhero movies in 2016! Since I'm more of a Marvel fan, forgive me if I don't seem as excited as I am for Civil War or Dr Strange. But after watching Batman v Superman, I think its time to get into DC!

After the levelling of the city of Metropolis by Superman during his epic battle with General Zod in Man of Steel, the world is divided over whether Superman needs to be praised or condemned. The loss of life has left Bruce Wayne feeling angry and helpless. Thinking that Superman is responsible for all this, Batman starts his own vendetta against the Man of Steel. Meanwhile billionaire Lex Luthor, obsessed with removing Superman from the picture has his own plans.

I do not know why I haven't watched any DC movies yet. This film told me to start following DC as well as Marvel in the future. I also do not know why we feared Ben Affleck playing Bruce Wayne. His portrayal of Batman/Bruce Wayne was just perfect; nothing too much or too less. He will do well in the upcoming movies in the DC Extended Universe. Ben Affleck sort of carried the movie forward as it just felt more interesting and gripping when Batman was on screen. Despite what all the critics said, I really enjoyed Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex Luthor, and I found myself waiting for him to come on screen. Jeremy Irons was also quite impressive as Alfred, but I wish he had a tad more screen time. This film was a visual masterpiece. From the inside of the Kryptonian ship to the climactic battle at the end, the film is a treat for the eyes. If you haven't watched this yet, and are expecting this to be like The Avengers, then just stay home. This movie has a much darker and more serious tone. There's also much less fighting and action sequences than you would expect from a movie which includes Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Most of the movie is about politics and the government, so don't expect to be sitting at the edge of your seat. I also found to story a little hard to follow around the middle of the film. But I guess that's just because I don't follow DC as much as I follow Marvel! All in all, a good movie, but could have been improved in some aspects.

• Genres- Action 
• Director- Zack Snyder
• Producers- Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder
• Starring- Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, Jeremy Irons and Holly Hunter

My rating

7/10

Picture from- http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2015/04/17/102597285-Batman-vs-Superman.1910x1000.jpeg

Video from- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwfUnkBfdZ4

London Has Fallen

"The world's leaders have assembled. So have their enemies."

Movies involving the President of the USA are becoming more popular than ever, and one of the sub-genres this has spawned is movies in which the President is a target of some terrorist, but is saved at the last second. That is exactly wha London Has Fallen is all about. 

The British Prime Minister has just dies, and all of the world's most powerful leaders must attend. However, when they all are in London, a group of terrorists unleash a devastating attack which brings London to its knees. Its now up to Secret Service Agent Mike Banning to protect President Benjamin Asher and bring him home safely. 

In short, this film was a collection of clichés. Not even an ounce of originality in this movie. The basic plotline was very clichéd. The movie is about a man who wants to resign from his job because his wife is expecting a baby, but suddenly has to go to complete one last thing, which explodes into some big event. Another cliché was when the part where the President tried to be a hero by telling Banning to kill him if it came to it. Then there was the part where the President and his agent escape and think that they're safe, but then a truck comes out of nowhere and crashes into them. This movie wouldn't be anything without any other movies of a similar kind, like White House Down, Air Force One and even Olympus Has Fallen. For example, both movies, London Has Fallen and its prequel, are quite similar. Both start with flashbacks, both have sudden gunfights erupting out of nowhere... I could go on and on. The scene in which the President is threatened with one of the villains reminded me of the very similar scene from Air Force One, when the Russian villain throws Harrison Ford around the cabin. The terrorist's motive in this film was personal (his daughter had been killed). This is similar to White House Down (the villain's son had been killed). All of this is just half of what went wrong with this movie. Many of the characters lacked development and depth, and some were just plain useless. For example, the female MI6 agent was quite vague, and I felt that she just popped out of thin air. The Chief Hazard character was useless; the entire movie could have been made without him. And the for mole in MI5, I have one question: where exactly did he come from? Like the female MI6 agent, he was also seemingly born out of thin air. You could tell that the character of Lynne Jacobs was going to die from the moment she opened her mouth. Seeing as this is an action movie, it will have gunfights and explosions, but even these things were not well-executed. Excepting the first gunfight, all of the others were confusing and very difficult to follow. I was confused as to whether I was actually still watching the movie, or a clip from Call of Duty. You couldn't tell what was happening. The explosion in the building was clearly animated. It didn't seem real. It can't be that hard to make a computer-generated explosion look real. Even though I have all of the criticism, I do have a few good comments. Excepting the explosion I spoke about, the rest of the CGI was on par. Also, Aaron Eckhart did a good job as President Benjamin Asher. 

• Genres- Action, crime
• Director- Babak Najafi
• Produces- Gerard Butler, Mark Gill, Danny Lerner, Matt O'Toole, Alan Siegel and Les Weldon
• Starring- Gerard Buttler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Alon Moni Aboutboul, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Melissa Leo and Radha Mitchell

My rating

4/10

Picture from- http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/london-has.jpg

Video from- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0BZoCeuomo