As someone once said: why so serious? Bookended by shots of coffins, Batman v Superman does not get much cheerier for the rest of its long running time. In spite of being somewhat joyless and fun-free, this is a very good grand-scale blockbuster movie. It is almost as if DC have sent out a mission statement - Marvel is for the kids, DC is for the grown-ups - making The Winter Soldier look like a light-hearted romp by comparison. It has a very careful and well-constructed narrative, with characters and events purposely introduced and positioned, in spite of a mid-section wobble that plays very oddly (the victim of trimming for run-time?), and mostly well-written dialogue. Particularly striking is the early 9/11-inflected re-telling of the Zod/Superman brawl from Man Of Steel from Bruce Wayne's perspective. Affleck/Batman is absolutely terrific throughout, Cavill/Superman is mostly good in spite of his 'serious' face still sometimes looking like severe puzzlement, and there are very strong supporting performances by Adams, Fishburne, Hunter and Lane. Eisenberg paces Lex's descent into madness well from an already jittery and energetic starting point, and Gal Gadot is a real find as Wonder Woman, making her solo movie a real prospect at last. Even the brief but smart introduction to other potential Justice League members intrigues. Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL provide an excellent score, and the film looks absolutely wonderful in terms of both 3D and the ambitious visual effects. Batman v Superman does feel very long, but if you do not mind a superhero movie being very grim indeed and thus quite distancing emotionally, there is a lot to admire in this superhero-clash 'Fight Night'.
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