Movie Review: Batman v. Superman - Dawn of Justice

Strong Performances from the Female Actors Can't Save the Long, Slow March Towards Death That is "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice"

It's Sunday, March 27th and by now, you've read all the reviews. You've seen the 31% score on Rotten Tomatoes. You know that director Zack Snyder's take on the first meeting of two of the most iconic super heroes of all time is not what they deserve. I'm not here to pile on. I'm not sure I can say anything that hasn't already been said. Let's face it. This movie is review proof and the box office tallies are confirming that. So rather than focus on the negatives, I'm going to do my best to focus on the few positives the film offers. I can't promise that some negativity won't slip in there. I'm only human.

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Iron Man

"Iron Man" (2008)

Can you believe that it has been almost 8 years since Marvel Studios began it's trek to total box office domination? 2008 was a different time. The George W. Bush presidency was winding down and we were just starting to believe we could, we still thought the recession was something that happened in the '80's and Michael Phelps was getting ready to dominate the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. The box office was also a different place in 2008. Super hero movies weren't the guaranteed cash cow that they are now. Audiences were still feeling the sting of critical flops like "X-Men: The Last Stand" and "Spider-Man 3." Studios weren't willing to take the risk of banking their hard earned on money on lesser known heroes, especially since "Batman Begins" only made $48 million in it's opening weekend. If people weren't willing to show up in droves for a name hero like the Dark Knight, was there any chance they would show up for a hero that the majority of the non-comic book reading world had never heard of?

Thankfully, Marvel did and because of their belief and savvy casting choices they just released the trailer for their thirteenth film, "Captain America: Civil War," whose second trailer has racked up over 30 million views in two days. With the start of Phase Three looming on the horizon, I thought that now was the perfect time to re-watch and reflect on the films that came before starting with the original Marvel movie: "Iron Man."