Mondo + Alamo Drafthouse Batman v. Superman Collaboration (SPOILERS)

Warning: Potential spoilers for Batman v. Superman ahead in case you haven't seen it!

Mickey and I bought tickets to watch Batman v. Superman on March 24, Thursday, right when it came out, at an Alamo Drafthouse here in Austin. For the release of this movie, Alamo collaborated with Mondo Gallery and BIRTH.MOVIES.DEATH magazines to release an exclusive pint glass and/or magazine with ticket sales. We each sprung for both. :)

Mondo pint glasses. They're the exact same ones, but showing different sides/angles

Back and front of the BIRTH.DEATH.MOVIES magazine dedicated to Batman and Superman

360 degree view of the pint glass

Sneak peaks of the content inside the magazines

I haven't read through the magazine yet, but it looks like some great content on the TV/movie history of Batman and Superman including a piece on Batman: The Animates Series. This is sitting in a pile of comics that I've also been meaning to read. I'll get around to it!

As for the movie itself, I actually really liked it. There seems to be a great divide when it comes to this movie and I've seen many comic fans say they enjoy it. I can also understand why critics and other comic fans disliked it or,  yes, even hated it. I've actually read some reviews where people walked out in the middle of it, which to me seems like a waste of money, but to each their own.

I'm not a huge movie buff so I can't provide a proper review, but I can at least tell you what I did and didn't like about the movie from a Batman fan's standpoint.

We'll start with things I didn't like since that list will be shorter.

1. There were plenty of plot holes. DC Comics fans might have been able to fill in SOME of the blanks, but there was a lot lacking in motive and background. I'd give you more specific examples, but there are just so many.
2. There was too much going on. It was excessive. As a very simple example, I loved Wonder Woman, but she didn't add anything to further the story.
3. The resolution between Batman and Superman happened so quickly that it wasn't exactly believable.
4. Lex Luthor. I haven't read up on why Zack Snyder went in this direction with Lex Luthor, but this Lex seemed completely unstable and really fidgety. My understanding of Lex Luthor is that he's a businessman first and foremost. He's just as psychotic as the BvS Lex, but he's much more calm and collected and that's why he gets away with so much. He's creepy, but in a much subtler way than the BvS Lex. I guess Jesse Eisenberg did well with what he was given, though.

Overall, I just have so many unanswered questions. With that said, there were many things I DID like.

1. Stunning visuals
2. Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman standing side by side. I had such a nerdgasm.
3. Ben Affleck as Batman. If nothing else, I loved seeing a Batman of that size and stature. He was huge and scary much like I see him in comics.
4. Batman's brutality (and killing). This was actually something that a lot of people DIDN'T like, but I thought it was hilarious. I enjoyed that Batman just gave zero f*cks. He's been in the game for years and he's just tired of these criminal scumbags. A lot of people argued that Batman always goes out of his way NOT to kill people, which I can see in some iterations of Batman, but there are plenty versions of him where he's very violent and is much more nonchalant about his handling of bad guys. Since this version of Batman pulled a lot of inspiration from Frank Miller's Batman, it made plenty of sense to me. As a Batman fan who grew up with all the animated shows and a lot of the comics, I think Zack Snyder still did Batman justice.
5. Gal Gadot/Wonder Woman. I'm already a huge fan of Gal Gadot from the Fast & Furious series so this might be biased, but I thought she made a wonderfully beautiful and badass Wonder Woman. We didn't get to see her much, but seeing her smirk and enjoy the battle against Doomsday at the end was great. Wonder Woman is a born warrior and I think that really came through in the final battle scene.
6. Henry Cavill's just handsome so I have no complaints there particularly because I'm not as emotionally invested in his character. Full disclosure, I haven't seen Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and I'm not particularly interested in seeing it so not sure how that movie would influence my opinion of Snyder's Superman.
7. Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth. I loved that this Alfred was very modern, but still extremely loyal and also completely over-it with his on-point sarcasm and sass.
8. Superman saving the day in the end. I'm pretty used to Batman saving the day in most Justice League settings because of his intelligence, planning, detective work, etc. but it was nice to see Superman get the glory in the end by driving the Kryptonite spear into Doomsday. Superman really needed that given his reputation with... almost everybody in the Snyder universe. Give that man a break.
9. Batman and Superman connecting over "Martha." I heard a few complaints about this too, but I loved this. I knew their mothers' names separately, but it just never really clicked with me that they were the same name and it never occurred to me to use it as a plot device. I'm actually very surprised that no one else has used this connection between the 2 heroes before. I thought it was a great way to humanize Superman for Batman. Yes, this alien also has a family, has parents and Bruce knows all about the importance of having your parents around. Granted, I still think the turning point happened too fast, but given how long the movie already was, I guess I'm also glad it didn't take longer?

Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but I'm a big believer in NOT being a douchebag about your opinion and trying to make others feel lesser for having the opposite opinion. Those people are the worst. You can be a huge fan of DC Comics, comic books, the animated universe, etc. and love OR hate the movie. If you did or didn't like it, good for you. If you haven't seen it, I still think it's worth checking out so you can form your own opinions about it. Happy movie watching!