I was intrigued about this one as films centring on a villain has been rather mixed. It can become a cult phenomenon like 'Joker', or it could be absolute trash like 'Catwoman'.
The build-up for me has been a bit unremarkable as the trailers haven't got me that excited. But I knew I was going to see it anyway as it is a film within the superhero genre and that could be expanding a particular universe.
It does start with some promise. The set-up and character introductions were interesting. But I think the more attempts at development there were, the less interesting it got. With the addition of over darkness in its CGI heavy scenes and camerawork that it certain sequences hard to see, it was running out of steam by the end.
The vibe I got from it would fit right into those early 2000's superheroes that were a bit substandard and before the days of franchise expanding like Daredevil, Elektra or The Punisher: War Zone.
I could say the same for the script. It wasn't bad, just uninspiring. As the writer is the same person who wrote The Last Witch Hunter and Gods Of Egypt, that alone should give you an idea of what to expect from the dialogue.
While the cast weren't impressive, there was some decent showings to not make it a total loss in this department. Jared Leto was fine in the role. But I was kind of expecting more from him given his unique style and track record. When you see Leto in the main cast for a project, you expect something larger than life for an actor that prefers the method style. There was nothing really wrong with it. But it had me questioning why Leto was cast.
Matt Smith did a good job. I felt his performance fitted the tone of the film and had some nice back-and-forth moments with Leto. This along with his showing in 'Last Night In Soho' has given me great confidence that Smith has made a great transition from TV to film.
I have to mention Tyrese Gibson, as for me he was a bit of a waste and completely miscast. The profession his character has never made me believe Gibson could portray on screen. I could go as far as it was borderline laughable seeing him attempt to be serious.
It's not often I criticise the score of a film. But composer Jon Ekstrand has moments in this that virtually sounds like the music from the Dark Knight trilogy. With this film ironically containing bats, there are scenes that made me directly go to Batman Begins when certain notes were being hit from Hans Zimmer's pieces.
Even the editing was weird in some places. It's a violent film and there were cuts that confused me if certain people have been killed or not.
If you have seen the trailers, I think you will be highly frustrated as there are bits in the trailer that are not in the film at all. What makes it worse, is that a few of them were the most interesting parts of the trailer. Trailer's that mislead you and not in a good way is not a wise decision.
There is potential for this to be a solid and entertaining watch. But in the end, it was slightly below average, flat at times and never capitalised on its own ideas. The set-up has me engaged as it moved along well with some decent sequences that gave me hope of an interesting story. But it kind of gave up on itself and just gave us content that we've seen over 100 times.
I must mention there are two mid credits scene and both of which felt rather rushed in its execution. Whilst the decisions made by the people involved sets something interesting up, the way it was done was pretty poor and felt like it was done just to have some connection to the bigger picture.
With this being part of Sony's Spider-Man universe, it further confirms that they just can't do a successful franchise within this world. Just leave it for Marvel to construct.
Rating: 6/10
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