Early reviews of the Warner Bros. release claim Zack Snyder tries to do too much in establishing cinematic universe

Early reviews of the Warner Bros. release claim Zack Snyder tries to do too much in establishing cinematic universe

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” better hope that bad reviews are not as dangerous as kryptonite.

The first in a planned series of DC Comics cinematic universe films currently holds a mere 40 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Of the 65 reviews counted at the time of this publishing, 39 are “Rotten” and 26 are “Fresh.”

Early reviews for the film, which opens this Friday, rip director Zack Snyder for cramming in as much story as possible, while also overdoing it with the visual effects.

Also Read: 'Batman v Superman' Review: Ben Affleck's Got the Cool Car, But Wonder Woman Steals the Show

TheWrap‘s Alonso Duralde wrote, “That face-off between two comics legends becomes but one in a series of big things bashing into other big things, which is what Snyder and writers Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer mistake for storytelling.”

Here are five more disappointing reviews.

Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune:

“‘You don’t owe this world a thing,’ [Diane] Lane tells Superman at one point. Maybe so. But at this point in the twinned mythologies of two extremely hardy DC heroes, humankind deserves a better blockbuster.”

Adam Graham of Detroit News:

“The movie crams together a Batman story, a Superman story and lays the groundwork for several side tales, all in the space of a cluttered two-and-a-half hour collision that aims to bludgeon viewers into submission.”

Also Read: 'Batman v Superman' Is Fandango's Top Pre-Selling Superhero Movie Ever

Mike Ryan of Uproxx:

“Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I was legitimately looking this forward to a movie that I found this dull. About halfway through this over two-and-a-half hour movie, I had to stop my brain from thinking about other things, like what groceries I needed to pick up at some point.”

Fionnuala Halligan of Screen Daily:

“Gorging on bombast and self-importance, swamped by its own mythology, ‘Batman v Superman’ is loud, sprawling, and distracted. The action jumps around almost as fast as a man can fly, but nowhere near as smoothly.”

Lou Lumenick of the New York Post:

“While ‘300’ maestro Snyder puts together some very striking scenes — which may be enough for many fanboys — they never really cohere into a whole. He literally throws in the kitchen sink in a film that frantically introduces characters and concepts while never clearly establishing the rules of the DC Comics universe.”

Also Read: 'Batman v Superman' Red Carpet Canceled in London After Brussels Attacks

But chances are, bad reviews will do nothing to deter audiences from flocking to the tentpole feature. The film will skyrocket to north of $150 million in its much-anticipated opening in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, industry analysts projected on Tuesday.

PRE ORDER SHADOWS GAMES

"Shadow Games is a page-turning, gut-wrenching barnburner of a book."—Robert Bloch

Ed here: My first cousin Bobby Driscoll was a major child movie star of the late 1940s and early 1950s. He died at thirty of drugs. While I don't use any of Bobby's life in this novel I do look at child stardom here. This is a slightly revised edition of Shadow Games (1992) which I wrote at the time when I was writing scripts for two different directors and learning a little about the ways of Hwood. 

BTW Bobby is the star of the great film noir "The Window."

Cover art © by JT Lindroos

"Shadow Games unflinchingly examines the dark side of humanity and reaches a finale that is both moving and terrifying."

—Ramsey Campbell

"What keeps you reading is not the traditional question of whodunit but the slick and artful ease with which Gorman portrays the alienated, uncaring world of his creations."

--The London Sunday Times

Cobey Daniels had it all. He was rich, he was young and he was the hottest star in the country. Then there was all that messy business with the teenage girl . . . and it all went to hell for Cobey.

But that was a few years ago. Now Cobey's pulled his life together again they're letting him out of the mental hospital and he's ready for his big comeback, but the past is still out there, waiting for him. Waiting to show Cobey a hell much more terrible than he could ever have imagined.



The American 90s come brutally alive: "Gorman knows how to shunt electricity into the raw nerve endings buried far below the reader's already clammy skin."
—Locus
 

© Ed Gorman




PRAISE FOR SHADOW GAMES


"Ed Gorman's is a strong and unique voice."
—Richard Matheson



"Gorman is the poet of dark suspense."
—The Bloomsbury Review



"John D. MacDonald meets Jim Thompson in a maelstrom of malicious evil and perverse maipulation that doesn't let up until the final few pages...thoughtful, tightly knit and elegantly structured."
—Million (UK)



"This is a bleak moral tale but written with such hot feeling and such cool style that it entertains even as it keens."
—Morning Star (UK)


 

Title Details:


RRP Price: £11.95
Publisher: Short, Scary Tales Publications
Release Date: May 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-909640-52-8 (6" x 9" Trade Paperback)
First Edition
Pages: 354

This brand new edition is available for pre-order from the Short, Scary Tales website. The first 100 copies sold direct from the site will be signed by me and the cover artist, JT Lindroos!