Never in the history of cinema has a large, comic-book
blockbuster polarised opinion like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has done
in the days after its release. Tipped to be the start of a DC Comics movie
universe, Batman v Superman has seen critics unleash a barrage of unprecedented
hatred against it whilst on the other hand fan response has been mainly
positive.
Batman v Superman tells the story of a world where Superman
exists as a figure of huge controversy. His actions at the end of Man of Steel
which saw him battle General Zod to the death in a clash which nearly flattened
Metropolis has meant every action he does now is put under intense public
scrutiny. There are those who hail him as a saviour, and others who believe him
to be a threat to society. One of those in the latter camp is Bruce Wayne,
played by Ben Affleck, who was personally impacted by the events of Superman’s
fight with Zod. Being an experienced vigilante with increasingly brutal methods
and a past which continues to haunt him, Bruce decides to undertake his own
quest into acquiring a certain object as he prepares to battle Superman.
Meanwhile, villainous tech developer Lex Luthor is devising his own nefarious
masterplan with the intention of pitting both superheroes against each other,
and his schemes may go as far as endangering the human race itself in order to take
Superman down.
I’ve been eagerly anticipating this movie for what seems
like an eternity, yet I can remember the 2013 San Diego Comic Con announcement
that this movie was to be released in theatres like it was yesterday. Now that
it is finally out, opinion is mixed to an unprecedented degree with some fans
calling it one of the best comic book adaptations of all time to critics
calling it one of the worst the genre has ever seen. Now I’m definitely not a
critic but I am a huge fan of well-made entertainment and I love all of these
characters having grown up with them. But what is my opinion on Batman v
Superman? To put it simply, I really enjoyed the movie and I’m super excited to
see future instalments in this cinematic universe, but I feel as if a lot of it
could have been better. It’s a fun and satisfying movie-going experience which
keeps on dragging me back to the theatre (I’ve seen it 3 times now) but there
are things in it I felt could have been done a lot better than they were. It’s
definitely not the best “Batman vs. Superman” movie we could have gotten but
it’s still a fun time at the movies which I cannot deny.
For me, my biggest complaint I can direct towards Batman v
Superman is that the actual conflict between the two superheroes is nowhere
near as compelling as it should have been, and often became of secondary
importance compared to other plot elements of the movie which tried to set up
the building blocks for future movies. I feel like the root of all of the
problems Batman v Superman has lies in the editing room. The editing for this
movie borders atrocious a lot of times during this movie as it constantly cuts
back and forth between about 5 different story arcs going on at the same time.
It just felt really jarring to me. That’s not to say I disliked the stories
this movie was trying to tell, in fact I enjoyed pretty much everything that
was going on in this movie. However, that doesn’t change the fact the way this
film is edited makes the narrative feel choppy and discombobulated to the point
where story arcs which should have fluidly connected with each other in
actuality did not feel cohesive with each other at all.
There are lots of small little moments where you feel as if
the screenwriting makes no sense at all and I firmly believe the reason why
Batman v Superman has those moments is because a lot of this film was left on
the editing room floor. In fact, I’m curious to see the director’s cut of the film
(which they are releasing) to see if a lot of the plot holes that I think this
movie has will be filled in, or whether it makes the movie’s narrative feel
even more disjointed. I will do a spoiler review during which I’ll talk about
this in more detail. I just hope that in that director’s cut we get to see more
of the Batman v Superman conflict, because there needed to be more of it in the
theatrical cut. But again, it’s difficult for me to criticise this movie and
argue that not enough time was spent on the two superhero’s conflict with each
other when I was actually kind of enjoying the other stuff they were spending
time on. For example, the famous “Knightmare” sequence was one of the stand
outs of the movie. The cameo scenes for the other 3 members of The Justice
League were all very satisfying, crowd-pleasing moments. But like most things
in this movie, I have mixed feelings towards them. Yes, the Knightmare sequence
was visually stunning and tension filled, but it does feel out of place with
the movie’s main narrative. Yes, The Justice League set up stuff was really
awesome to see but the screenwriting surrounding it was incredibly lazy and it
just felt kind of shoe-horned in there.
I’m mixed on a lot of things in this movie, but there is one
thing I do just outright dislike. My biggest fear going into this movie was how
Jesse Eisenberg decided to play the character of Lex Luthor yet I went into it
feeling optimistic he’d have something great up his sleeve. Instead, his
performance as Lex let me down as much as I feared it would. It’s partly the
actor’s fault but it’s also partly the fault of both director and screenwriter
who all believed that this interpretation of Lex Luthor, one of DC’s most
interesting and menacing villains, was only going to work for this movie if he
was a socially, awkward, twitchy psychopath. What I appreciated about him was
just how villainous he was, I mean some of the stuff his character does in this
movie is just as unsettling as it is devious. However, because this movie insists
it that Batman v Superman coming together to fight each other is all part of a
Lex Luthor masterplan (which is overly convoluted and relies way too much on
conveniences to make sense), I feel his character needed more in terms of
motivation. Yes I get he has a huge problem with God and directs this hatred
towards Superman, but I feel his character needed more substance behind him to
really pack in a more emotionally impactful punch in the film’s third act. I
don’t know why they decided to go with a twitchy Luthor and not create a
character in a similar vein to Superman: The animated series, which gets the
character of Lex Luthor so right.
That is pretty much every major criticism I have with Batman
v Superman. Yes the editing is awful, yes some of the screenwriting surrounding
certain characters and Justice League set up was unforgivably lazy and yes
Eisenberg’s portrayal of Lex wasn’t to my liking, but the rest of the movie I
either liked, am mixed over or flat out loved. I hate to be that “I told you so” guy when it
comes to Ben Affleck as Batman, but I was on board with it from the day I heard
it was announced and he totally crushed it as Bruce Wayne/Batman. His
performance as Bruce Wayne really made you care about him and sold the fact
that this Batman is one fuelled by loss and the rage he feels not being able to
protect those he cares about. This Batman is withered, wearied and clearly
tired of all of the bullshit to the point where those who stand in his way are
brutally beaten, branded or straight up killed. This movie’s portrayal of the
character of Batman as a brutal fighter, a detective, and as a demon to be
feared was as close to perfect as it could have been. I know a lot of people
are sceptical at the fact Batman kills people in this movie, and I’m kind of
holding out my judgement until future films. I really feel as if this is
something to explore in the future but for now I have to admit it would’ve been
nice to see a scene which explained why he is so pro-killing all of a sudden.
It makes for an interesting take on the Batman character though and I firmly
believe this is the best the caped crusader has ever been on the big screen,
both visually and thematically.
I feel as if the movie really got it right when it came to
Batman’s motivation. You physically see him lose people he cares about during
the Battle of Metropolis and you feel the rage he has directed toward Superman,
but you also get the sense there’s more there. We as audience members get the
sense that this Batman has failed those he cares about in the past (Jason Todd
surely being one of them) and the rage he has is blinding him from what made
him become Batman in the first place. Plus I loved the back and forth between
him and Jeremy Iron’s Alfred, who by the way was utterly brilliant in the role
as both a resourceful, caring and sarcastic Alfred which brought about for some
funny moments.
Equally brilliant as the other titular character, Henry
Cavill is marvellous in the role of both Clark Kent and Superman. In my opinion
his performance completely embodied everything I understand the character of
Superman to be. One of the main criticism’s I’m hearing is that in his own
movie, Superman becomes a side character, which I honestly cannot disagree with
more. Superman has an incredibly important role in this film, and the writing
surrounding him was (with one exception) pretty brilliant. When this movie
delves into the debate as to whether or not there should be a Superman, Batman
v Superman becomes a riveting thriller with I think prominent religious and
political themes running through it. And this movie is supposed to make you
feel for Superman. I mean, he’s just a regular guy from Kansas who’s trying to
do the right thing, yet everything he does is put under intense public scrutiny
despite his good intentions. To me, Superman has always been that shining light
of good who performs acts of heroism because he has a strong sense of morality
and in this movie they simultaneously illustrate that whilst also make you feel
as if one day he could just snap and throw that out the window. What I feel
Superman was lacking in this movie was motivation for fighting Batman. What I
feel they were going for was a moment where Superman snaps on Batman as he
fails to reason with him, they do show in the movie that Superman does have a
problem with Batman’s form of justice. Remember the “do you bleed?” scene? I
just feel they should have put in a scene where Superman has a clear reason for
fighting Batman. Maybe he feels frustrated that in a world where a vigilante
can perform acts of intervention and no one bats an eye (pun intended) he is
similarly exposed to intense public scrutiny?
I feel as if because this movie is trying to set up the
Justice League film and because it tries to wrap up the Batman v Superman
conflict in an overly complicated Lex Luthor masterplan, the movie loses the
opportunity to give us a great battle between 2 superheroes in a world where
people I wrestling with what superhero it needs. If you’ve seen Daredevil Season 2, you’ll
probably agree that the best episode was probably episode 3 where both
Daredevil and The Punisher spend the entire episode talking to each other about
their similarities and differences in their form of justice. Going into Batman
v Superman, this is what I expected the movie to have within it. But again I
come back to the main problem I have with my own criticisms towards this film.
Yes I would’ve loved a fleshed out ideological conflict between both
superheroes, but I was still enjoyed watching all of the Justice League cameos
and various tie-ins. I just feel because of the route they decided to take the
story, Superman’s motivations for fighting Batman were not as clear as they
could have been. The film gets the
Batman’s motivations down to a tee, but I feel was missing something there with
Superman which I think stems from the fact everything is meant to be a chess
piece in Lex Luthor’s masterplan and not a clash of ideologies between Batman
and Superman.
Back to praising this movie, Wonder Woman played by Gal
Gadot steals the limelight in every scene she’s in. I’ve said before that while
her character does feel shoe horned into the story, her actual entrance as
Wonder Woman in the final fight of the movie was one of the best moments of the
entire film. I also thought Gadot did well with her performance selling both
the charming Diana Prince ego and the Amazonian Warrior alter ego as well. In
fact there is one moment in particular in the movie’s final fight which I feel
was an incredible piece of visual storytelling which got the character of
Wonder Woman down to a tee and made me very excited for her solo outing. In the
final fight, after she’s been put on her backside, she gets back and up and
releases a cheeky little smile. It’s great visual storytelling; it says in one
shot even though she has a heart of gold, deep down she loves a good fight. I
need to see that Wonder Woman solo movie as soon as possible as I want to find
out more about her, where she’s from and what motivates her to do the things she
does. Wonder Woman, even though she does feel shoe-horned in, is a crowd
pleasing character I can’t wait to see more of her.
One of the biggest complaints people had with Man of Steel,
aside from the “excessive” destruction of Metropolis during Superman’s fight
with General Zod, was the romance between Superman and Lois Lane. And I have to
admit my biggest personal gripe with Man of Steel is the fact the romance does
feel incredibly rushed. However, to my surprise, I really bought into their
romance in this film which I think is credit to the performances of both actors
involved and the on screen chemistry between them. I’ve always said that Amy
Adams plays a very good Lois Lane and her character does have her moments to
shine in this film as there is an entire subplot involving her investigating an
item found in one of the film’s earliest scenes. While I would’ve cut out the
Lois Lane story arc in this movie entirely just to devote more time to the
Batman v Superman conflict, it’s still a story arc with a few interesting
reveals as you discover various pieces of information with her. That being
said, in the final 50 minutes of this movie Lois Lane struggles to hold down a
relevant place within the movie’s narrative, finding herself on the periphery
of Superman’s battles with either Batman or other nefarious threats. She finds
herself in the possession of a certain item; she gets rid of it, then retrieves
it again plus divulges into nothing more than a damsel-in-distress. She’s a
strong female character for two-thirds of this movie before becoming nothing
more than a plot device needed for Superman. I hope her character is handled
better in the future as I’m certain she has an important role to play in
upcoming projects.
Even though Zack Synder as the director of this film is
receiving a lot of criticism due to the film’s narrative, screenplay and
editing flaws, it would be unfair not to acknowledge the talent this man has
when it comes to both visual storytelling and making a shot more epic than it
has any right to be. As someone who does appreciate the work which goes into
shooting scenes for movies, I have to admit that this may be one of the most
visually pleasing movies I have ever watched. The cinematography for this movie
is breath-taking to the point where you feel as if specific moments from
various comic book stories have leaped onto the big screen in all of their
awesome glory. Not only does it look great, but the action sequences are all
helmed magnificently. The fight between Batman and Superman, while brief and
rushed slightly in its resolution, is a fantastic scene filmed perfectly by a
man who understands how to please the hard core fans of the source material.
The final fight at the end was equally spectacular in all of its CGI glory, but
the action sequence which stands out to me is a scene involving Batman laying
waste to a group of hired criminals in a warehouse. It’s as close to perfect as
they come, showing Batman’s physical brutality as well as his tactical ability
in using his various gadgets to take all the criminals out. It’s a wonderful
scene which in terms of the way its shot, the stunt choreography and the
execution of the stunts is as close to perfect as I could have dreamed. It was
like the gameplay of the Arkham video games in the cinema. And I must give a
quick mention to Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL for composing a fabulous musical
score and memorable character themes for all the major characters in this
movie. Wonder Woman’s theme is a standout.
I will be doing a spoiler review to list of some more things
I liked about Batman v Superman and some more criticisms I have without fear of
spoiling the experience for anyone who hasn’t already seen it. But to summarise
I would have to say that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is nowhere close to
the best “Batman v Superman” movie we could have got, yet it’s still incredibly
entertaining and rewarding for fans of these characters like myself. It’s a
movie made for fans, not critics, which understands that not all superhero
movies need to be completely child friendly and stacked with humour. What I
appreciated about Batman v Superman the most was the fact that it just goes for
it in terms of building a world for a shared universe of DC comics characters.
The best way I can describe Batman v Superman is by comparing it to a jigsaw
puzzle; I pretty much liked every single piece on the table, I just wasn’t
always a fan of the way the filmmakers decided to piece the puzzle together.
Sure it has narrative and editing flaws abundant within it, but the fact is
they got the character of Batman pretty much spot on and I can’t wait to see
upcoming movies in this DC Extended Universe. They have all of the pieces there
in front of them; I just hope that when Justice League Part 1 comes around the
filmmakers give us a much more cohesive story. It’s not even close to perfect,
but to call it a terrible superhero movie just doesn’t do the film justice
(sorry, I couldn’t help myself).
Rating – B-
Thanks for reading,
Matt
