Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Movie Review

 

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