Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

 

For as long as the characters Batman and Superman have appeared in their respective comic books, they never met in any movie. Now, there are comic books where they star in, animated appearances where they show up or make a guest appearance. I remember watching the Will Smith film I Am Legend when a poster of a hypothetical Batman and Superman film popped up as a visual gag. More so when screenwriter David Goyer is quoted to say that the idea of a film is “where you go when you admit to yourself that you've exhausted all possibilities”. Zack Snyder found a way to have these characters appear, albeit sloppily. SPOILERS will appear in the review. 

1. Story

        So the film starts during the fight between Superman and General Zod in Metropolis, this time we follow Bruce Wayne’s perspective. Before that, we witness the iconic and now tired death of the Wayne’s. We see the death in a Zack Snyder way such as seeing how the pearl necklace shatters from Martha Wayne’s neck. Speaking of, remember that name. Bruce Wayne played this time by Ben Affleck, zips through the city easily avoiding the debris crashing down and calling his employers to evacuate. The building is where Zod unleashes his laser beams on Superman and killing the Wayne employees. 

        Bruce runs to the debris and into the smoke covered damage. It’s kinda offensive that he isn’t covered in dust or coughing, since well if you read about the fight in my Man of Steel review, you would know. He helps an injured employee Wally and sees from the sky Superman and triggering his motive to stop him. 2 years pass, Lois Lane goes to an African country to do an interview, it goes south. Superman triumphantly saves her by ramming through the warlord general into the wall. 

        The overall story is a bit all over the place after that moment. Since it’s a versus movie, Clark Kent decides to investigate into Batman’s branding of criminals in Gotham City. Whilst Bruce Wayne is attempting to retrieve Kryptonite to kill Superman. It would be simple if it was just that but there’s more. Lois Lane uncovers an unknown bullet during the failed African interview which she visits the Colonel from the last film. 

        Meanwhile, we meet Lex Luthor and he is possibly the worst part of the film. Jesse Eisenberg is not a bad actor by any means. He was fantastic playing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network. I thought he would be a cold and calculating businessman who wants to rub out Superman. Here, he reminds me of Daffy Duck with his verbal ticks, he was like a Looney Tune come to life. His motive to kill Superman borders on having daddy issues and not having God to stop the paternal abuse. 

        It’s kind of obvious that when the topic of Superman killing African terrorists with a gun is moot since why would he need any weapon. Also, having Lex Luthor be the one to stir the pot between the heroes was a dead giveaway since it’s in his character to do that. Anyone could’ve seen that without reading a comic book or watching an animated show. I felt that for the most part it didn’t work since this interpretation of Batman is old. I’ll explain why this dynamic didn’t work.

2. "The Dark Knight Returns"

        Any person who loves Batman stories know that this film takes its inspiration of the classic Frank Miller story, The Dark Knight Returns. It involves an old Bruce Wayne donning the suit to stop crime in Gotham City. Additionally, fighting Superman with a power suit. That story works due in large part that both characters knew each other. Bruce thinks Superman is a poster boy for the government while the man of tomorrow thinks Bruce Wayne has gone above the law to instill a sense of unwarranted justice in Gotham. The story is a classic and a must read, but I feel that Zack Snyder just combed through it and focused on the fight without the needed context. 

        The same thing that happened in the story was the television pundits giving their opinion on the heroes, respectively. I interpreted it as a parody due to the over-the-top nature of the commentary that was given. In the film, they are treating it as though how a Superman can exist among humans. Escapism is dead in this movie, since they use real news networks that have pundits’ debate and ask philosophical questions about if an alien with a blue suit and red cape can live with us. 

        Now, there is a way to have this type of film if it was historical and to put these television moments into perspective. When they are in a Batman and Superman film that tries to take itself seriously even though they dress pretty ridiculously is going to fall on deaf ears. It got annoying since they were asking questions that really had no effect to the actual film. 

        One last thing is that in the comic Bruce was already retired, he was a recluse and only reluctantly came back when a young girl decided to help him by being a new Robin. In the film, this is our first exposure to Affleck’s Batman. Having any sort of rivalry is way too early since the beef is just based on a stubborn hunch. I thought we would get a new Batman, but one who’s already aged doesn’t make sense in the least bit. 

3. Knightmare

        This part is the worse thing in the film. After retrieving some files at Lex Luthor’s charity gala, Bruce decodes and apparently his computer takes a long while to load them. He naps, I think, the film just fades to black and it becomes a Zack Snyder fantasy. Batman is wearing a duster and, there’s a reason as to why he looks intimidating at night. It’s pretty dumb having the mask and duster be the ensemble. 

        Apparently, Batman has a militia that carries a kryptonite weapon. He is betrayed and there’s like soldiers that are wearing robes but remove them and they look like Nazis with Superman’s “S” patch on their shoulders. Joe Shuster and Jerry Seigel must be rolling in their graves. So, Batman uses a gun. Now, anyone who knows him knows that he doesn’t use guns, ever. He uses it and honestly, I like that it pays tribute to the character’s early run, but it comes out of nowhere with this film. 

        Also, alien creatures start descending called parademons. You would have no clue to what exactly they are but you’re welcome. They come from the planet Apokolips, and it’s just fan service at this point. Batman gets knocked out and is taken hostage. His dream version of Superman appears and zaps the other hostages next to him. Superman says Lois was his everything and kills Bruce. 

        Confounding me, is then The Flash appears and gives a vague warning to Bruce. What does it have to do with the film? Absolutely nothing since it’s supposed to be a tease for more movies. This whole scene just summarizes Zack Snyder as a director. The only good thing he can do is make and choreograph a fantasy realm, but does it make sense in the film? No, the film just stops to highlight this segment and to show how cool everything is. He must’ve wanted to do a Mad Max film but this is the only comparable thing he was allowed to do.

4. Wonder Woman Doesn’t Do Squat

        Wonder Woman makes her debut in film with this overcooked movie. She graces the cover for some reason in the ultimate edition, which is the one I’m reviewing. Played by Gal Gadot, she contributes absolutely nothing to the film. The real reason as to why she’s in the film is that she’s trying to get back a photo from Lex Luthor. Diana Prince is just there in the film, she only meets Bruce Wayne to talk about what was in Lex Luthor’s file. 

5. The Title Fight, is Disappointing

        After sitting through two hours of mind numbing debates about the hypotheticals of Superman, the overall depressed nature of the hero, and Batman killing Luthor’s henchman to get the kryptonite. We finally make it to the final fight, the one moment that has been teased in trailers and tv commercials. And it’s the most disappointing fight that lasts just 10 minutes. I hate to compare it with the comic book, but everything worked its way to the fight.

        It’s one sided as hell and I can understand what the fight location is suppose to symbolize. None of it matters since Batman uses a sink to hit Superman on the head. You would think they would meet more times throughout the film, considering it’s a three hour “epic”. No, they meet once in their civilian disguise and twice in their costumes. There isn’t much to be said since it’s completely lopsided and the final moment is the most meme worthy sight that it’s the epitome of the film.

6. Martha 

        Remember that scene where the Wayne’s were killed for the someteenth time? Here is where we come back to that. As Batman prepares to kill Superman, he says that Luthor’s men are about to kill Martha. Then we flash back to the moment where his parents die and Bruce shouting at Superman as to why he said that name. Lois appears and says that Martha is Clark’s mother. 

        This scene has been made fun of, defended, analyzed to death. To me, it’s so stupid. Having the entire fight that was supposed to be epic in scale and to have it just end abruptly like that is such an idiotic way to end a disappointing fight. Clark’s mother’s name could’ve been anything and Batman would still stab him with the kryptonite spear. Now, I can understand that it’s supposed to be Bruce gaining his humanity and seeing Clark as an equal. Just the shouting and Lois appearing make it so astoundingly silly that, this is something that no director’s cut can ever fix. 

7. Death of Superman

        Just like Man of Steel we have to have a big dumb final fight. In between the movie, Lex uses Zod’s corpse to sneak into a downed kryptonian ship. He uses the alien’s corpse to create a monstrosity he calls Doomsday. Superman fights him but is easily overpowered due to him being able to resist any damage and grow spikes in various parts of the body. 

        Batman has the creature chase him and have it follow the hero to an abandon part of Gotham. I always found it odd that him and the military announce that various sites in either the city or an island that is between Metropolis and Gotham are abandoned. Anyways, Doomsday shoots down the batplane and is about to kill the caped crusader. Wonder Woman blocks the blast and music that doesn’t fit the character kicks in. Superman arrives and the three heroes fight the monster.

        Well, Batman just looks on since he only has a limited amount of weapons to stun the creature. After a couple of minutes of explosions and Wonder Woman smiling in the midst of combat, Superman tells Lois that he must kill the monster with the spear. He flies through and stabs the creature, it in turn stabs Clark. Killing the creature, Superman dies triumphantly. This moment, doesn’t work at all. This is Superman’s SECOND appearance in this film series. Killing him is ballsy, but really he had no depth at all. I didn’t feel anything when he died. For it to really be effective, have that be in film four or in a Justice League movie. Or you know, don’t kill him because it’s an easy out disguised as an edgy move. Heroes come back but to make it effective, have him go out with a bang, not with a whimper. 

8. Director’s Cut

        I said earlier that I’m reviewing the director’s cut. Having a director’s cut be the superior version of the film shouldn’t be a marketable thing to have. My idea of a director’s cut is for it to be a complimentary thing for a good film. Either include additional scenes that weren’t included due to time constraints or something for the fans to indulge themselves with the film.

This one had a version that was released in theaters and was eviscerated by critics. I feel that Warner Bros. did this since they still had a contract with Zack Snyder. They want to commit to his vision, or lack thereof, and put out an “Ultimate Edition” that was supposed to flesh out everything that the theatrical cut was missing in terms of scenes. Watching the “better” version, it’s like putting a band-aid in an open wound. 

        Pacing is what killed this cut and frankly this kind of thing would continue with the next film Suicide Squad. I feel it’s very shady in terms of making the general audiences buy the preferred version instead of sticking to their guns and release this somewhat but not really ambitious cut. I can understand that it’s a money thing but, when you’re investing everything on one director to compete with Marvel, why wouldn’t you release a three hour epic about two pop culture icons going toe-to-toe?

9. Overall

        The film was a waste to watch. Having a grievance with director Zack Snyder contribute to my problem with his vision with the DC superheroes. It’s just not thought out and he makes it as a think piece that demands respect or be looked at as art. The film isn’t art, it’s a commercial to sell more movies and action figures to the kids. That’s simply what it is, a piece of fluff that takes itself too seriously that it’s laughable to any film or comic book connoisseur. 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice gets a two out of five.