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Update: March 25, 2016
Dragonlord's Review of BATMAN V SUPERMAN (Spoilers)
After decades of unsuccessful attempts to bring these characters together on the silver screen, two of the most iconic fictional characters finally face off in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Unfortunately, Warner Bros.’ agenda to catch up with the competition impairs what could have been an epic movie by suffusing it with incongruous scenes clearly meant as a set-up for the Justice League movie.
BvS starts off on a wrong note with a credits intro of the funeral and murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents. There’s nothing groundbreaking or anything new to see here. The only thing I liked was how they staged the mugger’s gun snapping Martha Wayne’s pearl necklace (a la Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns). We also have a déjà vu scene of young Bruce stumbling into the Batcave and then being swarmed by a colony of bats. Then young Bruce enchantingly floats among the bats. WTF?? Thankfully, that part was just a dream because it was corny as hell.
So why did director Zack Snyder decide to go with this intro? I suspect it’s his artsy way of saying that the movie started with a funeral and ended in a funeral. (In fairness, it could be the screenwriters’ fault also) Then we switch to what SHOULD have been the main intro with a much older Bruce Wayne frantically driving to the Wayne building in Metropolis in the middle of Superman’s battle with General Zod in Man of Steel. It’s an exciting scene and gives me hope for what’s to come next. (But it’s laughable how the Wayne employees only started to evacuate the building AFTER Bruce Wayne told them to)
That hope I was talking about gradually eroded as the first half of the movie passed by. Scenes were poorly edited which resulted in an uneven pacing. The narration didn’t flow organically. Felt like they shot two separate movies and stitched them together haphazardly.
The extended “Knightmare” dream/future vision sequence including the surprise appearance by a DC character was unnecessary and dissonant with the rest of the film. It’s like Christian Bale’s John Connor appearing briefly to Sarah Connor at the motel in the first Terminator movie warning her about the events of Terminator 3. It’s just jarring and needless at this point. The striking image of Bruce Wayne looking up from the rubble of the Wayne building at the beginning of the film asserts the character’s motivation and speaks more volumes than all the nightmare scenes.
There are a few perplexing moments like why would Superman be blamed for the death of the terrorists and civilians in Africa when it’s clear that they were killed by guns. Or why did Superman not bother to stop the truck that Batman was chasing.
As for the much-anticipated fight between Batman and Superman, it was glorious and awesomely staged when viewing it without context. You just have to turn off your brain a little to ignore how Superman could have ended the fight quickly in a number of different ways or how he could just have blurted hastily on multiple occasions, “BruceMyMomIsKidnappedByLexLuthorINeedYourHelpPlease.”
But if you add the circumstances that led to the BvS fight, they goofed up. What made the fights between the two characters in The Dark Knight Returns or Hush a classic was that Batman was the underdog and the clear protagonist that had the moral authority between the two. Batman, a mere human, going up against a god; it’s a classic David vs. Goliath underdog story. But in the BvS fight, it is Superman who is in the right and Batman who is the asshole whose motives you understand but don’t really side with. So the audience ends up being conflicted when they should be fully rooting for “the little man” (Bats) to win against overwhelming odds. Adding a red Kryptonite element to the story would have solved some of these problems.
After Batman conveniently (magically even) admits to being wrong about Superman, the two agree to work together to save the day. With the murkiness of their motivations cleared up and the audience wholeheartedly rooting for both characters, Batman v Superman starts being enjoyable and finally feels like a Goddamn superhero movie. After 90 joyless, gloomy minutes, the movie starts being fun. The Doomsday plot could have been built up better but didn’t care as the movie was now firing on all cylinders. Clearly shoehorned but it didn’t matter, Wonder Woman’s appearance at the final battle just added more fun to the mix.
Most of Sherdog and the rest of the world were wrong with two out of the three most controversial casting from the movie – Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.
Affleck was fantastic in the role and aesthetically speaking is the best Bruce Wayne among the entire movie incarnations (not Jon Hamm perfect but close). As I said many times before, it’s much harder to pull off Bruce Wayne than Batman, where stunt-doubles and editing can make anyone in that cape look good. But still, Snyder’s version wins for having the best Batman movie fight scenes yet. Christopher Nolan might have snuck on the set and secretly directed the “Knightmare” Batman fight scene which was embarrassing to watch.
Gadot was sexy and a nice, fun reprieve from the downer vibe of the movie. Her action scenes, as well as her theme music that accompanied her debut, were bad-ass. And even though the Justice League member cameos felt tacked-on, I couldn’t help but get excited seeing them (again thanks to Wonder Woman’s riveting score playing in the background).
The third controversial casting was Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. It’s kind of a mixed bag for me. Under normal circumstances, Luthor’s Joker-like personality is annoying and off-putting. But under the film’s overall glum tone where characters are even afraid to crack a smile, his manic energy is at times welcomed as he seems to be the only character having fun. One thing is for sure though, I’m glad this Luthor’s master plan doesn’t revolve around a freakin’ real estate scheme.
Henry Cavill will get a lot of flak for his somber, uncharismatic performance but it’s not his fault since he is given so little to work with from the dour script. Also, the script is too ambitious for its own good, presenting different political, social and religious undertones while juggling to be a commercial blockbuster film as well as setting up the Justice League movie. Between the two main characters, I was drawn more to the Superman side of the story in BvS. If they stuck to the original plan of Man of Steel 2, before Warner Bros. decided to insert Batman and Wonder Woman in there, I think the story would have worked much better. Even in BvS, you can still see the framework of the Man of Steel 2 script before the addendums.
Just like in Man of Steel, Lois Lane has a tiresome habit of being in several major scenes with some of them being superfluous, like dropping the Kryptonite spear in the water and then picking it up later. Other than that, Amy Adams was solid. Her bathtub scene is probably one of the most titillating non-R rated scenes in comic book history.
Despite the great action and several gorgeous, picturesque imagery in BvS, Snyder might be the wrong director for the Justice League movie. His extreme doom and gloom tone might not be a good fit which I suspect some moviegoers have begun to get tired of. BvS also proves that the DC Extended Universe needs a Kevin Feige counterpart (maybe Paul Dini or Bruce Timm) to guide the DCEU and to rein in filmmakers’ questionable decisions.
Overall, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice succumbed to the burden of juggling too much on its plate. The first half of the movie lacked cohesion and was poorly edited/paced. The actual Batman-Superman fight was very well-done but could have been so much better (see paragraph 7). It’s not until the two main characters start working together that the film truly comes alive.
Preliminary Rating: 6/10
Link to previous Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice threads:
[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]
Dragonlord's Review of BATMAN V SUPERMAN (Spoilers)
After decades of unsuccessful attempts to bring these characters together on the silver screen, two of the most iconic fictional characters finally face off in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Unfortunately, Warner Bros.’ agenda to catch up with the competition impairs what could have been an epic movie by suffusing it with incongruous scenes clearly meant as a set-up for the Justice League movie.
BvS starts off on a wrong note with a credits intro of the funeral and murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents. There’s nothing groundbreaking or anything new to see here. The only thing I liked was how they staged the mugger’s gun snapping Martha Wayne’s pearl necklace (a la Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns). We also have a déjà vu scene of young Bruce stumbling into the Batcave and then being swarmed by a colony of bats. Then young Bruce enchantingly floats among the bats. WTF?? Thankfully, that part was just a dream because it was corny as hell.
So why did director Zack Snyder decide to go with this intro? I suspect it’s his artsy way of saying that the movie started with a funeral and ended in a funeral. (In fairness, it could be the screenwriters’ fault also) Then we switch to what SHOULD have been the main intro with a much older Bruce Wayne frantically driving to the Wayne building in Metropolis in the middle of Superman’s battle with General Zod in Man of Steel. It’s an exciting scene and gives me hope for what’s to come next. (But it’s laughable how the Wayne employees only started to evacuate the building AFTER Bruce Wayne told them to)
That hope I was talking about gradually eroded as the first half of the movie passed by. Scenes were poorly edited which resulted in an uneven pacing. The narration didn’t flow organically. Felt like they shot two separate movies and stitched them together haphazardly.
The extended “Knightmare” dream/future vision sequence including the surprise appearance by a DC character was unnecessary and dissonant with the rest of the film. It’s like Christian Bale’s John Connor appearing briefly to Sarah Connor at the motel in the first Terminator movie warning her about the events of Terminator 3. It’s just jarring and needless at this point. The striking image of Bruce Wayne looking up from the rubble of the Wayne building at the beginning of the film asserts the character’s motivation and speaks more volumes than all the nightmare scenes.
There are a few perplexing moments like why would Superman be blamed for the death of the terrorists and civilians in Africa when it’s clear that they were killed by guns. Or why did Superman not bother to stop the truck that Batman was chasing.
As for the much-anticipated fight between Batman and Superman, it was glorious and awesomely staged when viewing it without context. You just have to turn off your brain a little to ignore how Superman could have ended the fight quickly in a number of different ways or how he could just have blurted hastily on multiple occasions, “BruceMyMomIsKidnappedByLexLuthorINeedYourHelpPlease.”
But if you add the circumstances that led to the BvS fight, they goofed up. What made the fights between the two characters in The Dark Knight Returns or Hush a classic was that Batman was the underdog and the clear protagonist that had the moral authority between the two. Batman, a mere human, going up against a god; it’s a classic David vs. Goliath underdog story. But in the BvS fight, it is Superman who is in the right and Batman who is the asshole whose motives you understand but don’t really side with. So the audience ends up being conflicted when they should be fully rooting for “the little man” (Bats) to win against overwhelming odds. Adding a red Kryptonite element to the story would have solved some of these problems.
After Batman conveniently (magically even) admits to being wrong about Superman, the two agree to work together to save the day. With the murkiness of their motivations cleared up and the audience wholeheartedly rooting for both characters, Batman v Superman starts being enjoyable and finally feels like a Goddamn superhero movie. After 90 joyless, gloomy minutes, the movie starts being fun. The Doomsday plot could have been built up better but didn’t care as the movie was now firing on all cylinders. Clearly shoehorned but it didn’t matter, Wonder Woman’s appearance at the final battle just added more fun to the mix.
Most of Sherdog and the rest of the world were wrong with two out of the three most controversial casting from the movie – Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.
Affleck was fantastic in the role and aesthetically speaking is the best Bruce Wayne among the entire movie incarnations (not Jon Hamm perfect but close). As I said many times before, it’s much harder to pull off Bruce Wayne than Batman, where stunt-doubles and editing can make anyone in that cape look good. But still, Snyder’s version wins for having the best Batman movie fight scenes yet. Christopher Nolan might have snuck on the set and secretly directed the “Knightmare” Batman fight scene which was embarrassing to watch.
Gadot was sexy and a nice, fun reprieve from the downer vibe of the movie. Her action scenes, as well as her theme music that accompanied her debut, were bad-ass. And even though the Justice League member cameos felt tacked-on, I couldn’t help but get excited seeing them (again thanks to Wonder Woman’s riveting score playing in the background).
The third controversial casting was Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. It’s kind of a mixed bag for me. Under normal circumstances, Luthor’s Joker-like personality is annoying and off-putting. But under the film’s overall glum tone where characters are even afraid to crack a smile, his manic energy is at times welcomed as he seems to be the only character having fun. One thing is for sure though, I’m glad this Luthor’s master plan doesn’t revolve around a freakin’ real estate scheme.
Henry Cavill will get a lot of flak for his somber, uncharismatic performance but it’s not his fault since he is given so little to work with from the dour script. Also, the script is too ambitious for its own good, presenting different political, social and religious undertones while juggling to be a commercial blockbuster film as well as setting up the Justice League movie. Between the two main characters, I was drawn more to the Superman side of the story in BvS. If they stuck to the original plan of Man of Steel 2, before Warner Bros. decided to insert Batman and Wonder Woman in there, I think the story would have worked much better. Even in BvS, you can still see the framework of the Man of Steel 2 script before the addendums.
Just like in Man of Steel, Lois Lane has a tiresome habit of being in several major scenes with some of them being superfluous, like dropping the Kryptonite spear in the water and then picking it up later. Other than that, Amy Adams was solid. Her bathtub scene is probably one of the most titillating non-R rated scenes in comic book history.
Despite the great action and several gorgeous, picturesque imagery in BvS, Snyder might be the wrong director for the Justice League movie. His extreme doom and gloom tone might not be a good fit which I suspect some moviegoers have begun to get tired of. BvS also proves that the DC Extended Universe needs a Kevin Feige counterpart (maybe Paul Dini or Bruce Timm) to guide the DCEU and to rein in filmmakers’ questionable decisions.
Overall, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice succumbed to the burden of juggling too much on its plate. The first half of the movie lacked cohesion and was poorly edited/paced. The actual Batman-Superman fight was very well-done but could have been so much better (see paragraph 7). It’s not until the two main characters start working together that the film truly comes alive.
Preliminary Rating: 6/10
Link to previous Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice threads:
[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]
