Review:
"Batman v Superman:
Dawn of Justice"
Release Date: March 26, 2016
Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 153 minutes Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a manufactured superhero skirmish ill-conceived by director Zack Snyder, Warner Bros. and DC Comics to hastily create a DC Extended Universe. Snyder’s awkwardly constructed and nonsensical Man of Steel follow up shoehorns Wonder Woman into the poorly staged, under-lit action and provides fleeting glimpses of Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash—all for no particular reason beyond setting up next year’s Justice League: Part 1. Why is Warner Bros. rushing into establishing a DC Extended Universe? Because it can be big business, if done right. Marvel did it right by introducing its core group of superheroes—Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America, among others—over the course of five films before assembling them for 2012’s The Avengers. The decision by Warner Bros. and DC Comics to go the group route first, then make individual superhero adventures, isn’t necessary a bad one, especially as Snyder has already established the style and tone of the DC Extended Universe with his solemn and grandiose Man of Steel. It’s just that if Snyder is going to pit Batman against Superman, he needs to do better than make the Dark Knight an easily manipulated pawn in the covert war Lex Luthor wages against the Man of Steel. The premise behind Dawn of Justice is solid, and it’s one that feeds off the fanboy negative reaction to the wholesale destruction of Metropolis and the decision by Superman to snap General Zod’s neck at the end of Man of Steel. While many in the world regard Superman (Henry Cavill) as a savior from beyond the stars, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) holds Superman personally responsible for the death of many of his employees during Zod’s attack. As tragedy continues to follow Superman, a revenge-minded Wayne, as Batman, vows to take down the Kryptonian once and for all for the sake of humanity. Lurking in the shadows, pulling all the strings, is Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg). Intentionally or otherwise, Eisenberg reaches back to The Social Network to present a Lex Luthor as a paranoid brat with more in common with Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg than the criminal mastermind previously portrayed by Gene Hackman and then Kevin Spacey. Why dispatch a man child to take down a God-like figure? Who knows. Luthor also lacks a clear motive for targeting Superman. At least Wayne is haunted by the death and destruction he witnessed two years earlier. That’s not to say this justifies the existence of Dawn of Justice as a showdown between Batman and Superman. The frustratingly underwritten script, credited to Argo’s Chris Terrio and The Dark Knight’s David S. Goyer, feels forced in the way it goads Batman into confronting Superman. It also fails to draw any parallels between the two superheroes despite the fact that they are two sides of the same coin. Both endeavor to do good, except Superman operates in the open while the night belongs to the enigmatic Batman. Also, by introducing Batman within the context of a Man of Steel semi-sequel, we’re at a disadvantage. We know the Superman of Man of Steel but we have no sense of history of the Batman of Dawn of Justice. Yes, we know Batman. We know his origin, which Dawn of Justice briefly restates during its opening credits. But we don’t know the psychological profile of Affleck’s Bruce Wayne. It appears Dawn of Justice finds Wayne 20 years into his career as a masked vigilante, and there are signs he’s suffered the loss of at least one sidekick, presumably to an unseen Joker (we’re going to have to wait until this summer’s Suicide Squad for Jared Leto’s take on Batman’s archenemy). We have no idea of the toll that being Batman has taken on Wayne. But Batman’s past as a crimefighter plays no significant role in Dawn of Justice. He could just have donned his Batman suit post-Zod as far as Dawn of Justice is concerned. The tragic events of Wayne’s childhood does impact the final act in, unfortunately, cringe-inducing fashion. Wayne’s frequent nightmares also generate much unintended laughter. If any good comes out of Dawn of Justice, at least in regards to Batman, it’s that Affleck shows promise as an emotionally damaged Bruce Wayne. He just needs to stop trying so hard to make us forget his predecessor, Christian Bale. Also, as Alfred, Jeremy Irons makes for a delightfully acerbic and unfiltered sounding board. Dawn of Justice is at its best—and least derivative—when it focuses on Superman’s plight to be accepted by humanity as one of its own. It picks up on Man of Steel’s prominent theme of Superman as God by exploring how he has changed the world around him and made its inhabitants feel less powerful and significant than they did before his first appearance. By framing this within the context of a battle with Batman, though, Dawn of Justice doesn’t delve as deep as it could into Superman’s relationship with the mere mortals he protects as well how Clark Kent’s romance with Amy Adams’ Lois Lane shapes his view of himself and the world. Superman would have better served starring in his own sequel that provided the necessary time to explore how he has changed the world around him and how it has changed him. Plus, a Superman sequel would have allowed all relevant parties to better define Lex Luthor as a villain and introduce Doomsday with the significance the monster deserves. Instead, Dawn of Justice is a dour, unsatisfying attempt to pack as many superheroes and supervillains into one film without earning the right to do so. It also suffers from Snyder’s heavy-handed direction to the point that it’s more of a chore than a pleasure to watch Batman and Superman engage in fisticuffs. I’m not a Zach Snyder hater. But if Warner Bros. wants its DC Extended Universe to succeed, it needs to fire Snyder from next year’s Justice League: Part 1 before production begins in April and beg producer (and Mad Max: Fury Road’s) George Miller to direct. Or even Affleck. He’s been known to turn dark material into entertaining films. Robert Sims Aired: March 24, 2016 Web sites: http://batmanvsuperman.dccomics.com and https://www.facebook.com/batmanvsuperman/ |
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