Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Review Thread

I don't agree with critics all the time but they certainly have their place.  Speaking of critics, I do enjoy this Roger Ebert review:

Ben Affleck made a big mistake.

Bad movie. I won't be defending this one... much. There's a good movie buried in there somewhere but it's being pulled in a million directions and the script completely lets it down. There are some solid moments along the way that kind of make it worth seeing for the hardcore who are willing to sort through the mess but that isn't enough to make up for its many many many shortcomings.

Because it can't possibly be the director's fault. 

Move Man of Steel to the top and you've got yourself a list.

In 2013, Zack Snyder attempted to bring Superman back to the big screen with Man of Steel and the resulting film divided a lot of people. I fell into the minority group of people who loved it and rewatches have reaffirmed my enthusiasm Snyder’s film. In a nutshell, I admire that film for asking deeper questions about the role of a superhero, for having a unique visual style, for creating a sense of grandeur, and for its interesting villain, and for the unique action scenes. In spite of this love, I can’t say I was ever really that excited for the Man of Steel follow-up, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. For one, that title is a nightmare, but more importantly, the film’s efforts to include Batman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, Doomsday, and the many other characters rumoured to show up strike me as a misguided effort to rush a shared universe and compete with Marvel. The trailers also had me worried. There’d be good bits sure, but also a lot of moments which made me roll my eyes. If nothing else I’ve been curious to see how the film would turn out and now that I have, I can’t say I’m impressed.

It has been eighteen months since Man of Steel and Superman (Henry Cavill) has become a famous figure, continually saving people and preventing disasters. The world is continually in debate regarding what to make of Superman, what his role on earth means for the rest of the planet, and if he is friend or foe. Superman himself is conflicted with what his role is, in spite of the encouragement and love from journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams). For the hardened superhero Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman is a threat to the planet. After seeing the destruction Superman was a part of in Metropolis, Batman has resolved himself to being able to stop the Kryptonian creature should the need arises. Superman in turn sees Batman as a crazed vigilante who is a menace to the people of Gotham City. It is for this reason that the two titans come into conflict. Metropolis billionaire Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) also sees Superman as a threat and in turn has been experimenting with Kryptonian technology and taking part in his own schemes.

My primary worry that this film would be overstuffed turned out to be sadly on point. There are a lot of different movies at conflict with each other in Batman v Superman. This is a Man of Steel follow-up, a Batman movie, a Batman/Superman movie, and an introduction to Wonder Woman/Justice League prequel. The multiple plots end up cannibalizing each other and as a result none of the storylines really succeed. This is most apparent in the central conflict between the titular mythic heroes. The script does adequately explain why these two come into conflict, but it never closes out the arc properly. Without getting too specific, there should be a moment where both Batman and Superman realize they were wrong about each other and come to respect the role each plays. However we never get that pay off, which is problematic as it kind of makes the whole film seem pointless. Having said that, there is a moment where the two come together, but it’s ridiculously simplistic and downright stupid. I won’t get into spoilers, but let’s just say there’s no way such a minor and insignificant thing would completely change these characters feelings for each other.

Superman’s own internal conflict is also sidelined and resolved in a very unsatisfying manner. There’s a great montage where moments of Superman’s heroism are cut against various politicians, journalists, and scientists (many portrayed by people “playing themselves”) debate the ethics and morality of Superman. It’s a great moment which plays into Superman’s conflict while naturally continuing the themes of power and responsibility explored in Man of Steel. Unfortunately, that moment is fleeting and Superman’s own quandaries are basically disregarded by the end. Finally, while I can say it was pretty cool to finally see Wonder Woman in her feature film, she isn’t all that important to the movie. Granted, she looks good and Gal Gadot is intriguing in the role, but the only reason she’s here is to get people excited for future movies. This is especially frustrating that Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are the holy trinity of DC comics. There coming together, especially for the first time, should have been a lot more meaningful.

While the film is certainly a mess, that doesn’t mean there aren’t good things scattered in. I continue to like the reoccurring cast of Cavill, Adams, Laurence Fishburne, and Diane Lane and Ben Affleck steps into the role of Batman well. The superficial charm of Bruce Wayne is captured as is the hardened determination of the Batman. The suit also looks awesome and the action scenes are generally coherent and exciting. In fact, the visuals in general are quite good. The film never matches the beautiful cinematography of Man of Steel, but Snyder still captures some compelling imagery which is matched by another strong score by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL. Still, I can’t help but feel the music is also inferior to Zimmer’s work on Man of Steel and even The Dark Knight trilogy. Finally, the much anticipated fight between Batman and Superman is a pretty well-done sequence. It’s well-staged, creative, visceral, and generally Snyder does a really good job showing how exactly Batman would go about fighting Superman. Perhaps most importantly though, the fight doesn’t overstay its welcome. I was really worried that a huge chunk of time would basically be devoted to the two punching each other, but that thankfully isn’t the case. Instead, the scene is brief and impactful, even if the ultimate resolution to it is lackluster.

It should be noted that amidst the good in this mess there is also a lot of bad. First and foremost, Jesse Eisenberg is absolutely dreadful as Lex Luthor. He’s hyper, awkward, and just annoying. What happened to the calculating and smooth genius I’m familiar with? Why does this Luthor act as a goofy clown? I have no idea way Luthor has been so continuously hard to get right on screen given that he’s one of the best characters in Superman lore, but Batman v Superman is another misfire in this regard. I also took issue with the characterization of Batman (and this might be a bit of a spoiler here). While most versions try and honour Batman’s no killing rule, Snyder pretty casually abandons it here. This Batman casually murders several criminals during a car chase and then again later when trying to save a hostage. This bothered me, not just as a fan of the character, but I also found it at odds with his arc in this movie. Batman’s whole reason for being weary of Superman is that he finds him a destructive force that endangers lives, but Batman himself has no problem casually murdering. That just strikes me as off. I should also note that this isn’t a Man of Steel situation where the collateral damage caused in battle costed lives. No, Batman deliberately takes action to kill and that’s an issue. Finally, while most of the film’s action is solid, Batman v Superman ultimately climaxes in spectacularly lame fashion. It’s essentially just a dumb fight with a big CG monster lacking in interesting character dynamics or motives. The scene also just looks awful. The effects themselves are fine, but there’s barely any colour and it’s just really unpleasing to look at.

I’ve long complained about Marvel’s tendencies to play things safe with their films and Batman v Superman certainly doesn’t play things safe. The film does ask questions about the responsibilities of a hero, pushes the morality of the characters, and has a distinct visual style. But none of these things give this film a pass, especially when most of these elements are not handled very well. The film certainly has some good elements, but it’s also loaded with tons of narrative shortcomings, poor editing, questionable decisions, and a bad ending. A lot of these problems stem from DC trying to rush to a Justice League film, but I think the flaws run deeper than that. Rather, the film is at odds with itself, trying to be both a more “fun” and “colourful” film while maintaining the darker introspection of Man of Steel and it fails at both. In fact, I actually find Man of Steel to be way more successful at being an escapist superhero film. A lot of people complained that film was too dark and violent, but I felt a real sense of hope and wonder from that film. I did not feel anything like that from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which is far too grim and overbearing to be fun and far too silly and over the top to be taken seriously.

D+

We often judge films based on several elements. In the end though, the main question that I come back to after viewing a film to judge its merits is "how did it occupy the running time?" Take a film like one of The Lord of the Rings movies. Incredibly long? Definitely, but each minute is serving a function to either develop characters and their changing motifs, deliver critical exposition or lore, or just flat-out entertain the audience with spectacle. The same can be said for Gone With the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather, etc. This is redundant, I know, but the point I'm getting at is these films are over 3 hours long, and yet don't feel it. On the other end of the spectrum are the films of Zack Snyder, who not only fills his overly long movies with action sequences that more than overstay their welcome and drawn out expositional scenes of characters literally standing around talking about events instead of acting within them, but he never makes any of his flawed sums measure up to anything in the end. I recently watched Man of Steel for the first time in anticipation of this film, and while I didn't hate it I certainly didn't have a fun time watching it either. Cavill's Superman/Clark Kent isn't interesting or likable, and Snyder (who already is not well regarded for character and plot development even in his better films) is unable to elicit any of the charm and giddy sensations of the first two Christopher Reeve films. But, it had some visual flair and spectacle to it that made it passable entertainment, for the most part. Surely, now that we can bypass yet another origin story and add (gasp!) Batman into the fold, Snyder will forgo the dreary musings of his dull characters and deliver full on entertainment. Or, perhaps not.

Once again, Cavill's Superman and the world around him just isn't interesting and feels so convoluted. Cavill and Amy Adams had absolutely no spark or fun in Man of Steel, and their already blossomed romance that exists in this film feels even more forced and delineating. His job at the Daily Planet seems to only be there because its part of the character's lore. And at the center of all this, Superman is now facing trial for his role in the destruction of Metropolis. Now, this could've been somewhat interesting, but Snyder and the screenwriters only talk about the issues of an unchained Superman, and in typical Snyder fashion do absolutely nothing about it. Meanwhile in Gotham City across the water, Batman (Ben Affleck) is busy working on a lead and branding criminals. This is immediately where I knew the film was going to sink. We've already delved into Superman's world in Man of Steel, and really there wasn't much to work with then and there isn't much to expand on now. So let's get into Affleck's Batman and explore his dynamics. But we really only skim the surface. Snyder has Affleck resort to brooding, stewing, snarling, morosely remembering the past, and drearily remarking on Superman's recklessness. We get no real insight into the state of Gotham, or Wayne Manor, or anything. Look, I know it's easy to jump on this because, let's face it, Christopher Nolan is not going to be topped when it comes to any representations of cinematic Batman. But there's so little attention to any lore that nothing ever feels in place. Right away, Snyder doesn't make this work as a Superman film, or a Batman film. This is often the problem with these "versus" films, and it's definitely the case here. All of the plot points that follows feel so contrived, just humming us along to the inevitable showdown between the two, and none of it seems to matter. Can anyone really defend any of those pointless Africa scenes? Or the stupid dream sequences? And don't even get me started on the time wasted teasing us for the Justice League film. In a film already overstuffed and balancing TWO SUPERHEROES, we need to throw in a bunch of teases? I'm not a huge fan of the Marvel films, but after seeing this I sure as hell appreciate them a lot more. Yes, they were setting themselves up for The Avengers, but at least in the standalone films they STOOD ALONE. Again, I come back to my point on running time. In a film where you're already trying to cram in two main characters' stories and arcs, why in hell are you spending any time whatsoever TEASING us for a film to come? Warner Bros. seems to be throwing up the most desperate of Hail Mary plays here in an attempt to speed up to Marvel, and it's completely blown up in their smug faces as a result.

But fret not, despite an abundance on uninteresting characters, plot points, and countless Snyder-esque scenes of people talking, and talking, and talking without doing, at least we have the showdown to look forward to. And wow, how disappointing even that was. It lasted, what, ten minutes? I mean hell, at least in Freddy vs. Jason they fight twice and it's pretty damn entertaining. Here we have more of what we witnessed in Man of Steel; smashing each other into buildings, trading the upper hands in routine fashion, and unsuccessful attempts at ending the madness and coming to senses. Batman's suit looked great, it really did. And part of the fight is solid, if only because we're watching these two comic book icons duke it out. But everything leading up to the fight, hell the reason they're even fighting in the first place, sucks all the air out of what should've been one of the biggest cinematic moments of the decade. Jesse Eisenberg is a very good actor and this big fan of The Social Network knows that he's capable of so much more. I don't know if it was the awful dialogue he had to deliver, the contrived nature of every scene he was in, or his complete over-the-top cliched rich, evil villain mantra overall, but he just did nothing for this film. Using him to actually pit the two against each other would've worked better than what we got. I'm really not even sure what purpose he serves in the film other than, well hey, we need an antagonist. His character, along with Wonder Woman, is just another overstuffed, tacked-on part of this film. It spends so much time setting up nothings and vaguely introducing a slew of characters that it doesn't develop or expand Batman or Superman nearly as much as it should've. Worst of all, the film really isn't even much fun. Other than the fight between the two, there aren't any real signature action sequences. Batman's car chase had no flair to it, the ending is one we all knew was coming (), and to top it all off the film is full of Snyder's humorless pondering that completely bog down any rhythm.

I could go on and on about the film's faults even more than I have.  It doesn't entertain, there's no humor, the attention to detail into Gotham and Metropolis is more of a skim, and Superman and Batman have no dynamic in conflict or companionship to make us cheer. Snyder has never been known to uplift plot and characters, but this film is devoid of even the most fundamental of elements. And again, what a cheap film it all feels like with its tacked-on teasers and allusions to later films. What about THIS film? This is a movie that will only get worse on repeat viewings, and is not one I will be revisiting anytime soon.

5/10

Okay...I just need to get this off my chest...and, Sno, this is not directed specifically at you, this is just a general statement.

I can understand people not liking a movie -- and I can understand why many wouldn't like this movie -- but what I CAN'T understand is the mentality of "I can't see or get why anybody would like this movie."  I've already been seeing this pop up in many places where this film is being discussed, and frankly, it's something that pisses me the fuck off.  One of the best things about film in general is that it's completely subjective; I, like others, happened to really enjoy this film, and just like those who don't like the movie have their reasons, I have mine for liking it.  That's the way the cookie crumbles.  If you didn't like Batman v Superman, then fine, you can't win 'em all, but just be careful how you express your opinion, cause in the heat of the moment, we can oftentimes forget that's just what they are: personal opinions.  Let's stay level-headed, folks.

*mini-rant over*

I get what you're saying, but for me a 5/10 is not an average movie.  5 and below for me are varying degrees of bad.  A 4 is something like Superman III, a 3 is Howard the Duck, a 2 is Superman IV, a 1 is Battlefield Earth.  It's a bit trivial, yes, but even though I think this film is a total stinker I've seen much, much worse.  A 1 for me is, like Battlefield Earth, a film with no redeemable qualities at all, and that's not this film.

hahaha the Crossfit montage.  That was so awful.  I remember making fun of that part with my date like "oh what, he's gonna work out so he can out-brawn Superman?"  That was yet another entry of total pointlessness in this movie.

PhantomKnight you are correct, I should've rephrased that. I was more directing that towards all the apologist reviews and conspiracy theorists I've read posts by on IMDB who fail to acknowledge any faults with the film and instead insist that everyone has some sort of petty vendetta towards it as being the reason it's been slammed by so many people. I'm sorry if I offended you in any way, I'll remove that from the review.

Yes Neverending, I am an asshole. But you like Superman IV: The Quest for Peace so.....