Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is arguably the most anticipated comic book movie of all time. With the promise of the two most iconic superheros of all time facing off, along with paving the way for the larger DC Cinematic Universe (or DC Extended Universe), people were losing their minds. Skepticism was always a big factor as well, due to Zack Snyder's previous work not inspiring a lot of confidence, and as it became clear that more and more things would be in the movie, it was in danger of being overstuffed.
I didn't quite know what to think. For every good thing I saw, there was a bad thing. For every good trailer, there was a bad trailer. For every good clip, a bad clip. For every good idea, a bad idea. I was hoping above all else that Zack Snyder had learned his lesson, and that we would be able to get an exciting, action-packed, but still serious in tone comic book film. I hoped that it would live up to the hype and deliver the best Batman or Superman movie that we've ever had.
It's not. It's really not.
I don't know if Batman v Superman is worse than Man of Steel, but it's a definite possibility. I thought that the reviews were being a bit harsh, but this movie just felt like a chore to watch. It was amazing to me, after all of the problems with Man of Steel, that this movie just repeats them, and adds many more.
I don't know how this keeps happening to comic book movies. First Iron Man 2, then Amazing Spider-Man 2, then Avengers: Age of Ultron. When are people going to learn that comic book movies don't work when the only point of them is to set up movies that are coming out in the future? Because this movie is so focused on setting up characters and movies that are still to come, it never has time for the movie that it actually is. If they had dropped the "Dawn of Justice", and just focused on the "Batman v Superman", then it would have been a lot better. Especially since the set-up for the Justice League characters was so lazy, and for one in particular, kind of confusing.
Another big problem with this movie, arguably the key problem, is inaccessibility. So much of this movie is made up of things that only people who know the comics really well will know. What's cool about comic book movies is that they can adapt stories and put in references to the source material, but that a movie can still stand on its own. This movie relies entirely on the audience having a deep knowledge of Batman and Superman's history, and if you don't, then screw you. What, you wanted to understand it?
The best element of this movie was Ben Affleck as Batman. He really got the personality of Bruce Wayne and Batman down, and his costume was the most comic-accurate that it's ever been. It was great to see him using gadgets and different tactics to win battles, and he had a distinct physical presence. Jeremy Irons was a fantastic Alfred, definitely the most fun character, and some of the moments between him and Bruce were just perfect. What I'm saying is that I now really want a solo Batman movie in this universe, because the Batman elements are spot-on.
Except for one thing: this movie breaks all of his rules. Drinking is flexible, because it's not like he's driving the Batmobile drunk, but guns and killing are a bit less so. Batman kills a lot, and it's not the kind of killing that can maybe be explained away. He outright murders dozens of people, whether with the Batmobile, Batplane, or explosives. Every on-screen Batman has killed, but what makes this level of death so disappointing is that they could have avoided it. We could have finally had the perfect Batman, who could find ways around killing to stop criminals. But instead, he kills more than any other Batman, and most of the kills happen via Batman's use of guns, which I guess he's just fine with now.
Zack Snyder justified this by saying that Batman doesn't kill people directly, so it's fine, but it's really not. I get that this Batman is supposed to be older and brutal, but they never give any justification for him being so brutal. He glances at a defaced Robin suit, but there's nothing beyond that to inform his character. I know that Batman is probably unstable because of Robin's death, but someone who barely knows the comics sure won't. They probably won't even know what it means, or that it's supposed to mean anything.
The big problem here is that Zack Snyder just doesn't understand what makes these characters work. He knows that people like them, and he knows how to make them look cool, but it seems like the only way he knows to "develop" characters is to make everything serious. But this lack of levity is just boring, and the characters lack any sort of definitive motivation. This more falls to the script, though, which is an even bigger disappointment. I was looking forward to see what Chris Terrio would do alongside David S. Goyer (who hasn't been great lately), but the script is without a doubt the worst part of this movie.
Superman also falls victim to terrible characterization. His biggest problem is hypocrisy, since his main motivation for wanting to take down Batman is that he brands people (or just one person). That brand is considered a "death sentence in prison", but that's not really Batman's fault. For the Superman of this universe to hate someone for causing death is also incredibly hypocritical, since he's caused the deaths of so many people (and he kills someone at the beginning of the movie). Henry Cavill is just so boring and bland, but it's really because he just has nothing to do. If they would give him some kind of real conflict, or any real challenge, then maybe he would be an interesting character. For now, he's the most bland superhero in theatres. This movie brings up the issue of whether or not Superman should be allowed to do whatever he wants, and whether he should be accountable for his actions. But there's never a moment where I believed this conflict, because Cavill just seems bored.
I thought that the whole plot of Superman being conflicted, and caught in the middle of the love and hate from humanity would have been explored a lot more. But because there were so many plots happening at the same time, no plot felt complete. It felt like they made five different movies, then chopped them all up and glued them together, but none of it sticks. There's Superman dealing with humanity, Superman's relationship with Lois Lane, Lois trying to find out the origin of a bullet, a guy named Wally who hates Superman, the news and Supreme Court trying to deal with Superman, Lex Luthor manipulating Batman and Superman, Batman trying to find a way to beat Superman, and Wonder Woman trying to get a picture.
There was no point to Wonder Woman being in this movie. She appeared only to tease her solo movie and to be a part of the big end fight, but even then she literally appears out of nowhere. Throughout the movie, her character is treated with some mystery, but once you find out what she was really after, it's really unsatisfying. Also, Gal Gadot was terrible. I don't know why everyone is saying that she stole the show, because she was just bad.
There are so many different things going on with barely any connection that this movie just feels like a collection of scenes that were put together. There are so many scenes that could have been cut because of how pointless they were. I don't know why they were included in the first place, or who thought that they were a good idea. All of those scenes just made the movie feel more bloated, and since they barely had any connection to the rest of the movie, I have no idea why they were left in. The most notable of the pointless scenes were the dream sequences. It seemed like every other scene had some kind of dream, flashback, or hallucination, and none of them were necessary. They were intended as character development, but it just felt like padding, and padding is the last thing that this movie needed. Had they cut around one-hundred and seven subplots, it would have flowed better.
But the worst thing, the absolute worst thing in this movie, and possibly in the entire world, is Lex Luthor. To say that Jesse Eisenberg's performance is bad is like saying that Chicago has "catchy" music. It just doesn't capture the full meaning. This Lex may be the worst villain in any comic book movie ever, and the most jarringly incorrect adaptation of a comic book character. Eisenberg's performance is nothing but laughable, and believe me, I was laughing a lot. Almost constantly, because his delivery was so horrendously awful. Eisenberg was already a bad choice for Lex, but he proved that he was the worst choice here. I don't even know what he was thinking while delivering the lines, or whether it was his idea, Zack Snyder's, Chris Terrio's, or David S, Goyer's. Whoever it was should be ashamed of themselves, because this Lex is just a big pile of twitches, voice cracks, and weird rage. He has more in common with a coked-up Riddler than Lex Luthor from the comics, and sitting there in the theatre made me want to die. I hope above all else that his father will be brought in to replace him, since this Lex is technically Lex Luthor Jr. Jesse Eisenberg didn't even audition for Lex Luthor, he auditioned for a photographer at the beginning of the movie. I guess Zack Snyder took him aside and said "Hey, you know what you'd be terrible at?"
This is the actual plot.
So the two of them fight for about five minutes, crash through some walls, break some sinks, and then the fight is resolved in an incredibly lame way. Zack Snyder lied about something else, this lie being that the trailers didn't give the entire plot of the movie away. They did.
The action in general in this movie was disappointing. It was all so incoherent, since it's all poorly filmed, edited, and just goes on for too long. I was bored during the fight scenes, and I'd already seen so much of them in the trailers that nothing really surprised me. The end fight with the Trinity against Doomsday just went on and on. Pointless explosions and invincible people flying back and forth isn't interesting, it's dull.
I don't buy that this movie was made for the fans. How could it be? This movie references iconic comics, sure, but it also has a complete disregard for the core elements of those comics. I think that this movie was made for blind fanboys instead. This movie was made for people who just want to like it, instead of it actually being good. It's a series of things that sounded cool when they were writing it, loosely stringed together with a dark, serious tone, and some vaguely philosophical mumbo-jumbo to make it seem smart. And, just to sell it perfectly, they threw in a bunch of things that only people who really know the comics will understand, so that people who can't follow the story will be accused of "just not getting it". It's the perfect plan, really. For every person who tries to over-explain a plot point as "genius", I won't shake my belief that it's just dumb.
Even the way that this movie was made annoys me. The soundtrack was nothing less than obnoxious, with extremely over-the-top themes for some characters blaring in at moments that completely kill the tone of that moment. Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor's themes in particular were laughably off at times. The camerawork is also terribly shaky at certain points, and was really distracting. The movie is made up almost entirely of close-ups, and characters just seem to appear out of nowhere, or know exactly what they need to do for no reason. Slow-motion and explosions were also over-used to an extreme level. I don't know how all of this happened again, or why Zack Snyder thought it was a good idea. The tone is too dark and grim, beyond just being "serious". There are some moments and images that were downright unsettling, and I don't want to be wincing uncomfortably when I'm watching a movie about Batman and Superman.
This movie is so depressing, and the more I think about it, the less I like it. Speaking of depression, has anyone else noticed that the latest DC movies seem to follow the pattern of the Spider-Man movies?
Spider-Man = Batman Begins - A pretty good origin story, but nothing amazing.
Spider-Man 2 = The Dark Knight - An amazing sequel that remains one of the best in the genre.
Spider-Man 3 = The Dark Knight Rises - A disappointing step down from the previous two films.
The Amazing Spider-Man = Man of Steel - A reboot that's almost okay, but nothing special.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 = Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Overstuffed and bad.
This can't be a coincidence.
In the end, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a big pile of nothing. It's not exciting, it's not smart, it's not thought-provoking, it's not fun, it's not enjoyable, it's not good, it's just...nothing. It's a big, bland, bloated blunder. I can't believe that a movie featuring such iconic characters was so bad, or that it was even allowed to have been made in this form. It fails in terms of "Batman v Superman", and it fails in terms of "Dawn of Justice".
On top of that, this movie really breaks the DC Extended Universe (I think that's what it's called). There are so many story and character choices that have trapped the creators in so many corners. I don't know how they're going to work around them, but DC might have to do what it does best: retcon and reboot some stuff. They do it so often in the comics that it was destined to happen in the movies eventually. Certain characters that could have been interesting just can't be used now, and the main characters that we have are so off from the source material that to change them will be so different and obvious.
This is the second strike. If Suicide Squad ends up being a boring slog too, then I'm done with DC. I just won't be able to believe that they can produce anything of value, because hope is dead. Maybe some of the solo movies will be good, but I have absolutely zero faith in Justice League. That's what Batman v Superman really accomplishes: killing hope. How inspiring.
But it made money, so who cares?
I didn't quite know what to think. For every good thing I saw, there was a bad thing. For every good trailer, there was a bad trailer. For every good clip, a bad clip. For every good idea, a bad idea. I was hoping above all else that Zack Snyder had learned his lesson, and that we would be able to get an exciting, action-packed, but still serious in tone comic book film. I hoped that it would live up to the hype and deliver the best Batman or Superman movie that we've ever had.
It's not. It's really not.
I don't know if Batman v Superman is worse than Man of Steel, but it's a definite possibility. I thought that the reviews were being a bit harsh, but this movie just felt like a chore to watch. It was amazing to me, after all of the problems with Man of Steel, that this movie just repeats them, and adds many more.
I don't know how this keeps happening to comic book movies. First Iron Man 2, then Amazing Spider-Man 2, then Avengers: Age of Ultron. When are people going to learn that comic book movies don't work when the only point of them is to set up movies that are coming out in the future? Because this movie is so focused on setting up characters and movies that are still to come, it never has time for the movie that it actually is. If they had dropped the "Dawn of Justice", and just focused on the "Batman v Superman", then it would have been a lot better. Especially since the set-up for the Justice League characters was so lazy, and for one in particular, kind of confusing.
Another big problem with this movie, arguably the key problem, is inaccessibility. So much of this movie is made up of things that only people who know the comics really well will know. What's cool about comic book movies is that they can adapt stories and put in references to the source material, but that a movie can still stand on its own. This movie relies entirely on the audience having a deep knowledge of Batman and Superman's history, and if you don't, then screw you. What, you wanted to understand it?
The best element of this movie was Ben Affleck as Batman. He really got the personality of Bruce Wayne and Batman down, and his costume was the most comic-accurate that it's ever been. It was great to see him using gadgets and different tactics to win battles, and he had a distinct physical presence. Jeremy Irons was a fantastic Alfred, definitely the most fun character, and some of the moments between him and Bruce were just perfect. What I'm saying is that I now really want a solo Batman movie in this universe, because the Batman elements are spot-on.
Except for one thing: this movie breaks all of his rules. Drinking is flexible, because it's not like he's driving the Batmobile drunk, but guns and killing are a bit less so. Batman kills a lot, and it's not the kind of killing that can maybe be explained away. He outright murders dozens of people, whether with the Batmobile, Batplane, or explosives. Every on-screen Batman has killed, but what makes this level of death so disappointing is that they could have avoided it. We could have finally had the perfect Batman, who could find ways around killing to stop criminals. But instead, he kills more than any other Batman, and most of the kills happen via Batman's use of guns, which I guess he's just fine with now.
Zack Snyder justified this by saying that Batman doesn't kill people directly, so it's fine, but it's really not. I get that this Batman is supposed to be older and brutal, but they never give any justification for him being so brutal. He glances at a defaced Robin suit, but there's nothing beyond that to inform his character. I know that Batman is probably unstable because of Robin's death, but someone who barely knows the comics sure won't. They probably won't even know what it means, or that it's supposed to mean anything.
The big problem here is that Zack Snyder just doesn't understand what makes these characters work. He knows that people like them, and he knows how to make them look cool, but it seems like the only way he knows to "develop" characters is to make everything serious. But this lack of levity is just boring, and the characters lack any sort of definitive motivation. This more falls to the script, though, which is an even bigger disappointment. I was looking forward to see what Chris Terrio would do alongside David S. Goyer (who hasn't been great lately), but the script is without a doubt the worst part of this movie.
Superman also falls victim to terrible characterization. His biggest problem is hypocrisy, since his main motivation for wanting to take down Batman is that he brands people (or just one person). That brand is considered a "death sentence in prison", but that's not really Batman's fault. For the Superman of this universe to hate someone for causing death is also incredibly hypocritical, since he's caused the deaths of so many people (and he kills someone at the beginning of the movie). Henry Cavill is just so boring and bland, but it's really because he just has nothing to do. If they would give him some kind of real conflict, or any real challenge, then maybe he would be an interesting character. For now, he's the most bland superhero in theatres. This movie brings up the issue of whether or not Superman should be allowed to do whatever he wants, and whether he should be accountable for his actions. But there's never a moment where I believed this conflict, because Cavill just seems bored.
I thought that the whole plot of Superman being conflicted, and caught in the middle of the love and hate from humanity would have been explored a lot more. But because there were so many plots happening at the same time, no plot felt complete. It felt like they made five different movies, then chopped them all up and glued them together, but none of it sticks. There's Superman dealing with humanity, Superman's relationship with Lois Lane, Lois trying to find out the origin of a bullet, a guy named Wally who hates Superman, the news and Supreme Court trying to deal with Superman, Lex Luthor manipulating Batman and Superman, Batman trying to find a way to beat Superman, and Wonder Woman trying to get a picture.
There was no point to Wonder Woman being in this movie. She appeared only to tease her solo movie and to be a part of the big end fight, but even then she literally appears out of nowhere. Throughout the movie, her character is treated with some mystery, but once you find out what she was really after, it's really unsatisfying. Also, Gal Gadot was terrible. I don't know why everyone is saying that she stole the show, because she was just bad.
There are so many different things going on with barely any connection that this movie just feels like a collection of scenes that were put together. There are so many scenes that could have been cut because of how pointless they were. I don't know why they were included in the first place, or who thought that they were a good idea. All of those scenes just made the movie feel more bloated, and since they barely had any connection to the rest of the movie, I have no idea why they were left in. The most notable of the pointless scenes were the dream sequences. It seemed like every other scene had some kind of dream, flashback, or hallucination, and none of them were necessary. They were intended as character development, but it just felt like padding, and padding is the last thing that this movie needed. Had they cut around one-hundred and seven subplots, it would have flowed better.
But the worst thing, the absolute worst thing in this movie, and possibly in the entire world, is Lex Luthor. To say that Jesse Eisenberg's performance is bad is like saying that Chicago has "catchy" music. It just doesn't capture the full meaning. This Lex may be the worst villain in any comic book movie ever, and the most jarringly incorrect adaptation of a comic book character. Eisenberg's performance is nothing but laughable, and believe me, I was laughing a lot. Almost constantly, because his delivery was so horrendously awful. Eisenberg was already a bad choice for Lex, but he proved that he was the worst choice here. I don't even know what he was thinking while delivering the lines, or whether it was his idea, Zack Snyder's, Chris Terrio's, or David S, Goyer's. Whoever it was should be ashamed of themselves, because this Lex is just a big pile of twitches, voice cracks, and weird rage. He has more in common with a coked-up Riddler than Lex Luthor from the comics, and sitting there in the theatre made me want to die. I hope above all else that his father will be brought in to replace him, since this Lex is technically Lex Luthor Jr. Jesse Eisenberg didn't even audition for Lex Luthor, he auditioned for a photographer at the beginning of the movie. I guess Zack Snyder took him aside and said "Hey, you know what you'd be terrible at?"
Even the title fight was a disappointment. The best way to sum up the fight would be "that was short". The fight in itself wasn't particularly exciting, or even well-put together. In the context of the movie, it barely made any sense to happen. The character motivations were so muddled by the time the fight came around that it didn't even make sense. It happens because Superman is an idiot, and doesn't know what "talking" means. The motivations for the fight seemed solid, but as the movie went on, more and more reasons kept being added, but they seemed to take logic away more than anything.
The opening scene of Bruce in Metropolis when Superman and Zod were fighting had me totally on board, and seemingly set up his motivations for wanting to fight Superman. But then Lex Luthor also has a plan, because he doesn't believe in God, so he's framing Superman because he wants to show everyone that Superman isn't all-good, so he wants him to kill Batman. But Batman wants to fight Superman because he knows someone who lost his legs in Metropolis' destruction, and Lex Luthor has been tricking him with letters. Lex Luthor knows who they both are somehow, and he wants to use Batman to kill Superman by bringing in Kryptonite, which he somehow knew that Batman would take. But just in case that doesn't work, he's going to unleash Doomsday.
This is the actual plot.
So the two of them fight for about five minutes, crash through some walls, break some sinks, and then the fight is resolved in an incredibly lame way. Zack Snyder lied about something else, this lie being that the trailers didn't give the entire plot of the movie away. They did.
The action in general in this movie was disappointing. It was all so incoherent, since it's all poorly filmed, edited, and just goes on for too long. I was bored during the fight scenes, and I'd already seen so much of them in the trailers that nothing really surprised me. The end fight with the Trinity against Doomsday just went on and on. Pointless explosions and invincible people flying back and forth isn't interesting, it's dull.
I don't buy that this movie was made for the fans. How could it be? This movie references iconic comics, sure, but it also has a complete disregard for the core elements of those comics. I think that this movie was made for blind fanboys instead. This movie was made for people who just want to like it, instead of it actually being good. It's a series of things that sounded cool when they were writing it, loosely stringed together with a dark, serious tone, and some vaguely philosophical mumbo-jumbo to make it seem smart. And, just to sell it perfectly, they threw in a bunch of things that only people who really know the comics will understand, so that people who can't follow the story will be accused of "just not getting it". It's the perfect plan, really. For every person who tries to over-explain a plot point as "genius", I won't shake my belief that it's just dumb.
Even the way that this movie was made annoys me. The soundtrack was nothing less than obnoxious, with extremely over-the-top themes for some characters blaring in at moments that completely kill the tone of that moment. Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor's themes in particular were laughably off at times. The camerawork is also terribly shaky at certain points, and was really distracting. The movie is made up almost entirely of close-ups, and characters just seem to appear out of nowhere, or know exactly what they need to do for no reason. Slow-motion and explosions were also over-used to an extreme level. I don't know how all of this happened again, or why Zack Snyder thought it was a good idea. The tone is too dark and grim, beyond just being "serious". There are some moments and images that were downright unsettling, and I don't want to be wincing uncomfortably when I'm watching a movie about Batman and Superman.
This movie is so depressing, and the more I think about it, the less I like it. Speaking of depression, has anyone else noticed that the latest DC movies seem to follow the pattern of the Spider-Man movies?
Spider-Man = Batman Begins - A pretty good origin story, but nothing amazing.
Spider-Man 2 = The Dark Knight - An amazing sequel that remains one of the best in the genre.
Spider-Man 3 = The Dark Knight Rises - A disappointing step down from the previous two films.
The Amazing Spider-Man = Man of Steel - A reboot that's almost okay, but nothing special.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 = Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Overstuffed and bad.
This can't be a coincidence.
In the end, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a big pile of nothing. It's not exciting, it's not smart, it's not thought-provoking, it's not fun, it's not enjoyable, it's not good, it's just...nothing. It's a big, bland, bloated blunder. I can't believe that a movie featuring such iconic characters was so bad, or that it was even allowed to have been made in this form. It fails in terms of "Batman v Superman", and it fails in terms of "Dawn of Justice".
On top of that, this movie really breaks the DC Extended Universe (I think that's what it's called). There are so many story and character choices that have trapped the creators in so many corners. I don't know how they're going to work around them, but DC might have to do what it does best: retcon and reboot some stuff. They do it so often in the comics that it was destined to happen in the movies eventually. Certain characters that could have been interesting just can't be used now, and the main characters that we have are so off from the source material that to change them will be so different and obvious.
This is the second strike. If Suicide Squad ends up being a boring slog too, then I'm done with DC. I just won't be able to believe that they can produce anything of value, because hope is dead. Maybe some of the solo movies will be good, but I have absolutely zero faith in Justice League. That's what Batman v Superman really accomplishes: killing hope. How inspiring.
But it made money, so who cares?
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