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| ScreenRant |
Comic book lovers rejoiced upon hearing that two of their
favorite heroes, Batman and Superman, would go toe-to-toe on the big screen for
the first time ever. Then they sent a public outcry when Ben Affleck was
announced as the Caped Crusader. Later, they reversed decision when the
universal consensus that Affleck wasn’t too shabby as the billionaire
vigilante. In short, the road leading up to viewings of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a complete roller coaster –
just like the movie turned out to be.
READER – BE WARNED:
Major spoilers ahead. If you haven’t seen this movie, please skip to the last two
paragraphs for a spoiler-free summary.
Following the mess of Man
of Steel (no, I’m actually talking about the destruction in the movie, not
the public’s perception of the film), Superman/Clark Kent continues to save the
day in and around Metropolis while failing to convince much of the world he is
there with the truest intentions. Bruce Wayne, of the neighboring city of
Gotham, is still mentally recovering from the destruction of his Metropolis
tower and the death of his friends and employees. Bruce states that even if
there is a 1% chance that the alien is their enemy then he must be destroyed.
Meanwhile, Superman looks over the bay to Gotham and frowns upon the brutal
lawlessness displayed by Batman.
Enter Lex Luthor. The movie already seems like it’s biting
off more than it can chew, but Lex adds a whole new layer to this. In a forced
attempt to add as many comic book faces to this film as they can, Lex (played
by Jesse Eisenberg) feels like a completely unneeded character, as the eventual
BvS fight that takes place could have been written to exist without his
encouragement. However, Lex doesn’t like the very idea of Superman, and hopes
that with a bit of a push, Batman will figure a way out to take him out. Luthor
also kidnaps Superman’s adoptive mother Martha (Diane Lane) as incentive for the
Kryptonian to take out the dark knight. Not motive enough for you? Don’t worry
– you’re not alone.
I’ll admit – I bought into the initial premise. I enjoyed
the establishment of Batman’s world, and his reasoning for resenting Superman
made complete sense. I also enjoyed seeing the characters from Man of Steel again, even though
Superman’s reaction to the events in the prequel weren’t as post-traumatic as I
had expected. Adding to this were what I argue to be great performances in a
tightly-edited first hour (despite those questionable dream sequences for both
heroes). But then came the conflict that we had all been waiting for. Worth it?
Guess again!
The Batman and Superman fight that some people have waited
decades to see was a mere 10 or so minutes of Batman and Superman punching each
other. Then Superman says his mom’s name and a conveniently-placed Lois Lane explains
the meaning behind it. 20 minutes later, one of the heroes refers to his recent
foe as a friend.
This brings us into the Doomsday fight. While fun to watch
and arguably well-constructed, it did come off as a generic superhero movie
fight finale. The differentiator was Wonder Woman, who admittedly added a lot
to that scene. However, her potential seemed squandered. Without much
development of this one character, what should’ve been the face that stole the
show seemed more like an underdeveloped cameo that we whose full potential we
were robbed of. Gal Gadot delivered in her minimal time and promises to offer
much to the DC Comics Extended Universe (DCEU for short), but it saddens me to
say that the movie and its script did not do her justice.
And here’s where the movie lost me (again – spoiler
warning). I absolutely hate that this movie involved the death of Superman. The
fact that they actually went through with this was one thing – we’ve seen
Superman die plenty of times in movies and TV shows. But – as expected – he
always comes back, and everyone knows he will
come back again this time. This time, he didn’t. To go through with the
funeral, newspaper headlines, and sorrowful friends and family until the very
last frame was a step too far, since his return to the DCEU is inevitable. By
not only killing Superman, but going as far as they did with it, it seemed like
the filmmakers were milking a cow everyone knew was dry but tried to trick us
by dropping fake milk from another hand. You might fool a couple people, but
most are smart enough to see right through you. And when you come out and say
you pulled a trick, no one’s going to be impressed – they’re just going to be
pissed off. When Superman does come back, I won’t be rejoicing, I’ll be contemptuous
with the filmmakers for dragging something out in a too-long ending when
everyone knew how unnecessary it was. And if for some reason Superman really is
dead, it’s an even stupider move by the DCEU.
As much as part of me hates to give this movie a good
review, I can’t ignore its plusses. The acting from a cast too big for its own
good is tremendous, the film has a very promising start, the Doomsday fight is
good, and the movie is well shot and (somewhat undeservingly) ambitious.
However, if you want to see Batman and Superman fight on the big screen, you
should know that while they do this in the movie it is not done as well as it
could have or should have been. A true incentive from both fighters was needed,
and while Batman v Superman doesn’t
completely waste its potential, it’s sad looking at the good and bad parts of
this movie knowing they could have been great.
Side note: I also thought it was hysterical that news
anchors were there to tell everyone that even when a building collapses or the
entirety of an island is engulfed in flames that the area was uninhabited. I
guess moviegoers didn’t take too kindly to the massive destruction in Man of Steel after all.
Rating: 3/5
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