Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice

Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice is an ambitious undertaking with a lot of expectations, as it is DC’s attempt to catch up to their Marvel rivals and boost a successful film narrative franchise. So it’s the second part of the title one has to really pay attention to in judging the film overall. The first part is really just a marketing ploy in a sense. Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) are now veteran superheroes who face increasing criticism from the world and this is capitalized on by Lex Luthor (Jessie Eisenberg) who orchestrates a series of events that frame them, pitting them against one another, and in the process unleashing an unharnessed foe that threatens to destroy everyone. Throughout, the emergence of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) is revealed as well as the existence of other superheroes. Under the direction of Zac Snyder and if you’ve seen his work in Watchmen, it should come at no surprise that the film is an excess in noir and subplots. That’s a good thing for the most part in creating the right atmosphere and realism, but the flashbacks and dream sequences are excessive overkill to keeping focused on the story at hand. Thank goodness the action is great, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before in the last 7/8 years of high end, sophisticated movie installments. The pacing and plot and buildup are really just messy and all over the place. There’s no cohesion and the script is just awash in limpness frankly. If Snyder and say a Christopher Nolan had perhaps collaborated on this project, then I shudder to think what heights it would have achieved. The movie is heavy handed in having enough action, story material, talent, and promise of more in the films to follow; but it would have benefited far better with a more deft hand in the editing room. There are things that certainly didn’t make sense in the plot and Snyder just seemed to take too many creative leaps. There was no real noteworthy protagonist. That shit made, kryptonian, blob of a monster that a supposedly smart Lex Lugor made and unleashed with no kind of control, who looked like Tim Roth’s Hulk on steroids from the 2008 film, just seemed to be inserted to fill up time and only served to bring in Wonder Woman. They should have just resurrected General Zod (Michael Shannon) himself for a more challenging showdown. Why did we have to have a mini training sequence for the old Batman other than to show that Affleck worked out for a year? Did anyone really know or remember that both Superman and Batman’s mother’s names were Martha? Why couldn’t Superman save his mother in time, really, as he had x-ray vision, super hearing, speed, and always seemed to be there for Lois Lane (Amy Adams) no matter what he was doing? Stuffing the motivation for that particular plot point down our throats was a ginormous task that just didn’t fuckin’ sell. Personally, I was always a DC fan first, and I had a lot of expectation placed into the film. Who would win in Batman vs Superman? Superman of course, as he’s not an earth man, but Batman is certainly smarter. Snyder plays these aspects up pretty good and the performance of a weary Affleck in the role was better than expected. Yet Superman is darker than ever and just downright distorted under the direction of Snyder. I will certainly view this film again when it gets to dvd (an extended version is promised) as a lot of the back story I missed in detail. Yet the real reward for me was the introduction of Wonder Woman and just the fact that this film was finally made. It didn’t have to knock it out of park,(though it seems to have in terms of box office) it just needed to get there. Enjoyable to watch, it is. Now, they just need to take their time and make the next installments right.