Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice

Saw it today. It’s like Snyder’s previous film WATCHMEN and AVENGERS 2 – it’s very big and impressive, but it packs in too much and in being too ambitious falls a bit short.


DC Comics is working to build up a cinematic universe that can rival Marvel’s own films, and the similarities can be seen: the world detecting the appearance of superhuman beings, the scrambling measures from human authorities to deal with them, the conflicts between superhumans in their ideologies and deeds. It isn’t really anything new, it’s just that with DC heroes they’re living ideals and so their actions are more titanic and spectacular, but also have more impact.

Zack Snyder handles the story okay; he gives us awesome visuals, and backs it up with fair moral dilemmas that serve as adequate character development/evolution for the characters. The cast does their job pretty well with their roles.


But as I said, it packs in too much for its own good:
- I was expecting a conflict between Batman and Superman due to their differing viewpoints: Superman the optimist trying to save people whatever they think of him and Batman the cynic who believes in brutal retaliation and punishment. Something akin to Frank Miller’s THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, even though that story’s been told so many times.
Instead, they fight because Lex forced Superman to do so. The conflict should have happened because of their respective ethics, because each sees the other as a threat, not because of some outside manipulation. Batman deserves to have gone hunting after Superman by himself.

- The resolution to the conflict is also rather disappointing. Clark and Bruce’s mothers having the same name can not serve as a common bond that can unite them; it’s like saying a Spaniard and Mexican are brothers because they speak the same language. The fimmakers needed to find a better way to get these heroes on the same side.

- The use of the “Death of Superman” storyline was a mixed result. It may have been logical to introduce the unkillable monster Doomsday as a means to unite the DC Trinity, but then he shouldn’t have killed Superman; if Superman had to die it shouldn’t have been in the first ever DCU film. And were there other villains who could have served that purpose? Metallo, Imperiex, Intergang?

- The cameo appearances from the Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman, while certainly cool, add nothing to the film. The same goes for that nightmare sequence Bruce had, or Luthor mentioning Darkseid.



Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor does a better job than I expected; he channels Gene Hackman and Heath Ledger into being a trickster-like persona who loves to troll people. But it’s still Luthor, the millionaire businessman with a god complex and antagonism towards Superman, and he does a great job at making Superman’s life a nightmare.

Wonder Woman is the best thing about this film. She is an immortal being hanging on the sidelines of the story, but when she shows up in battle gear it is incredible; the whole theater cheered when she showed up in the final fight. She even gets her own awesome theme track, a Greek-sounding theme with drums and trumpets. It will be interesting to see her in her own film.


So on the whole, a standard Zack Snyder film: a bit overboard, but a fair watch.



07/08/06... 786... the sentinel of Allah has arrived.