TAKE 1: One Man’s Opinion
…because film is largely subjective
by Frederick William Springer
III
Batman v Superman: Dawn of
Justice
Release Date: 25 March 2016 Runtime: 151 Minutes
Review Date: 14 June 2016 Rating: 2.5 (of 6)
The problem with
that is, in this rendition, Bruce Wayne/Batman is an absolute asshole. There is nothing likeable--he now takes to
sadistically branding people like cattle--or even entertaining about him. On top of stale flashbacks, we are also quite
needlessly immersed in Bruce Wayne's dream/fantasy sequences. Apparently, nothing was learned from the
shoddy audio in The Dark Knight Rises
as Batman is given a similar, difficult to understand mechanical voice as Bane possessed
in that film.
This movie had
really good potential and could have soared if all the Batman stuff prior to
and including his "versus" matchup with Superman was eliminated and we
then spent a little more time with, and thereby continued to develop, the Man of Steel crew. (You know, maybe even explain how Superman,
who has now been partaking in good deeds captured on film for the past 18
months, still maintains anonymity, completely unrecognized as Clark Kent...Completely
unrecognized working in a room full of journalists...even though there's a
larger-than-life statue of him RIGHT OUTSIDE.)
And how is it
that, even though they have yet to introduce themselves to the world, Lex
Luthor already has the logos of the other Justice League members?
[Warning: Minor
*Spoilers* Ahead] Even with the reasons the filmmakers try to provide, Bruce
Wayne's stance on Superman and his follow-through plan seem completely over-the-top.
He has incredibly unbelievable tunnel
vision when it comes to Kal-El, ready to murder him without a second thought,
making it quite clear that he's literally out for blood. And when he finally has him where he wants
him, Superman's life hanging in the balance, all it takes is one magic word
from Superman--"Martha"--and suddenly this twisted mind just snaps
out of it immediately and completely, without a second thought. Really?
Furthermore, having been fighting crime for 20 years, presumably much of
that time battling wits with his nemesis the Joker, are we really to buy that
Bruce Wayne was so easily and blindly manipulated by Lex Luthor in the first
place?
As we still have
Zack Snyder at the helm, still have David S. Goyer writing (after a successful
run on the last Batman trilogy prior to Man
of Steel) and The Dark Knight
helmer Chris Nolan himself still executive producing, the only feasible explanation
seems to be that when Warner Bros. decided they wanted to get into a pissing
contest with Marvel and hastily throw together a Justice League to combat the
Avengers, they opted to sacrifice good story telling in the process, this film
seeming more like never ending action stitched together than coherent,
well-rounded, plausible-in-this-universe plot.
No comments:
Post a Comment