Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

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)

      If you're looking for Man of Steel 2, you won't find it here; Superman has second billing to Batman as Henry Cavill does to Ben Affleck.  Counterintuitively, the superb job that was done developing the very rich, three dimensional character of Clark Kent/Superman (and the groundwork for future sequels and a cinematic universe) was all tossed aside here for a very flat portrayal because Batman is the star and the main focus is on him.

     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.