I'm not exactly sure how to begin this review. This film takes a while to mull over, and I don't think that a second viewing of it would help me out in that regard, anyway. No spoilers here, I won't be that mean if you do want to see the movie. And, yes, believe it or not there are spoilers even after that second trailer that showed us Doomsday. And if you haven't seen that trailer?
Whoops.
If you're not already aware, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is an unnatural sequel to DC's 2013 Man of Steel, the first in its new DC Cinematic/Extended Universe. This is meant to be a stepping stone into that universe, showing us new characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, and Lex Luthor, and building on some of their lore as well through subtlety. It takes place 18 months following the tragic events of Man of Steel and shows how the world has responded to Superman since then.
The best way to start this, I suppose, is by explaining what I liked about the film. At first I wanted to explain what I disliked so at least I could on a positive note, but I'll try to build some more discussion after this.
Something that many critics aren't mentioning, nor many people who have seen this film, is the philosophical battle that takes place for Superman. There are many moments in this film where Clark is forced to ponder whether or not he is Superman. There's one scene in particular that I really enjoyed, and I wished that there had been more of it. Superman gets very minimal screen-time on his own in this movie, as he is usually with Lois Lane trying to solve some puzzles. Superman's character doesn't really take too many leaps and bounds, and what leaps it tries to take are sort of unwarranted.
Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne was enjoyable to a degree, but I actually thought that Jeremy Irons as Alfred was an amazing casting choice. He showed intelligence, he was technically savvy, and he had some pretty funny quips to Bruce Wayne. If he'd been able to interact with Superman or be a bigger part of the film, it would have lightened up the tone a bit more, I feel.
Yet the biggest standout for me has to be Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. In the final battle she was just a monster. Her performance here has me pretty excited to see her as Wonder Woman in her solo outing next year. We don't get to see much of her as Diana Prince and her subplot about finding a single hard-drive is pretty weak, but she was captivating in battle and she showed concern regarding the other super heroes foreshadowed as well as Batman and Superman. It's weird, but out of the three, she almost feels like the most super-hero-y. When she goes to the final battle, it's clear that she doesn't need to have a hand in it. But she goes anyway. I know it's weird to point that out, but in these films, that's actually a rare quality for someone to take a step up and take initiative.
Like everyone else, I found the film a visual masterpiece. There are some moments of blatant CGI that are painful, but otherwise the fights are grand in scale and very well manipulated. The car chase with the Batmobile was also intense and very visually appealing. Then again, I thought Man of Steel looked really good as well, and those same super-strength effects are back. Visually this is the best of the super-hero genre, I would say.
And the score was, yeah, magnificent. Some songs from Hans Zimmer's Man of Steel soundtrack are back, but this time it truly rings in an epic theme. Wonder Woman's was a stand-out...actually when Wonder Woman showed up and her music kicked in was when the film hit its high-point in terms of excitement for me. Almost jumped outta my seat with hype.
But, sadly, that just about rounds out what's good about the film, for me. This is a very flawed movie, and there are some very clear holes with it.
For starters, I know that Ben Affleck's Batman is getting praise, but truthfully, that's not Batman. Why? Because Batman does not kill people. It's simple as that. The major flaw with this story's Batman is the version it drew inspiration from: Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.
We could have a long discussion about that, but think about his final confrontation with the Joker. He spares him, he doesn't kill him. In fact, he doesn't kill anyone. Batman straight up murders people in this movie, and does it without flinching. Even Alfred doesn't talk him down.
"Oh, but Superman killed Zod in Man of Steel! What about THAT?"
Superman had to, and after he did, he broke down. After Batman blows people away? He just keeps going. We even see him pause by Jason Todd's (I'm assuming it's Jason Todd) Robin suit, who was killed, but he doesn't make anything of it. Which is actually allows me to bring up another thing wrong with this movie:
There are so many Easter Eggs alluding to what's to come that it really bogs this movie down, and makes DC seem desperate to catch up to Marvel. Showing the Robin suit is okay, but do something with it. Have Batman mention a throwaway line about Robin being murdered by the Joker, and how Batman doesn't want anyone close to him being killed by a psycho ever again. The other Easter Eggs are a bit more spoiler-y, but there are a few cute ones. "Major Ferris is right next door." "Superman might've been relevant in 1938." "Zeus cast down lightning on man! *Wonder Woman rolls her eyes at the mention of Zeus*" Those are funny, but they're just little quick things.
Ah, yes. The man who uttered that line was Lex Luthor Jr., and no, Jesse Eisenberg was not perfect for that role and was probably a mistake. As I understand him, Lex Jr. is not as odd as this Lex was. This Lex seemed paranoid about everything, as if someone were always out to get him. This would have been fine if we had seen him in Man of Steel in some traumatic fashion, but nope. Just comes outta nowhere.
It was difficult to take him seriously. I don't think the character was necessarily written poorly (unless his mannerisms were written in, but in that case he's just bad) but rather poorly portrayed. He needed to be older, needed to be smarter. More like a businessman than a mad scientist, which is what he was in the film. There's only one decently menacing scene with him in it, but that's it. Just one? This is Lex Luthor (Jr.) man! The arch-nemesis of Superman, one of the most powerful and influential villains of all time. I actually realized a comparison: Wilson Fisk in Netflix's Daredevil is shy and awkward, but he is a menacing man. You feel threatened by him because you know that he is powerful, not just physically, but because he can destroy a person's life by uttering a single word. Lex Luthor in "Dawn of Justice" was awkward for the sake of awkward. He had no menacing qualities, and there was no way that Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent would be afraid of him.
There are also way too many subplots at work. The one with Lois Lane is particularly useless, and the one with Wonder Woman is similar to Thor's from Avengers: Age of Ultron. There's also some stuff with Russians and (who I'm assuming is) KG-Beast, but it's only there for Batman's story. Lex also only exists so that he can, um...pester Superman? Gather Kryptonite?
There's no real story here, and things just sort of happen because characters say so. There is a clear first act and a clear third act, but everything in between just sort of happens. The film is a mess. I have a feeling that there was a finished script, or at least close to finished, for "Man of Steel 2," but after the negative backlash, they decided to spice things up they would throw in Batman, and then Wonder Woman, and Doomsday would be the final boss (also someone came out and said that Doomsday wasn't the final boss of the film...so they're a liar). Lex was there to try and make it more of a Superman movie despite how badly this movie wanted to be a Batman movie.
But there's no character development for anyone, either, so then what was the point? There was a wonderful opportunity for a Superman solo sequel to exist with elements of a greater universe. Batman could have been in the movie as a supporting and mentoring role for Clark as he became the world's latest and greatest super-hero. Instead, there are too many elements of Batman and "Dawn of Justice" for us to really care about who is meant to be the main character, Superman.
I don't think this movie is as polarizing as Man of Steel. The flaws here are clear as day and it'll come down to the specifics of what you like and don't like. Example: I don't like Ben Affleck's Batman but most others do, yet almost everyone agrees that Jesse Eisenberg is not a great Lex Luthor Jr. But I don't hate this movie. In fact, I'm excited for the future in a weird way. Given that there's going to be a lighter tone, I am looking forward to Justice League: Part One. I want to see Wonder Woman's mysterious back-story, to see if they'll rope in her Greek-Gods relations as well. I want to see Aquaman, the Flash, and Cyborg and how they'll all come together for the greater good as members of the Justice League. I hope that Ben Affleck's Batman returns to how he should be and that we can get more of the Superman we like.
At this point, I have hope. I had hope for this film, but I have a feeling that the future will be brighter. As has been stated in a previous DC movie, "The night is darkest just before the dawn." We have reached that dawn, and while it wasn't the most beautiful of them all, it certainly does bring some hope that we can only go up from here. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice reached for that epic, but sadly, forgot what it was really all about in the end. A shame indeed.
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