Dawn of Justice Review Part I

Greetings, merry people. Readers of this blog will remember me mentioning some time ago that I was going to do a review of the movie Dawn of Justice. I didn’t post it at once because I wanted it to be thoughtful, and I wanted to be able to get out/bring across what I wanted to convey in a proper manner. Well, I’ve been working away at it, and now present to you Part I of what will be a two-part (I think) post. It’s a little longish, but I’ve included some pics to keep you all interested. Enjoy!

Batman V Superman. 

The title alone had folks biting their nails in unrelenting anticipation. It had never been done before. The two titans of the superhero realm coming together in a live action film! We had the surprisingly superb Batman Begins in 2005, and the rather expectedly (sorry) underwhelming Superman Returns in 2006. There was some severe speculation (and even plans, as I have been led to believe) that these movies would usher in the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) of their time. With the benefit of hindsight, I’ll say right now that it’s a good thing that that didn’t happen back then. The Dark Knight Trilogy deserved its own space and time to itself. It worked very well as a world unto itself, not really connected to the main DC universe. Bringing in the Justice League (or even just Superman, really) would have made things unnecessarily complicated, and taken away from the grandness that the Dark Knight Trilogy upheld on its own.

   But anyway, this is about the here and now, the time of Ben Affleck, Henry Cavil, and Gal Gadot. I thought a bit on how I would section this review for you guys, and I have now decided to break it up thusly: 

Story/Characters.  

Plot-holes.

Special Effects/Visual Aesthetics.

Let’s begin. 

Story/Characters.

Batman V Superman follows a seemingly straightforward storyline that follows Superman/Clark Kent as he tries to find his place among humanity and decide whether or not he ought to be Superman and save people. Batman exists in this universe, and the Dark Knight has a severe dislike for the Man of Steel, which he channels into a rage that manifests itself through his increasingly harsh actions on the streets of Gotham. Eventually, the actions of these two heroes cause them to meet for a face-off of epic proportions. God vs Man. Day vs Night etc. Also, Wonder Woman is…in the movie.

   At least, the above things (or something very close to it) are what the story is supposed to be about.

   What we actually got was something more like this…

   Superman can’t make up his mind on whether or not he should save people. Never mind that the last movie he was in (the events of which took place a little over a year the timeline of Batman V Superman begins) followed him trying to find his place in humanity and deciding whether or not he should save people, finally to realize in the end that yes, puny humans are worth saving, and even featured him going so far as to choose them over the last surviving Kryptonians. Psh! That doesn’t matter at all. Superman is having mid-life crisis, so him facing the exact same doubts and troubles as he did in his last movie (Man of Steel) for no apparent reason can fly.

   I had a problem with this. I watched Man of Steel, and it was, well, largely bland. A lot of people complained that there was just ‘too much mind-numbing action.’ To those people I say, “What Marvel movie were you watching?” Man of Steel was so starved for action, that I wouldn’t even call it an action movie! It was more like a Drama/Adventure or some other weird thing like that. We sat through 2 hours and 23 minutes of Superman trying to find himself in that film—Why in the world did Zack Snyder feel the need to subject us to the very same thing in Dawn of Justice? By this time, Superman should be a well-established hero to the world. I get that he’s a darker Superman and all (well, the recent Justice League might say otherwise) but my gosh! Would it kill Kal El to smile, put his fists on his hips, do an interview at a reputable news station??

   Which is another thing. A large part of this movie features the people of the world trying to decide whether they want Superman to save people or not. This was a far better storyline, and made a lot more sense. It’s more easily understood and relatable. Still, more than half of the animosity directed at Supes would go away if the guy just took fifteen minutes out of his not-so-busy schedule every couple weeks to smile for a news camera or help an old lady cross the street in public. The theme over him is regret that humans don’t see him in the light he represents, but he never actually does anything about it. Do an interview!

   Then there’s Batman. Look, I’ll say from the outset that he was the best part of the movie. Hands down. 

   Ben Affleck brought something different to the Caped Crusader, and, whether you liked it or not, it worked for its setting (mostly). He’s older, battered, scarred, more reclusive and less malleable. It worked. One of the problems here is that there’s not enough of him in the movie, which is a shame because Bruce Wayne really takes up the majority of screen time. The movie even opens with him. Bruce, having witnessed the power and destruction that Kryptonians are capable of, thinks the world doesn’t need Superman. In fact, he thinks someone should kill him. He thinks Batman should kill him.

   Now, let me say this: It took me watching the film more than once to fully understand Bruce’s hatred for Superman. At first, it didn’t really make sense, but it does once you understand it. I mean, Batman has been fighting criminals in Gotham for twenty years in this universe. He’s been a superhero for twenty years, relying solely on his wit, grit, and determination (and Alfred). He’s suffered loss and heartache, and no small amount of bodily harm. Suddenly, along comes Zod and his insurgents, Superman appears, and everything changes. I mean, people in the here and now are upset that the government is potentially spying on them through their cell phones. How upset would they be if there was some all-powerful super guy that answered to no authority, who flew around all the time with a terrible frown, broke all manner of international laws, and didn’t care a thing about it? Furthermore, despite the fact that Superman is totally wrapped up in his own doubts over whether or not he should save people, he’s also, apparently, obsessed with Batman. How dare this person over in Gotham break the law to save people? Who does he think he is? Never mind that there’s a giant Bat Signal on the top of the Gotham City Police Department. Never mind that while old Supes was still hitchhiking across the country and destroying people’s semi-trucks, Batman was stopping Joker from gassing Gotham City Hall. He brands people. That equals bad. I, the great doubtful Superman, should shut down his operation because some random person keeps sending me little red notes. Seriously??!!

   What’s wrong with you, Superman? This was a bad plot device, because it didn’t make any sense. Superman needs to get his own act together before he goes and tries to forcibly fix somebody else’s. (Maybe he is evil after all.) I mean, in one scene, there’s this car chase, a pretty good one that showcases Batman’s driving skills and total disregard for the lives of thugs. Batman gets Lex Luthor’s (more on him later) thugs pretty much cornered (and they were doing illegal things, mind you), and, suddenly, Superman swoops down, bashes Batman’s Batmobile, rips the doors off, and then has the cheek to command him to stop being Batman. How dare you, Superman!! How. Dare. You.

   So yeah, Batman’s hatred of him was totally justified.

   What I didn’t like was that this version of Batman seemed a little less than bright. I mean, he’s the World’s Greatest Detective. He ought to have been more brainy. Brainy guys don’t shoot trackers the size of footballs onto the vehicles of the thugs they want to follow. Brainy guys don’t go down into the underworld of Gotham to pretend to watch a boxing match (while actually watching a thug) dressed in the plain, everyday face and clothes of one of the wealthiest men in Gotham. And above all, brainy men don’t allow themselves to be manipulated by any character played by Jesse Eisenberg.

   So, anyway, after a long (too long) time of these two going about their dark and broody lives, Superman finally decides that Batman should stop being Batman (hence that scene I mentioned earlier) and with that last straw, Batman decides to kill Superman. 

   And in this spot, we’ll cut this post, as I do not wish it to grow to a ridiculous length, and also because I want to save some things for Part II (I’m talking about you, Lex). What do you guys think? Agree with my points? Disagree? Liked the movie? Hated it? Somewhere in between? Let me know. 

Keep Strong!

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