Batman v Superman - SPOILER REVIEW
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Last chance.
Ok, here we go!
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has become one of the most divisive films in history, more so than its predecessor Man of Steel. From tone, to narrative, to plot points, BvS has given rise to the fan boy rage and it seems like it's only the beginning. For the sake of this review, I'm not going to debate the critical panning of the film. Rather, I'm gonna give you my take on the film as a whole and what I think this movie means for DC's cinematic universe. Whether you liked the film or not, it's here and we'll find that as the next few films come out, BvS is much more important than we realize. So, without no real structure or planned path to follow, let's delve into the awesomeness!
BATMAN
Batfleck works, people! There was so much skepticism about Ben Affleck's casting. But, we all questioned Heath Ledger as the Joker and look what he gave us! I said it in my spoiler free review and I'll say it again: Ben Affleck's Batman is the best on-screen Batman to date. Now, before you go throwing me out for crapping on Christian Bale, that's not the case here. Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is a masterful take on Batman. I've gone rounds and rounds trying to decide which one of the three was best. Although my favorite is The Dark Knight, I think Batman Begins is Nolan's best Batman film. Bale's portrayal works within that specific universe, but let's be honest...Batman, in both the comics and the movies, is always out-shined by his villains. To be frank, Batman is hardly in The Dark Knight, and barely in The Dark Knight Rises. There's more time spent focusing on the plot and the villains, that ultimately we ended up caring more about them than Batman. I mean really, who was more interesting to watch, Batman or Heath Ledger's Joker? Even Bane in TDKR was an interesting idea, and we saw him more than Batman on screen practically.
What I liked about Batman in BvS was that he was such a different Batman than we had ever seen. He's brutal, menacing, jaded, and he straight up kills people. I mean, Batman literally murders people in this movie! It's funny, just the other day The Dark Knight Rises was on TV and I caught the very end when Catwoman blasts Bane with the guns from the Batcycle, saving Batman, and was like "You really should reconsider the whole no-gun thing". I couldn't help but laugh, because Batfleck mows people down with his machine guns! The Bruce Wayne/Batman we see in this movie is seasoned, having fought crime in Gotham for over 20 years. He's seen so much and has dealt with so much that he's become more hardened. I loved the nod to the "Death in the Family" storyline, an awesome graphic novel that depicts the death of Jason Todd, Batman's second Robin, at the hands of the Joker. Seeing the spray-painted Robin suit gave me chills. The last time we had an on screen Robin, it wasn't all that great. Nolan even avoided using a Robin in his trilogy. I'm not counting that stupid reveal at the end with Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character begin named Robin. That doesn't count. So, it's exciting to see that maybe we might see a Robin done right on screen one day.
Back to Batman. From the look of his suit (pulled straight from the pages of Frank Miller's book) to his brutal nature and intensity, Ben Affleck freakin' killed it. The "Save Martha" scene in the wherehouse where Batman takes on like 20 guys is THE BEST on-screen Batman fight scene ever put to film. Bale had some nice moments, but Nolan shot those scenes in a way that made it hard to see what was going on. This particular scene for me in BvS was my favorite scene of the movie. This is how Batman is suppose to move and fight. The choreography was amazing and it looked absolutely fantastic. The thing about director Zack Snyder is the guy knows how to do action. Despite what people may think about the movie as a whole, the action in it is amazing. I love this new brutal, killing, no-holds-bar Batman and arguably he's my favorite depiction to date. I can't wait to see a solo Batman movie with this version.
SUPERMAN
Henry Cavill is a great Superman. I loved him in Man of Steel, and I thought he was great in this movie. Where a lot of people have been turned off by this version of the character is due to his darker nature. Man of Steel was a darker Superman movie than most people would have liked. Personally, I dug the change of pace. BvS is considerably darker, and Superman seems more dour and depressed in this movie, and for good measure. In this movie, Superman has only been Superman for two years. He's still trying to find his way in the world; trying to see where he fits in as the rest of the world questions his validity. That's some rich story aspects. Were they fleshed out as much as they could have been? No, and that's a bummer. But, what we were given works.
I'm not going to beat around the bush here. The biggest point of Superman's story to discuss here is his death. Yes, Superman is killed in this movie, and I applaud the filmmakers choice to do so. I read an article the other day where director Zack Snyder and Executive Producer Christopher Nolan (yes, the same guy who gave us the Dark Knight trilogy), discussed whether or not to kill Superman. Nolan at first thought it was a bad idea, but was later convinced that that was the right way to go. I tend to agree. In the world of spoilers and social media, we know he can't stay dead because Henry Cavill has been seen prepping for Justice League, which comes out next year. Plus, you can't really have the Justice League without Superman. But, killing Superman was ballsy. There's a teeny moment at the end of the movie to give you hope otherwise, but there's no denying, the man of steel is dead. The whole movie played with this God v Man idea, pitting the validity of Superman against the ideals of the world. His relevance was solidified when he sacrificed himself, killing Doomsday in the process. The world now realizes that Superman is a hero, no questions asked.
WONDER WOMAN
She stole to show, hands down. The only time the entire theater erupted in cheers was at her arrival. Gal Gadot nailed it. Wonder Woman looked amazing, her fight scenes with Doomsday were awesome, and overall I was pleasantly happy with how she was portrayed. Makes me giddy for her solo film next year.
JUSTICE LEAGUE
The Justice League members are in this movie. The argument that they were shoe-horned in is quite relevant. I mean, we get introduced to them through an email. But, it's still cool. Aquaman broke the sound barrier under water, Cyborg looked creepy, and the Flash stopped a robbery. We get more of the Flash than we realize though in this movie, and some people didn't even know that. Throughout the movie Bruce Wayne has a couple of dream sequences. There's one in particular where Batman looks out over a desolate wasteland, a large Omega symbol burned into the ground (Darkseid's calling card). Batman battles Superman's soldiers and some flying minions before getting killed by an evil Superman, claiming Batman took his lady love away. It's a really weird scene, almost feeling out of place...until Bruce is woken by a visit from a certain speedster. The Flash appears, having used the speed force to travel back to warn Bruce about finding the rest of the Justice League members. Suddenly, what was thought to be a dream could potentially be the Flash showing Bruce a plausible future should the Justice League not form to fight the soon-coming evil. It's a cool scene, though most people I've talked to didn't know who that was. For those of you who questioned, it's Ezra Miller's Flash.
This movie was as much about setting up the Justice League as it was about Batman and Superman. The first act of the movie was fantastic, the third act is chaotic and mesmerizing, but you can tell that the studio was like "make sure we get all this stuff in to set up Justice League!". Had Zack Snyder been given complete control, we would've been given a much more complete and fleshed out movie. Don't get me wrong, I loved this film, but I'm looking forward to the Ultimate Director's Cut coming out on Bluray in July, where 30 more minutes will be added to the film. Originally, that was the cut Snyder wanted, but in order to appease the studio and the MPAA, we lost 30 minutes that we'll now get back.
LEX LUTHOR
I'll be brief, he was weird. I liked it though. I commend Jesse Eisenberg for committing to a portrayal and sticking to it. His arc is an interesting one that I hope is delved into more in the director's cut. I mean, we learn that Lex knows the secret identities of Batman and Superman. How? It's unlcear. By the end of the movie, when Batman visits Lex in jail (awesome freakin' scene by the way) Lex is ranting and raving about the "bells being rung", and that "He is coming". I think what we don't see is that Lex learns a lot more in the Kryptonian ship than just how to make Doomsday. The ship mentions that it has data for over a ton of solar systems, and Lex wants to learn about them. I'm sure he knows about Darkseid, and that the death of Superman will reach his ears and bring him to Earth, thus the reason for the Flash to appear and urge Bruce to find the other meta-humans.
BATMAN AND SUPERMAN FIGHT
Far too short. I loved this entire sequence, but it wasn't long enough. The build up was awesome and the payoff was a spectacle for sure, but I just wish it was longer. The way the fight stops is kind of anti-climactic, but I accepted it for what it was and after multiple viewings I've come to be okay with it. It works for me. But as for the fight itself, it was awesome. Batman's battle suit was ripped straight from Frank Miller's book once again. The influences Snyder took from Frank Miller's book is all over this movie. If you've never read Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns", you need to. It's phenomenal. But this fight scene was epic. Batman whooped Superman and did so in brutal fashion. I loved the writing for Batman because he has some of these awesome one-liners. The movie was marketed to feature this battle, and it doesn't show up until 30 minutes before the end of the movie, and it's over pretty quick. Hopefully the director's cut will feature more action in this scene.
AT ANY RATE...
This movie works for me. Is it what I had expected? Not at all. But it works. Zack Snyder doesn't deserve the backlash he's getting. He's given us a grand spectacle that has brought more discussion than I've ever seen over a movie in a long time. He's helped lay the ground work for an epic new comic book movie universe. The movie is not without its flaws. But where it lacks, one can see the potential for greatness and I think we'll see that with the coming movies from DC. I've only scratched the surface here with this review, and I know upon publishing it I'll remember other things that I wanted to discuss. But I truly liked this movie a lot, more so after multiple viewings. My advice: forget the critics and form your own opinion. It's well worth your time.
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