Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a haphazard mess with few redeeming qualities
This is bloated and nonsensical, with characters who don’t display consistent or logical motivations and actions
It’s difficult to talk about what’s going on in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice without first acknowledging how misguided of an idea it was for DC and Warner Bros to fast-track the story of DC’s cinematic universe in the first place. The whole notion has emerged out of an urgency to chase the accomplishments of Marvel by rushing to the team-up movie after only one film. From the word go, this endeavour has been conceived with more to accomplish than it could possibly tackle, and it’s almost unsurprising to see it weighed down and unable to do justice to all of its numerous intertwined storylines.
Unfortunately, there’s not too much to recommend about Batman v Superman. It’s a bloated, nonsensical mess with characters who don’t display consistent or logical motivations and actions. The script simply doesn’t hang together, and there are very few bright spots here. The story picks up after the events of Man of Steel, with the world questioning the responsibilities of Superman (Henry Cavill) after the extensive destruction in Metropolis a the end of that film.
One man with doubts about whether Superman is a force for good is Bruce Wayne, aka Batman (Ben Affleck). In one of about a half dozen establishing scenes that take place around the globe as the movie opens, we see him witnessing the chaos of Superman’s fight against Zod in Metropolis first hand. After seeing the wreckage, Batman decides to take the fight to Superman. The discovery of Kryptonite, an element that harms Superman, will also help him to level the playing field between an ordinary man and all-powerful alien, with both Wayne and the villainous Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) attempting to get their hands on the precious green rock.
Many interpretations of the end of Man of Steel hoped that we would be seeing a more humane and heroic Superman than the man who snapped General Zod’s neck at the end of the film, so it’s disappointing to see that director Zack Snyder and screenwriters Chris Terrio and David Goyer have little interest in developing the character, content to leave him sullen and miserable throughout. There is not one moment where Superman smiles in this film, and while we’re not always looking for the sunny and lighthearted fluffiness from our superheroes, there should be some level of levity to keep things from being drab and humourless. Sadly, DC’s “no jokes” policy stands fairly firm, making for a uninspiring and colourless affair.
The key new character here is Batman, and it’s a shame to say that while Affleck’s performance is very solid there’s little to define this character and give him reasonable motivations. Just like every character, he gets many speeches about power, legacy and responsibility, but because we don’t know that much about this version of the character, a lot of his anger needs more explanation than it gets. He talks a little about how much of a risk the presence of Superman poses, but his actions are irrational and we haven’t been given the context to understand them. This is why it’s so beneficial to devote time to developing characters before bringing them together or into conflict, which is one reason the patience of the Marvel films has paid off.
As a villain, Lex Luthor is occasionally effective but often baffling. The script is needlessly obtuse when it comes to his character, and Eisenberg’s annoying performance doesn’t help a great deal if you have any hopes of understanding his motives. He’s portrayed as a petulant child obsessed with mayhem, and few of the things he does come off as actions that consistently make sense as all being made by the same character. When the second trailer arrived, some noted that Eisenberg seems to be playing Luthor as though he’s iconic DC madman The Joker, and that criticism holds true. This is a villain that simply lacks a stable definition as a character, and certainly doesn’t seem much like the character of Luthor that many people know. Ultimately, the things he does just contribute to the disastrous climax in the third act.
Yes, at the heart of what’s wrong with Batman v Superman is how it resorts to the most clichéd possible finale that it can muster. Without spoiling too much, the film is able to contrive both a typical damsel in distress scenario and a clash with a big, stupid, CGI monster. The whole thing ends up being frankly rather ridiculous, with the titular fight between Batman and Superman coming off as laughingly avoidable (their differences could be solved with a short conversation that could take place at any point before they begin punching each other) and the subsequent monstrous fight seeming empty and meaningless, especially when we all know how it’ll resolve. The effects throughout this sequence are also bafflingly confusing, with massive bright explosions and wild, frenetic camera movements dominating an already painfully dark colour palette (unfortunately maintained for the whole film, with almost every scene set at night) in such a way that renders the conflict and its geography nearly impossible to understand.
Like Man of Steel, the film is also loud and “in your face”. However, credit must go to Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL for creating a distinctive sound for Superman and a solid theme for Batman too. Where the soundtrack truly excels, though, is in the appearance of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. In fact, she’s doesn’t just have the single best theme on the score, but is also the single best thing about the whole movie altogether! I wrote a few years ago about how happy I am to see her finally appear on the big screen, and her glorious arrival is marked by the most exuberant and exciting piece of music along with a great wry smile from Gadot.
Wonder Woman is the only one who doesn’t frown for the whole movie, and her character brings a burst of life and energy into the film, even in the short time she’s around. The fact that Batman v Superman couldn’t ruin Wonder Woman gives me a great deal of hope for the character’s solo film too, which will be one of the first in the DC’s new cinematic universe not directed by Snyder (and without the involvement of the similarly darkness-obsessed David Goyer). A Fandango poll revealed that 88% were interested in seeing Batman v Superman just for Wonder Woman, so I’m certain that seeing this feminist icon and badass hero get a movie all of her own in 2017 will draw many fans to the big screen once again.
Back to the film in question, though, and in general this is an affair where the actors all perform admirably but the script and direction drag things down. The strength and humanity of Cavill’s Superman still exists, but it’s buried under layers of sadness and misery; Affleck does a great job bringing a battle-hardened weariness to both Bruce and his alter-ego, but there’s too little in the screenplay to develop him; and Gadot’s performance is committed and compelling, but features too little in this overstuffed film. There’s not much more to say about Eisenberg’s performance, it feels like it’s coming from a different movie altogether and it quite plainly just doesn’t work. When it comes to other ancillary figures, they’re largely ruined by the way this universe has been built. Perry White comes off as the worst newspaper editor ever, both Lois Lane and Martha Kent are relegated to boring roles on the sidelines, and the potentially interesting character of a US senator played by Holly Hunter is quickly wasted.
In the end, as many feared, Batman v Superman simply just bites off far more than it can chew. The responsibility of this much world-building cannot possibly be carried by a single film, and that’s before we even start talking about misguided and poor choices with narrative and the scripting of the characters. This is a mode of filmmaking where visual design has overtaken establishing characters, and it shows. Nothing matters, because the film doesn’t take the time to get its audience to care, and everything’s so thoroughly coloured by hopelessness and gloom that you can never really even get a sense of why any of this is worth anything. There’s little about these characters, other than their names, that makes them feel distinctively like any interpretation of Batman or Superman that you’d recognise. And that’s important, because while re-interpretation is welcomed the characters still need to make sense as themselves. If the aim was to make a film devoid of heroism, you have to ask what the point of that is.
Any bright spots here are far too infrequent for me to convincingly recommend you spend your time watching this, and unless you’re desperate for a sense of overwhelming bleakness without any semblance of optimism or ambition, this is one to avoid. It’s also far too long, lacks structure and ends everything with lazy clichés and confounding CGI. Batman v Superman is already proving to be a highly divisive film, but for many outside of diehard comic fans this is just going to be a real drag and a spectacular bore. In general, self-serious, joyless and overburdened movies don’t go down all that well with general audiences.
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