Oh man, where do I even begin to talk about Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice? I mean, wow – I really wanted to love this film; I wanted Batman V Superman to be as great a film as it could be. I wanted this film to be for DC and Warner Bros what The Avengers was for Marvel and Disney. Unlike most of my friends and companions think of Man of Steel, I actually enjoyed the film and was hoping that it would be the catalyst for the DC Cinematic Universe just as Iron Man was for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I thought that Man of Steel was a solid, if a bit cracked foundation for the DCCU. Unfortunately, after seeing Batman V Superman, I cannot say that DC has done anything that would establish a solid cinematic base for their film universe with this film.
A full and proper review of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is forthcoming from my friend and fellow Pop Cults associate Chastity Irizarry, but I wanted to touch on a few points here that I simply cannot keep quiet about. So I apologize to Chastity in advance if I happen to step on any points that she will be touching on in her review, but I cannot stay quiet any more.
To begin, not everything about Batman V Superman is bad. In fact, there are three factors about the film that I found helped keep the film from being a complete and total failure. And thankfully they happen to be the three characters that everyone is familiar with in this film – so let’s start with…
The Good
Ben Affleck as Batman
Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
I know there were a lot of people who felt that the casting of Ben Affleck as the new man under the cowl he would somehow mess up or cheapen the role and character would wooden and stunted acting. Kind of like he did with Daredevil back in 2003. But I was always confident that he could pull off the part. I just had to look at some of his most recent roles and his turn as a director to show that he has matured as an actor. Hollywoodland, The Town, Argo and Gone Girl are all great examples of how much he has changed enough to deliver a solid performance in this film. The faults that come up with the character in the film are not because of Ben Affleck but rather with issues that arise from the story (which I will touch upon soon enough), but Affleck himself is excellent as the older, jaded and grizzled Bruce Wayne/Batman. So all you “Batfleck” haters can all kiss my ass on this one. Affleck was a great choice for Bats in this film. On a related note, Jeremy Irons was an excellent choice for the role of Alfred Pennyworth.
Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman – I won’t say too much here since I have stated numerous times before that I think that Henry Cavill is great in the role of Clark Kent/Superman. You may have issues with the way the character is depicted in the films, but Cavill does his best with the script he is given. He didn’t write the character the way it is in Man of Steel and Batman V Superman, but I think he does the best he can with what he has been given. And in this film he shows me again why he is great casting choice for the role of Supes.
Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/ Wonder Woman – I don’t like to admit that I am wrong. I don’t think anyone ever really does. But I will gladly admit that I was wrong this time by questioning the choice of casting Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. I stand by my statement that she is not as statuesque as I would have liked for Wonder Woman to have been, but Gadot had the facial look that I thought matched the Mediterranean look I like for WW. Still, I thought that Gadot just didn’t have the complete look that I as a fan was looking for nor the acting ability to pull of the role. And for that I completely apologize to Mrs. Gadot for doubting her abilities. Not only was Gadot great as the Amazonian warrior, the WW character actually ended up being one of, if not the most entertaining and engaging aspect of the film. Just like her comic book counterpart there is an aura of regality and astonishment that just emanates from the character as a natural appeal, and Gadot brings this out of her portrayal of the character that really makes her part in the film seem natural and real. On a related note, the Wonder Woman Theme, “Is She With You?”, piece of music from the film’s score is also my favorite song from the album.
However, that is all that I would consider to be good with Batman V Superman. Almost everything about the film is what I would consider heavy influences that made this film the loud debacle that it was. So now, without hesitation, let me talk about…
The Bad
Too Many Stories to Tell – One of the biggest problems this film is bogged down by is the fact that it doesn’t know what story it wants to tell. Does it want to be a Man of Steel sequel? Does it want to be a Batman continuance? Does it want to be a Wonder Woman intro film? Does it want to be a cameo laden DC Comics film? Does it want to explore fear and xenophobia? Does it want to continue the messiah/theology/parallel story were used to seeing with Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman? The film doesn’t settle on one story/theme long enough to make any of them interesting. And that leads directly to my next criticism with the film…
Bad Storytelling – That the film can’t decide on which story it wants to focus on is a clear example of horrific storytelling. There is an uneven pace to the film that really stifles the growth of any kind of story here. There are illogical jumps between points A, B, and C that make no sense (almost as if the story is metaphorically going A, B, C, Y, Z) and they border the storytelling of an elementary school student: interesting but unfocused. And that really is the huge detriment here – there is no focus to the film here because the storytelling is just all over the damn place.
Too Many Special Effects – To be fair, when the fight in the film is kept between Batman and Superman as the film enters the third act and starts to come to a resolution, the fight looks amazing and is pretty entertaining. But then Doomsday appears (ugh) and Wonder Woman jumps in (Yay?) that the fight just looks so fake. Yeah, I know, it’s a comic book film, it’s all fake. But this film just relies too much on the special effects department to bring it all together that at one point the effects took me so far out of the film that it began to loon uninteresting. Almost to the point of seemingly overly prolonged and boring.
Needless Cameo Appearances – Of all the things that bugged me the most about Batman V Superman was the needless and forced cameos from other characters that were put into the film. What was the point of the elongated Cyborg sequence if you are not going to end up showing Cyborg? What the hell was the point of the Aquaman scene? The Flash had some substance of a role in the film, but even that seemed forces and out of place. What was the point of introducing them in this manner when it doesn’t seem like any of it mattered? And don’t get me started on some of the other “bones” that DC throws our way in this film: Jimmy Olsen as a CIA Agent, Darkseid’s parademons, Major Carrie Farris… Jena Malone was even cast as Barbara Gordon but her scenes were cut from the theatrical version of the film. If they had any kind of importance to the film they would have been welcomed additions; as it is, the way they are presented just seems like a convoluted mess.
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor – As a comic book fan, I prefer to have Lex Luthor presented as a calculating and Machiavellian type of villain, orchestrating things out of the public view and in control of his actions and senses. While Eisenberg brings some of these traits to film, the maniacal and unhinged aspects that he brings forth just seem so damned out of place. It was like he took everything that I hated about the Gene Hackman version of Luthor and amplified them in this portrayal. Why can’t we get a version of Luthor that we saw in the Superman: The Animated Series? The businessman who has his hands in everything but never gets caught. No, we have to always settle for the “out in the open” Luthor that we get in all these films.
Motherf’ing Doomsday – Why? Why DC? Why bring out Doomsday so early in your cinematic universe? Especially when his appearance and the consequences of his actions are overwritten by the end of the film! It just seems like a complete waste of a character for cheap thrills when he could have been saved for a bigger impact later on in the cinematic universe to really bring the middle of the overall stories together. As it is, everything that Doomsday does in this film is nullified just 10 minutes later for no good reason at all. And why, why, does Doomsday look like a left over special effect from The Lord of the Rings trilogy? Seriously, he looks like one of the damn cave trolls in Sauron’s army.
In all fairness, in all honesty, I cannot recommend Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice to anyone but the most hardcore of comic fans – and they are the ones who will probably ride the film the most for all of its faults. I wanted to love this film, especially because Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot are great as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. But for as great as these three are in this film the faults that are presented in the film are just too overriding to ignore in any capacity. What could have been a fun and dark introduction to the larger DC Cinematic Universe is wasted in a film that squanders potential for action and chaos. I have no other words to describe my disgust with this film, so I will end this article before I forget that I am supposed to be some kind of professional doing my job.
