Originally published March 27, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, 2016
Directed by Zack Snyder.
Starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Scoot McNairy, Tao Okamoto, Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller and Callan Mulvey.
SYNOPSIS:
Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day saviour, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.
If only things existed in a vacuum. We use that saying a lot “in a vacuum…” which is effectively, a bit of a cop-out. A way of discussing something on its own as if nothing else like it exists and we have nothing to compare it to. However movies, like most things on our planet, do not exists in a vacuum.
In a vacuum, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a pretty rounded comic book adaptation. It has so many of the elements of what you’d expect a good comic book film to have in the modern era. Dark, gritty elements, superheroes who don’t get along at first before uniting against a more powerful threat with some good performances scattered throughout. Dash in some large-scale spectacle and you get something that looks and seems like a good comic book movie.
Ben Affleck is awesome as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. He truly is the older, angrier version of this character we were promised, seemingly at all points on a knife-edge ad ready to go further than we’ve ever seen Batman before. He brings a raw, animalistic ferocity to the role no other actor has. His interactions with Irons as Alfred and his tortured nightmares from years of crime fighting open a window into his fractured mentality. Jesse Eisenberg’s turn as mad scientist and behind the scenes string puller Lex Luthor is eminently fun to watch.
Unfortunately that’s where the good things to say stop. This film doesn’t exist in a vacuum and when I compare to the so many other comic book films out there this falls woefully short. A disjointed plot, the constant shoehorning in of DC Universe connectivity and lacklustre performances that are given too much time compared to the great side performances drag this film down.
When compared to how Marvel have built their MCU, which is what Warner Bros. are trying to replicate, this lacks the organic feel in the way Marvel have done it. It feels forced and like it’s being rammed down my throat which speaks to the rushed way this was put together.
When you compare to the Christopher Nolan Batman films, you notice that nothing feels as real. Of course with the supernatural powers of the characters some parts were bound to be like this, but when the Batmobile doesn’t even feel real most of the time it gets lost in the CGI jumble Zack Snyder created.
Cavill barely moves the needle as Superman, I’d be confused by Wonder Woman even being there if I didn’t know it was just poor universe building. The dialogue outside of Bruce Wayne and Alfred interactions, or Fishburne’s Perry White, feels like its just soundbite’s to be used in a trailer and hardly like genuine interactions.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has so many of the elements that would make a great comic book movie. I wish that I could look at it in a vacuum, just on its own merit for what it is. A sometimes fun movie, with some good performances and a plot idea that once we’re through the unrelated nonsense works quite well. Yet when I compare, it does not stand up to the standards we’ve come to expect in both Universe building and as a standalone film, often side lining the best parts of the movie to shine a light on what brings it down.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Matt Spencer-Skeen – Follow me on Twitter
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