I’ll admit, I had a tough time starting the writing of this one. It wasn’t any type of writer’s block or uncertainty about my option on DC Comics first major thrust into the expanded universe dynamic with BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. It’s more because I wanted to make it perfectly clear that I am so mixed on this film that I forced myself to write multiple lists about what I loved, liked, and disliked about the film, which is so grand in its scope that it’s fairly simple to say “This 20 minutes is spectacular” and “These 15 minutes are excruciating.” In perhaps the strangest twist of all, Batman v Superman feels remarkably like both the vision of singular filmmaker (in this case, director Zack Snyder, who has also tackled the comic book medium in such films as 300 and WATCHMEN) and a film made committee to weed out what was perceived as not working and building up the safe-bet material, which is likely why Superman (the returning and more confident Henry Cavill) feels like a supporting player in his own sequel.
BATMAN V SUPERMAN is so committed to being a sequel that it opens with the last 15 minutes or so of the epic “Leveling of Metropolis” sequence from Man of Steel, but seen from the perspective of Wayne Enterprises CEO Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), who drives into the fray from the neighboring Gotham City (across the bay, we’re told) only to watch his beloved corporate headquarters come crashing down during the world-altering battle between Superman and General Zod (Michael Shannon). And thus begins Wayne’s intense distrust of the alien Superman and his quest to neutralize him as a potential threat.
This is actually a great set-up. Although for someone whose main objective is ridding his streets of crime, Batman assuming the worst about a guy who seems to genuinely want to save every member of the human race seems somewhat unfounded and oversimplified. But Wayne, now older, if not wiser, than we’ve seen him portrayed in films before, has a history of watching those closest to him die, so his perception is perhaps skewed. Yes we get to once again watch Wayne’s parents die in a brief flashback, and it clearly haunts the man in his adult life. There’s also a glimpse in the Batcave of a Robin costume with Joker’s scrawl upon the breastplate indicating that his partner died at the hands of another clown in a costume.
This much darker comic book universe (darker than what Marvel is up to, certainly) doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I like that Batman broods, as much as I love that the filmmakers play up that fact that Wayne is a womanizer and a bit of a dick. While Superman certainly has the sunnier disposition, he’s got issues of his own. He doesn’t embrace the idea that some people viewing him as god-like, but he doesn’t exactly discourage it either. He seems to find value in being viewed that way, even if it’s as a deterrent for future criminals. Superman is also still feeling guilty about being the last Kryptonian (or is he?) after killing Zod and about the people who sometimes die in the collateral damage of his power-fueled battles. Cavill is certainly capable of handling these new emotional responsibilities, but that doesn’t really matter since screenwriters Chris Terrio (an Oscar winner for ARGO) and David S. Goyer (DARK CITY, BATMAN BEGINS, and all the BLADE films) can’t seem to find the core of Superman/Clark Kent without putting his mother (Diane Lane) AND his lady friend Lois Lane (Amy Adams) in peril.
The master manipulator of both heroes is Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), who is one of the most interesting characters in the film despite relying a bit too much on Luthor between twitchy, slightly insane, and front loaded with daddy issues. No matter the Superman movie, one thing remains constant—Luthor will be your bad guy, and he’ll attack Superman with a combination of smarts and a handful of kryptonite, and Eisenberg’s incarnation is no different. And through all of his connivances, his only goal seems to be to get Batman and Superman to fight to the death, to what ultimate goal remains mostly unclear. I did like how his initial plan to steal a stash of kryptonite is foiled by Batman, only to have Batman forge weapons out of the substance to accomplish the same goals as Luthor. I guess if your own nefarious plans don’t pan out, you just get your enemy to carry them out for you. That’s kind of ingenious.
BATMAN V SUPERMAN’s biggest issues have to do with attempting to pack so much information and so many characters into one super-sized movie. We glimpse Clark Kent’s work at the Daily Planet, so we are forced to include Lois as well as minor characters from MAN OF STEEL, including Perry White (Laurence Fishburne). Batman brings his own baggage in the form of manservant and techno-ween Alfred (Jeremy Irons). Even Luthor has a posse, including his assistant Mercy (Tao Okamoto), henchman Anatoli (Callan Mulvey), and we should probably throw in Holly Hunter’s anti-alien Senator Finch.
And since Snyder is in charge of setting up (and directing) the super-team film JUSTICE LEAGUE (which I can’t believe is opening next November), we’re forced to watch him crowbar in “appearances” by future members of that team as well (and don’t even get me started on a couple of weird dream sequences/premonitions that Batman has). The exception to these wedged in introductions is the appearance of Wonder Woman/Diana Prince (Gal Gadot of the FAST & FURIOUS films and the recent TRIPLE 9) as a fairly strong character, whose interests in Luthor seem to run parallel to Batman’s. Naturally when Wayne first talks to Prince, he hits on her with the grace of a horny rabbit, but the two do have a banter that passes for chemistry. It certainly feels more like chemistry than Superman and Lois Lane have ver had in these films. A bathtub scene featuring a strategically (not) naked Lane reeks of desperation.
A subplot that is actually a key point of BATMAN V SUPERMAN involves Scoot McNairy’s Wallace Keefe, a Wayne employee paralyzed in the attack on Metropolis who is maneuvered and influenced by Luthor to do some truly terrible things. More than any other messages about false gods, vigilante justice gone too far, or the dangers of preemptively neutralizing your enemy, there’s a thread hear about being so preoccupied with potential dangers “out there” that we fail to notice the very homegrown threat developing from within. It’s a powerful message that is all but lost in Snyder’s super-powered clutter.
The one thing this film does not really care about is answering the question proposed in the title: Who would in in a fight between Batman and Superman? Anyone who doesn’t know before you even step inside the theater that cooler heads will prevail and no one gets to win the fight is a dummy of the highest order. As it should be, the point becomes that combining forces (along with Wonder Woman) solves problems that fighting alone or against each other simply doesn’t.
I’ll fully cop to the fact that I love this version of Batman. Gone is Christopher Nolan’s sleek, stealthy Dark Knight. Affleck’s version is looking to be a monster, feared by criminals and good citizens alike. He’s like sending in a tank to breakup a schoolyard fight. He’s looking to do damage and send a message (he brands a bat symbol into the skin of those he captures), and he doesn’t care an iota if he’s perceive as a villain or not. He’s cocksure, angry and ruthless. It’s entirely possible that the deep-rooted reason that he distrusts Superman is that he can’t fathom that anyone is that good a person. Affleck leaves nothing to chance—if there’s a weakness in the script, he deals with it in his performance.
There are action set pieces in BATMAN V SUPERMAN that are phenomenal. The punches land so hard, you can hear the internal bleeding. They are messy, gritty and dirty fights that aren’t about posing or looking cool (not that our heroes don’t at times); these players just want to cause damage. It’s what Snyder does best, and most of the time it works. What works less are the director’s attempts to get to the emotional core of his characters. Instead of relying on acting and good writing, Snyder thinks that slow-motion images and sentimental music are going to stir us more than caring about these characters.
It’s a genuine missed opportunity, and it hurts the film, keeping it from being great through and though. BATMAN V SUPERMAN isn’t the trainwreck you’ve been led to believe, but there are quite a few amateur-hour mistakes scattered among the art direction that combine to make the film a lesser entity and ultimately a disappointment, despite some key victories. And because so much of the film exists at night and/or in the dark, I can’t imagine how terrible it would look in 3-D, so you might want to avoid that.
