Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (’16 review)

3 outta 5

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a glorious mess.  The preceding film, Man of Steel, made Superman into a space alien disaster movie.   Odd fit but it worked.  Batman v Superman doesn’t have a guiding principle. Instead it takes a shotgun blast approach to characters, storylines, structure and pacing.  But for every bit that doesn’t work, or any scene that seems disconnected from another, this has a lot of great moments and cool beats.  Batman v Superman is an ungainly attempt to replicate what Marvel has done so well by building a cinematic universe but at least it has Superman, Batman and even Wonder Woman.  That’s a pass. 

When Superman (Henry Cavill) battled the evil Zod above Metropolis, it caused rampant destruction across the city, leaving excessive casualties in a building owned by billionaire Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck).  This means trouble for Superman, who is secretly mild mannered Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, because Bruce is secretly Batman who beats up criminals in Gotham City.   Kent doesn’t like the “Bat-vigilante” and Bruce thinks Superman is a dangerous alien.   The world is getting angrier at the body count Superman is leaving in his wake but Clark’s reporter girlfriend Lois Lane (Amy Adams) thinks he’s being framed.   Another billionaire, Lex Luthor (Jessie Eisenberg) researches taking Superman down while a mysterious woman, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) gets in the way of Bruce’s investigation.   All of this will eventually come to a head with Gods and mortals battling for supremacy.  

The movie flashes back to the mass destruction in the finale of Man of Steel and Director Zack Snyder doubles-down on the collateral damage, putting the audience as a tiny spectator as Gods battle above. Similar to Steel, the movie is paced with a lot of jabbering in the first hour and a half and action for the last hour.  While Man of Steel managed to tell a fairly compelling singular story, Batman v Superman instead has five running plotlines; Clark having angst about Batman, Bruce having angst about Superman, Lois hunting down leads, Lex investigating Kryptonian technology, and Diana glowering. The Lex stuff is a lot of icy glares at a U.S. Senator played by Holly Hunter which is sort of a drag.   The subplots battle for screen-time yet the disparate pieces come together in the finale.  Frustratingly, the actual Batman vs. Superman fight only takes up about 10 minutes, which seems like a cheat when that’s the movie’s title.  But it’s an awesome fight as Batman uses his greatest superpowers, smarts, science and money, to beat on Superman.   Just when it’s needed, Wonder Woman’s fantastic arrival kicks the chaos up another notch as three heroes confront a giant monster that is ticked off because … it’s a giant monster.  They tend to do that. 

Snyder opens with an operatic sequence of Martha and Thomas Wayne being gunned down set to a sweeping score by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL.  The biggest problem with Batman’s portrayal is Batman carelessly blowing up crooks. This Batman brands criminals with the bat emblem, which is fine because it befits a darker, meaner Batman but him killing people is a bit much.  His Batman owes a lot to Frank Miller’s iconic “Dark Knight Returns”.  Even the Batsuit looks like “Dark Knight Returns” and, happily, Affleck’s Batman has a fluidity of movement not seen in live action for Batman ever.  One big moment where Batman uses a gun to take out a crook is straight out of “Dark Knight Returns”so that’s cool. Affleck does well with what he’s given, which frankly isn’t much.  It’s more brooding by Batman than usual.  Generally, Batman should quip every once in a while but he’s almost perpetually dour.  Still, Sad Affleck is a decent fit.   

This is more of a sequel to Man of Steel as Superman, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor end up with the most screen-time.  Adams isn’t used all that great, she’s either sitting in tub pining for Clark or delivering needless exposition. Also Lois seems constantly on the verge of mortal peril which gets annoying after the third freakin’ time.  Eisenberg is over the top but enjoyable and he gets in a fantastic moment where Luthor gleefully exults in outsmarting Superman.   Lawrence Fishburne returns as Daily Planet editor in chief Perry White and he gets in a few funny lines as White is exasperated at the perpetually absent Lane and Kent.  Cavill best is when Superman is in full on God-mode, especially facing off against Batman.   Also one thing Cavill does well is selling Clark’s inherent goodness which works in the finale.  

Batman v Superman has a few shameless plugs for the eventual Justice League movie, complete with a scene where Diana watches little montages of each future team member.  Wonder Woman’s entire part seems like a tease for other films. There is delectable geek joy in seeing Darkseid’s Omega Signal, Flash running into the past, and Parademons swooping in from the sky but it comes across as promotional nonsense and not the living universe Marvel has integrated for its movies.   

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice throws the entire DC Universe at the audience and doesn’t bother letting them catch up.  It’s awkwardly paced and haphazardly structured but when the superheroes fly it skates by on pure, overstuffed bombast.