Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) - Theatrical Review

Director: Zack Snyder

Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Gal Gadot

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 150 min

I recently revisited Zack Snyder's Man of Steel in order to freshen up on the newly implemented DC Extended Universe. Although I hadn't seen the film since its initial release, I wanted to re-watch it with new eyes a solid three years later in order to give it and Snyder's vision a second chance. While it was a treat to rediscover its pleasures (i.e. Zimmer's incredible score, Snyder's knack for visuals, Cavill's performance, and the entire Fall of Krypton prologue), the rest of the film played worse than I remembered. Therefore, I had hope that both Snyder, screenwriter David S. Goyer, and Warner Bros had learned from their mistakes in order to make Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the semi-sequel/blatant cash grab, a far superior superhero epic. Besides the obvious Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I can't recall a more highly anticipated and hugely advertised blockbuster in recent memory.

Unfortunately, Snyder has learned nothing since Man of Steel. In fact, he has actually devolved as a filmmaker. There's no other way around it; Batman v Superman is a lousy superhero epic. It's not only more inept than Man of Steel, but miraculously one of the most boring superhero films ever made. It is nothing more than a corporate and studio produced product meant to catch up with Marvel's Cinematic Universe and earn loads of box office dollars along the way. It's almost shocking to believe that such a high profile project, featuring two of media's most iconic characters for the first time ever, could turn out so poorly. In all honesty, I'd much rather watch terrible but entertaining flicks like Superman IV: The Quest for Peace or Batman and Robin over this dull and self serious soap opera of superhero antics that leaves no lasting impression. Besides some solid Batman-centric action sequences, an intriguing exploration of the politics and philosophy of Superman's power, and Zimmer's returning score, Batman v Superman is a nearly joyless affair.

"Do you bleed? Cause you will."

Good luck deciphering a discernible plot amongst this amalgamation of scenes lacking a narrative through-line, as Batman v Superman is nothing but overly complicated from square one. When Zod and Superman (Henry Cavill) engaged in a city leveling battle at the end of Man of Steel, it turns out that several of Bruce Wayne's (Ben Affleck) employees were injured or killed in the aftermath. Fast forward 18 months later, and both the government and public find themselves questioning whether or not Superman should be allowed to police crime with the level of power that he possesses. As pressure mounts against Superman from both the Senate and Alexander Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), Wayne dons a cape and cowl in order to become the Batman, a masked vigilante.

Tensions eventually rise to a boil between both heroes, leading to a battle of the century based on one another's personal discrepancies and outside influences. However, the two eventually put aside their differences in order to team up against Luthor's destructive alien creation, Doomsday, an unstoppable Kryptonian creature. More fighting ensues, buildings fall, and Wonder Woman joins in for no good reason other than too "expand" Warner Bros' desperate cinematic universe of DC Comics characters. Oh boy, where to begin with this one?

Batman v Superman's plot is made far more complex due to its numerous unnecessary and head scratching universe building scenes galore. Snyder and company seem overly concerned with setting up a larger universe at hand to the point where they are willing to sacrifice their film's practicality in favor of desperate world building. Several odd dream sequences and superhero cameos plague the entire story and rarely add to the plot at hand. One dream sequence in particular truly baffles, as Batman fights off a horde of armed Superman soldiers and flying bugs, which than leads immediately into another dream sequence where a superhero, who shall remain nameless, cameos in a time travel scene meant to set up a future plot point. What the heck is going on?

Snyder even brings the plot to a stand still at one point in order for Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) to view footage of newly discovered superheroes on a lap top right before Batman and Superman fight! Talk about halting all momentum and tension! And speaking of Wonder Woman, Snyder spends no time explaining or depicting her character beyond her strength and powers, thereby proving her inclusion useless. Batman v Superman proves Warner Bros' desperation to build a larger universe instead of delivering a solid film first; which they have yet to do considering their track record of 0-2.

Luthor smiles at all of your suckers, including myself, who paid to see this schlock.

One of my biggest issues with Batman v Superman is that it is not the natural or organic continuation of Man of Steel. While the exploration of Superman's collateral damage from the end of Man of Steel is a natural continuation, and in all honesty a response to fans' chagrin to the end of that film, an epic smack down between Batman and Superman should not be the next step in this universe. After all, no one has been introduced to any of these new characters yet, and here we are already at the epic show down of the century.

The film loosely adapts elements from two of the most famous DC comic book stories of all time: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman. Let both of those titles be a spoiler warning for those who have not seen the film yet. Anyways, neither comic book story is done justice, as only choice imagery and plot elements are taken in order to form a mish-mashed plot of nonsensicalness. In a sense, Doomsday is the perfect visual metaphor for this film's plot, an ugly and incoherent beast compiled of several different parts that don't quite go together. Warner Bros. is so overly concerned with making money and catching up with Marvel's world building, that they actually lead their second film with two of the biggest stories of all time. A Superman sequel, let alone a solo-Batman film, would have been a more natural continuation. Regardless, Warner Bros. has proven themselves to not be exact "copy-cats" of Marvel's Cinematic Universe, as they have completely forgone quality cinematic storytelling in favor of whatever marketable event will get audiences' butts into theater seats.

Snyder commits the same sins with Batman v Superman as he did with Man of Steel, crafting an overlong blockbuster than runs for nearly two and a half hours in length. Snyder has proven himself to be an expert at delivering cinematic gauntlets that act more as torture sessions or endurance tests than they do enjoyable or entertaining cinematic experiences. After a particularly dull and emotionless first half, Snyder dives head first into what he does best worst, non-stop action that over runs its stay long before it ends. By the time Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman team up to fight Doomsday, the film exhausts all momentum, or any momentum, it already had building up to the finale. 

The holy trinity is here...and I couldn't care less.

If you thought that Snyder had brought Superman down to Batman's level of self-deprecation and brooding with Man of Steel, wait until you see both characters on screen at his fingertips. Superman is portrayed at his dullest and drabbest to the point where he ceases to be the Superman that people know and love. Ben Affleck's Batman, arguably the highlight of the film, even proves to be wasteful, as his character is imbued with zero personality or charisma. It turns out that DC's rumored "no jokes allowed" rule did nothing but drain their characters of any character in the first place. With such flat characters, and an overly serious tone that borders on accidental hilarity, Batman v Superman is nothing but melodrama.

Another major issue with the film is that it doesn't bother to introduce any character or their motivation and instead coasts on the work laid out by previous Batman and Superman films. Although Jeremy Irons looks to be a promising Alfred, more of a technical sidekick to Batman's brawler, he is given no proper introduction. Lex Luthor, who operates as the film's main baddie, is also given no introduction and barely feels defined beyond, "evil genius," which is about as archetypal as a villain can get. Every single character in the film is always in service of the plot, which happens to make no sense in the first place. Therefore, Snyder forgoes character entirely for plot, thereby crafting one of the least human superhero dramas to date.

From an action stand point, Batman v Superman is a big improvement over Man of Steel, mainly because its action is a tad more grounded (i.e. guns, fists, cars, etc). Whenever Batman takes the center stage and goes up against criminals, the film roars to life. Super fans will be nerding out over these action sequences for some time now. However, when the film reaches its climactic showdown between Batman and Superman, it completely falls apart. The fight is not only dull and lifeless, but the reasons behind said fight are overly complicated. I honestly could not tell you what makes Batman turn on a dime against Superman, and than back to being his friend. It's all plot contrivances and conveniences, nothing natural or believable.

"They have a cave troll."

If you've seen the trailers for Batman v Superman, than you have already seen the film. Besides small cameos here and there, set ups for future sequels, and an unearned final death, everything else in the film as expected. Batman comes to dislike Superman, Superman deals with the public's animosity, Luthor plots against the two, Batman and Superman fight each other, Batman and Superman fight giant generic monster, Wonder Woman shows up, the end. Superhero cinema doesn't get more uninspired and lifeless than Batman v Superman, other than last year's train wreck, Fantastic Four. 

However, I think the greatest problem at hand are the people working on this property. Besides Snyder, who has proven himself to be as distasteful as Michael Bay, Warner Bros. needs to stop giving screenwriter David S. Goyer a crack at the character. Warner Bros. is clearly still working in the shadow of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, which Goyer partially penned, as they can't seem to depict any other Batman now than a dark and brooding one. Therefore, Warner needs to completely reboot their Batman character and tackle an edgier and fresher artistic approach, not the same old thing. Unfortunately, this new Batman iteration is meant to launch an all new franchise, so there's no hope for something new for a long while. In conclusion, Batman v Superman is not only a terrible movie, but it is neither a Batman or a Superman movie. In fact, it's not even a movie. It's a product. I guess that's the most damning criticism I can lay upon the film. Much the same way that I wished no luck upon future Terminator: Genisys sequels, I hope that Warner Bros' new franchise crashes and burns.

Rating: 3/10 - An overly self serious and immensely dull blockbuster that fails to entertain or intrigue beyond a few choice scenes of political conversation and exciting Batman action.

Related Reviews:

Man of Steel (Zack Snyder, 2013)