What should have been an epic battle between two of the Silver Screen’s most iconic gladiators, for the majority of its run time Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is a huge disappointment. And even more than that, you might think the title feels bloated and incomprehensible, but it aptly sums up the content of the film where a series of self-important monologues are punctuated by the angriest comic book violence ever committed to film.
Opening retrospectively on Man of Steel’s climactic battle between Superman (Henry Cavill) and General Zod (Michael Shannon), the film shifts its perspective down to the eye-level view of the victims on the streets of Metropolis as Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne circumnavigates the destruction. Helpless to save the workers trapped in his building A strong distrust of the two supermen quietly begins to brew inside Wayne as he’s forced to watch the gods level the city. But as Bruce/ Batman silently builds his contingency plan, powerful forces scheme to reign in Superman’s unchecked strength as Jesse Eisenberg, playing a gonzo interpretation of Lex Luthor, orchestrates more destructive cosmic threats to come to earth… or something. After a while it is difficult to extrapolate what everyone’s motivations actually are.
This is a film that feels like it has a grandiose scale, but its pretentious writing and hack editing leaves most of the characters’ motivations muddled and confusing. While there’s a supposed 4-hour R-rated version of the film waiting in the wings, there isn’t much hope that a version with a longer run time will clear up the film’s substantial shortcomings. Dawn of Justice’s characters are so repressed they must be reflecting the mindset of director Zach Snyder, who has turned the film into one big death march and taken all the fun out of the superhero mythos. Snyder’s Superman seems put upon to embrace his hero role, and his Batman has gone full vigilante as he maims and murders his way through Gotham. Each hero seems to have the same any-means-to-an-end belief about how to get the job done, and they end up leaving the villains broken down into a bloody pulp. One of the only characters who actually pops off the screen is Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, whose shoehorned introduction still somehow finds a way to outshine the two heroes.
Although the film wants to push the boundaries by having its stars view each other as antagonists, David S. Goyer’s script fails to come up with a believable catalyst to bring the two to blows. As a result Luthor’s plan feels both confusing and perfunctory, so when Batman and Superman eventually do battle, their fight doesn’t have the proper motivation to explain why they want to kill each other. This mandatory stalemate in turn robs the film of an actual conclusion, sending the filmmakers scrambling to create a new villain that feels tacked on to the third act to give the superheroes a “final boss” battle straight out of a videogame.
It appears that Warner Brothers is trying desperately to replicate the model of The Avengers franchise. But whereas The Avengers relied on multiple solo movies that built up to the 2012 climax, Dawn of Justice assumes that its established universe is ready to go, overloading the film with unnecessary bloat. As a result, the only purpose the film ultimately serves is to establish the origin story for The Justice League, an extreme example of putting the cart before the horse. But through the bloat and its tone-deaf 9/11 imagery, there are momentary sparks of brilliance, mostly having to do with the eclectic soundtrack scored by Howard Shore and Mad Max: Fury Road alum, Junkie XL. Ben Affleck also delivers a captivating performance as a much older, world-weary version of the Caped Crusader despite Snyder’s interference.
While several parts of the film work, they’re built on the shaky foundation that is Zach Snyder’s Man of Steel, a subpar Superman vehicle that never should have been the springboard for DC’s extended universe. But because Warner Bros. was quick to replicate Marvel’s success, its DC universe has now inherited Snyder’s pessimistic, tone-deaf worldview.
-Mike
