Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

“The Bat is dead.  Bury it.  Consider this mercy”  Superman to Batman in Batman v. Superman

The above quote, which takes place about an hour into Batman v Superman; Dawn of Justice, is an example of where I disagree with director Zack Synder’s interpretation of Superman.  When Superman comes across as threatening he loses the nobility which is a cornerstone of the character.  Even in this post 9/11 world Superman doesn’t need to use tough talk more akin to 24’s Jack Bauer or a Clint Eastwood cop because he doesn’t have to.  By behaving this way, he fuels the concern many of the characters in this new series have about an alien in their midst.

I was mixed on Man of Steel, appreciating some of the changes, like Lois figuring out who Clark is early on, but not enjoying the excessive destruction of the protracted third act nor David S. Goyer’s heavy handed dialogue.  Man of Steel was more profitable for Warner Brothers than the more traditional Superman Returns, which I loved, but even with $668 million in worldwide box office returns, it still fell far below the box office take of the last two Nolan Batman films.  

Perhaps that reason drove the idea to combine the two characters and start a Justice League franchise based on the DC comic book characters to rival the highly successful Marvel franchise.  Iron Man took two films to set up the other films but perhaps Snyder and/or Warner Brothers did not feel a Man of Steel sequel could draw enough of an audience on its own. 

In 2002, at a time when both the Batman and Superman film franchises were dormant, a report came out indicating that Wolfgang Petersen, (director of Das Boot, In the Line of Fire and Air Force One) was attached to direct a film called Batman v. Superman.  This idea excited me since I had enjoyed Petersen’s work and I knew he could make it exciting, though it was ultimately scrapped.  When Snyder, whose Man of Steel I respected less (and I have not seen 300 or The Watchmen, two other films he has directed), was announced as the director it seemed like the film might be the waste of an interesting idea.

The casting of Ben Affleck caused a lot of controversy, when announced, all of this within a few months of the initial release of Man of Steel.  I wondered why.  Despite tabloid fascination with some of his public romances, which never interested me and was long past by the time this announcement was made, Affleck has to me always been a pretty committed actor, with some fine films (Sum of All Fears, Changing Lanes, Good Will Hunting) and some duds (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor-I never saw Gigli) but all actors have a mixed resume.  More recently Affleck had made himself into a very respected director which Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo (the last two in which he also starred).  Each film, a dramatic thriller, had a superbly crafted story and some nail biting moments.  Affleck earlier that year won an Oscar for producing Argo, which won Best Picture.  In his early 40s, extremely fit, and with a clear intelligence I thought Affleck could present a more mature Batman to contrast Cavill’s early 30s Superman.  I had a feeling, as when Daniel Craig was announced as James Bond in Casino Royale, that all the doubters would be proved wrong.

One of the best choices Affleck made was to bring Chris Terrio, who scripted Argo, into this project since the story is better crafted and the dialogue is sharper than the meandering Man of Steel, even though Man of Steel writer David Goyer has a secondary credit.  Batman v Superman was released in March 2016, about six weeks ahead of Marvel’s Captain America; Civil War which featured a similar battle between Captain America and Iron Man.  Warner Brothers was wise to put their film out first since, even with the upgrades from the previous installment, it is the far less compelling film of the two and would have suffered a lot by comparison.

The cast is filled out by the returning Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, and  Diane Lane as Martha Kent.  New to the story are Gal Godot as Wonder Woman, Jesse Eisenburg, as Lex Luthor, Holly Hunter as Senator Finch, and Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Bruce’s Wayne’s butler and assistant.  The story sets up the much promoted battle between Batman and Superman as staged by Lex Luthor who also uses Kryptonian DNA from General Zod’s body to form a creature named Doomsday.  

Snyder’s direction is a little more subtle than in Man of Steel, but still has none of the depth or character reverence that Nolan or Bryan Singer showed in their respective films.   I appreciate that the film shows consequences to the excessive destruction from Man of Steel and resulting split public reaction to Superman.  But the film shows few scenes of Superman saving people other than Lois, which I think is a wasted opportunity since his desire to help others is supposed to drive him.  There is no single moment when we see Clark change into Superman.

 I will make some brief remarks about some specific scenes and sequences in the body of the film.  As always I discuss spoilers so please watch the film first.

One of the few comic books I have read is Death of Superman which clearly influenced the climax of this film.  Presumably comic book storylines figure into other parts of the plot but I could not speak to them.

The prologue repeats beats from several Batman films, showing the death of Bruce’s parents in a robbery and its aftermath.  I think this is unnecessary and seems to only exist to set up that Bruce’s mother is named Martha.

Far more successful is the alternative view on the ground from the fight between Zod and Superman from Man of Steel.  The helplessness of Bruce’s desperate attempt to reach his Metropolis building while the city is facing so much destruction is captured and motivates his anger at Superman.

Superman’s rescue of Lois in Africa is uncomfortably violent even though the warlord seemed to be a despicable character.  It also seems like some of the scene referenced later is missing.

I enjoyed the interesting idea of Lois and Clark cohabitating but wish we saw more of it.  The film is also unique in that Amy Adams is several years older than Henry Cavill, which feels appropriate for the characters but is rare in a Hollywood production.

Affleck’s brooding, embittered Wayne/Batman, whose partner Robin was seemingly killed by The Joker, is the most interesting character in the film.  Irons, who despite his age is pretty spry, is casting against type as Alfred and has some of the film’s best lines.  I sensed that this Alfred could put on the suit and be Batman himself if he had to.

Eisenburg with his usual supersonic line delivery is an unconventional choice for Luthor.  However Eisenburg has always portrayed arrogant intelligence well and his presence gives the film an energy it desperately needs.  Luthor’s long hair and tendency to look at other characters a little too long are appropriately discomforting.  The scene with the Jolly Ranchers, as Luthor gets Finch’s aide to work him seemed like needless product placement.

The party scene has a couple of good moments, although Bruce comes across as a bit thuggish for someone who should be pretty used this type of setting.  Neither Clark nor Bruce appears to make any effort to hide their identities.  There are two standout moments here.  First, Clark’s hearing Alfred’s speaking to Bruce on his earpiece and Diana Prince upending Bruce’s plan.

The dream sequence or flash forward of Superman holding Batman captive and sneering at him feels completely wrong for a Superman movie.

The scene with the building explosion during the hearing is horrifying.  The effect is more pronounced since Superman is present, though I found it disappointing that after so much build up Superman does not say anything.  Superman’s silence tells me the writers could not think of anything interesting for him to say.

Superman’s subsequent guilt is fitting and his unexpected reunion with the departed Jonathan Kent makes for I believe the only time Kevin Costner has played a part more than once.  Kent’s unexplained appearance might seem odd to some viewers but I appreciated that at that point he just needed to talk to his dad.  Whether it was all in his head or if Kent was a ghost is unimportant.

The scene in which Superman and Lex confront each other on the rooftop faces up to the challenge as to why Superman does not just turn Luthor in or tear him apart.  Eisenburg’s odd unpredictability as he throws the polaroids to the ground make Superman seem helpless despite all his power, helped a bit by the staging.  Hans Zimmer’s score underlines the wackiness of the scene.  

The big fight promised by the title does not disappoint.  Up to this point the film has a lot of short scenes but it stays with the fight for about 10 minutes.  Batman looks fearsome with the glowing eyes (also seen in the climax of The Dark Knight) and his extra level of armor, defying Superman’s earlier order to ignore the Bat Signal by standing right in front of it.  Batman is determined to follow through even though inside he is unsure if this is the right path.  Superman initially wants to avoid a conflict but his determination to save his mother and anger that he is being attacked does eventually seem to awaken a bloodlust as he has killed before.  Batman’s traps are a little reminiscent of Lex Luthor’s in cut scenes from the first Christopher Reeve Superman film.   Superman’s violent way of taking off transcends into his way of pushing Batman, which seem to affect Batman far more than he expected.  His experience as a fighter effectively neutralizes Superman, mixed with the kryptonite he has stolen from Luthor.  The final beating Batman lays on Superman is appropriately intense as he fulfills the promise to make Superman bleed. 

Many viewers do not like the idea that Batman’s is stopped by hearing Superman say his mother’s name.  I actually like the idea of Superman asking his killer to save his mother, recognizing that Batman is taking this misguided action at least in part to protect the public.  The problem is Snyder’s heavy-handed way of presenting it with a montage of flashbacks.  The audience heard Bruce’s father say it clearly and a simple audio clip of “Martha” would have been sufficient.  Affleck’s conflicted reaction more than fills in the blanks.

The following sequence in which Batman goes after Martha and takes out about two dozen henchmen (which seems like a lot to guard one prisoner) is appropriately thrilling and gives Batman a redemptive moment.  It also allows for a reunion from the interesting film Hollywoodland, in which Affleck played Superman actor George Reeves and Diane Lane as Toni Mannix, the wife of an MGM executive that Reeves was involved with.

This leads to the climactic battle in which Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman face off against Doomsday.  Wonder Woman seems to make the biggest impression, in part because we in the audience are seeing her in action for the first time.   Wonder Woman seems fearless and is introduced with an electric cello riff that is unique but does not seem to have much of a melody.  The sequence is drawn out though, but never leads to the dullness of the endless fighting of Man of Steel.  

Superman’s final violent sacrifice, which I anticipated would occur in some form due to the presence of Doomsday, is acted and scored for maximum impact and I felt that here Superman’s noble nature, perhaps dulled by the killing of Zod in the previous film, had now been restored. 

Batman must be exhausted after fighting Superman, Luthor’s henchmen, and Doomsday all in one night. 

The film wisely does not end here but takes a little time to process the passing, both in the eyes of the public and amongst Superman’s loved ones, particularly Lois.  Batman’s scene in the jail cell where he threatens Luthor is reminiscent of a similar scene with The Joker in The Dark Knight.  As before Batman’s threats are only partially successful since he realizes he will need Luthor to combat future threats. 

The final scene in which Lois drops the dirt on the coffin and the dirt starts to levitate, which Lois does not see, indicates that Superman is alive in some way.  The Dark Knight Rises ended similarly, allowing people to mourn and finally fully appreciate the hero who had given so much to save them, only to reveal that he was actually alive.  I imagine the idea is to have Superman off-screen in the early portions of the upcoming Justice League movie, the trailer of which indicates that Batman will be recruiting them to combat the incoming threats. 

In conclusion I think Batman v Superman is a better film than a Man of Steel.  However it did not automatically make me eager to see the next DC films.  Snyder has a lot of interesting ideas but not a great sense of how to make them fun for the audience or create a sense of drama.  Hopefully the series becomes an overall treat for fans.  Nonetheless for its strengths I give Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice *** (out of 5).