Spoiler Alert: This article may contain spoilers for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
So, I went to watch Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice yesterday and while my inner nerd self was gushing with happiness, at the same time I was damn agitated by numerous aspects in the movie that I thought had either been done before or were completely unnecessary in the film.
Basically, it was too long and ripped off the Marvel Cinematic Universe every 5 minutes. You could say I am a tiny bit biased towards Marvel because they’re the first superhero franchise I ever experienced, but it doesn’t take a nerd to tell that Zack Snyder (wannabe Joss Wheadon) wanted too much from the movie. Because of this, he eventually got lost in a maze of details and couldn’t get out (kind of like me in a maze five years ago).
So, let’s break it down: What went right and what went wrong with the movie.
Stuff Going For the Movie
Ben Affleck as Batman
There have been many incarnations of Bruce Wayne over the years which involve great performances, but Ben Affleck’s Batman is by far the most superior of the lot, beating Christian Bale by only a hairline.
He brings a sense of authenticity to the character as he puts on the alias of being a playboy, and also brings a certain awesomeness to the Batman. During the movie, I was completely convinced of Batman’s agenda and the reasons for his hatred of Superman.
And how can I not mention the amazing Bat voice.
Tell me, do you bleed?
Every time I hear his voice, a part of me just evolves to his amazing-ness (I can’t think of any other way to describe the feeling). He also, thankfully, doesn’t sound like he has throat cancer, *cough* Christian Bale *cough*.
The Fight Sequences
There are a couple of fights during the movie, the first being Batman taking on Superman with Kryptonite. It’s one of the best fight scenes I have ever scene (get the pun?), maybe because Superman gets his backside kicked pretty badly, but mostly because of the visual masterpiece that it is.
The second is the fight between Doomsday and Wonder Woman, Batman and sometimes Superman. It wasn’t as good as the first, but nevertheless, it was freakin’ awesome.
The Soundtrack
Every character in the movie gets their very own soundtrack in the movie and all of them are so motivational that if I played them during a workout, I would be strong enough to be Batman myself! But honestly, it’s worth paying for the movie just for the soundtrack. If they weren’t available on YouTube. Which they are. So…
Stuff Not Going for the Movie (This is a Long List)
It’s Too Long, Yaar
The movie has a runtime of almost 2 hours and 40 minutes (if you factor in waiting for the sadly non-existent end credits scene). At one point, I just wanted the movie to end, it was dragging like a limping horse being forced to run a marathon (horses don’t actually run marathons, chill).
There was also a lot of stuff the movie could have easily done without, like the whole Doomsday thing. They could have just as easily ended at the fight between Batman and Superman. They could have also skipped the whole funeral for Superman because all it actually does it set up the Justice League because everyone knows Superman isn’t actually dead.
There’s just too much going on in the movie to focus on one thing. They should have waited. I feel like DC was so excited to launch their own shared multiverse that they forgot to set everything up. For example, Marvel Studios is only doing Captain America: Civil War after doing all the solo movies and Avengers movies. They’ve established their characters and won’t have to waste any time on setting them up. Also, we’ve known those characters for a long time and, if not relate to them, we atleast understand them. By doing this, Marvel has created controversy when it comes to who’s right, Iron Man or Captain America (I’m Team Iron Man by the way).
DC wanted to pull off a Marvel, but it’s too early. They should have done solo films first. Because of this, the movie seemed more like a 3 hour trailer for Justice League, and it mainly set up Cyborg, Flash, Wonder Woman and Aquaman (ew).
Dark Superman Seems Too Forced
Director Zack Snyder and producer Christopher Nolan created a dark, psychopathic version of Superman for the movie, probably to sustain the Batman-ish tone of the film. For me, that doesn’t work, this is because Superman is supposed to be an icon of peace, hope and the American way. He is none of those in this movie. In fact, he seems to be no hero other than for Lois Lane. He’s not shown to be doing any heroics other than to save his beloved, even during the final showdown with Doomsday. He says he’s sacrificing himself to save his world, and that Lois IS his world. I don’t like that. He’s not a hero in the movie, he’s the saviour of Lois Lane, that’s it. Oh, and also the guy they cast to play Superman (Henry Cavill) has the acting range of a crumpet.
Trailer Gave Too Much Away
The final trailer, I feel, gave away too much of the story. Particularly the presence of Doomsday in the movie. If only they hadn’t told us Doomsday was in the movie, we wouldn’t have minded his presence (Read: IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FREAKIN’ AWESOME!!). But again, Zack Snyder wanted to pull off a Marvel (for example, showing Spiderman in the latest Civil War trailer), but the fact is, everyone already knew Spiderman was in the movie, that’s the only reason he was in the trailer. We had no idea Doomsday was in the movie, and if they had kept it a surprise, maybe I wouldn’t be writing this review.
They Lost Their Individuality
The movie was trying to be too much. Zack Snyder wanted it to be a dark movie but also wanted to make it humorous much like the Marvel movies. So, he put in a few characters who were funny like Alfred and Perry White. That’s all fine. But the problem arose when he tried to make Batman funny. He’s not that character. He’s NOT Tony Stark, as much as Zack Snyder wanted him to be. All that humour doesn’t fit in with the dark tone of the movie. So, if only Zack Snyder would have kept DC like DC is supposed to be, this movie would have been much better.
Marvel Rip-Off
I left this point for the end because, why not? It doesn’t take a genius to recognise the striking similarities between this movie and countless other Marvel movies. For example, Superman taking a government-fired missile aimed at a metropolitan city into outer space to use it on the enemy sounds a lot like what Iron Man did at the end of The Avengers. Or how Superman had to sacrifice himself at the end of the movie in a Captain America sort of way. Even how Superman dies at the end resembles the death of Captain America at the end of the Civil War comics. Some hardcore DC fans will argue it’s taken from the comic The Dark Knight Returns. Now that they’d ripped off Marvel to this extent, why not complete it with an awesome cnd credits scene? But, no. Director Zack Snyder avoided this to make sure people don’t call it a Marvel rip-off, but people kind of expected the end credits scene, and you left them disappointed, Snyder.
Mortal Enemies to Best Buddies
No one goes from hating someone to being their best buddy in a matter of seconds! This is exactly what happened when Batman realised both his and Superman’s mother have the same name. It seems too quick and unnatural for me to believe, but who knows? I don’t have friends anyway.
Batman Uses a Gun
As awesome as Batman is in this movie, he uses a gun. Which is not cool, Snyder! Batman doesn’t use a gun because that’s the weapon that killed his parents. He prefers to fight without it. But here, he forges bullets of Kryptonite (another thing the movie could have done without) and makes a gun. Using his Kryptonite spear would have been much cooler.
In conclusion, I feel DC could have utilised these amazing characters in a much better way. They just didn’t do it the way they could and should have. But who knows, because even after writing something so critical, I am going back to watch the movie again, so… Fresh Potato Score: 67/100 (Wonder Woman and Batman were amazing).
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