Hold your horses, folks. Yes, critics have given a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, yet 73% from the general audience. But let’s not forget that film is subjective. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a missed oppurtunity that had the potential to be a one of the best superhero films of all time. And if you do rely on opinions from sources like Rotten Tomatoes, you can see that the verdict has never been so vastly different. When’s the last time you saw a blockbuster film that rated on opposite ends, dividing fans from critics? Zootopia rated 99% from critics and 95% from the audience for goodness sake. So where did Zack Snyder’s recent project go wrong?
Before raving like a lunatic or throwing tantrums about how they ruined certain characters for you, take a step back and try to understand the survival story that is the trainwreck of a film called Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. First thing is first, stop comparing other DC Comic/WB films to The Dark Knight. It’s a losing battle, and these two films are completely different. The only thing connecting these comicbook adapted films are well, they have superheroes in them. The genres, however, differ. Unfortunately, BvS is a complete mess – a one of a kind film that we are required to watch.
For the first time in cinematic history, two of the biggest and most popular superheroes of all-time do battle. Well, kind of. Without giving out spoilers, there wasn’t much of the versus battle between the two. On the plus side, when the battle does happen, it’s one heck of a show. And that’s where Snyder shines. This man is a visionary, his skills in aesthetics are magnificent. His storytelling, on the other hand, is left to be desired. Snyder has always struggled with this, no surprise there. Either the script wasn’t good enough (and it’s apparent on-screen) or Snyder simply couldn’t put the pieces together. Let’s say both for argument’s sake because the editing is horrendous.
The only real performance that most people were looking forward to was Ben Affleck’s take on Bruce Wayne/Batman. While it isn’t an unanmous decicions, most people actually loved his performance as The Batman. Comicbook loyalist will tell you this is a pretty good adaptation to Frank Miller’s Batman back in the mid 80s. The new take on Batman is absolutely brutal and raw, and possibly the darkest in the character’s history on screen. Stating these facts, these elements set up the theme for the entire film. It’s pretty dark. In fact, it’s highly recommended that you do not bring your children to watch with you.
Even though this film looks like a total mess, it does leave glimpses of hope. The battle sequences are what you would expect; it’s pure entertainment. The film is actually still entertaining with so many nagging issues. Although the film is 20 minutes too long (of its two hours and 30 minutes runtime), the set-up for the upcoming Justice League film was actually well done.
We can’t say the same with the involvement of Wonder Woman. Gal Gadot isn’t the greatest actress (nowhere near it), which is a cause for serious concern once her standalone film comes out. Her presence in the film neither hurt nor helped the film. Whatever screentime she managed to get was good enough, but not horrible. And poor Henry Cavill, once again, is given room to deliver lines that make him look more alien than human. Then again, that could possibly be the objective. He is from Krypton after all, but who knew Superman could be as tolerable as Bella Swan? Cringe. It’s a shame such a good actor is put to near waste in a costume where little is left for the imagination. Let’s not forget the short intros or cameos by the other four major superheros joining the Justice League. Let’s just say it could have been handled better.
This film might leave many of us perplexed, not understanding completely why we are drawn to watch it again for a second or third time. If too much is thrown into this movie, with bad storytelling and drab dialogue, how are we still desiring to watch this epic clash of the two biggest superheroes of all time? Well, the answer is within the question itself. It’s Batman. It’s Superman. Why wouldn’t you want to see a spetacular show between two titans of the game? If a fan really had to rate honestly, he or she could give it a 7 out of 10.
