Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Starring: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams
Directed by: Zack Snyder


The wait is finally over! Batman and Superman are finally going at it on the big screen! This is going to be....OH MY GOD NOOOOOO!!!!! If you have been paying attention to the internet since the release of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, the general consensus is pretty split between critics and fanboys. Critics have generally panned the film and fanboys have generally been satisfied by the epic collision between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel. I, being both a critic and a fanboy, felt the need to walk into this movie with as open a mind as possible. The result was 2 1/2 hours of one of the most disappointing movie experiences of my life. The movie was fine in some areas and really good in others, but we live in a world where comic book movies with as much hype as this one can't just be "ok." It's Batman fighting Superman! This is going to have huge expectations going in and fanboys can't be expected to accept the mediocre storytelling just because it's disguised with action, effects, and Justice League teases. We've come to a point where we deserve much better with our comic book movies. So let's see what they got right and where they went completely wrong with Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

So let's go ahead and address the one thing in the film that really works: Ben Affleck as Batman. When he was cast, the entire universe freaked out over it. I never saw a huge problem with it and the more footage I saw, the more I thought he would make for a good Batman. He does really well as both Batman and Bruce Wayne and I really can't wait to see more of him in his own solo movie. He was much more violent than previous Batman adaptations, but I didn't mind it. I had read The Dark Knight Returns, a graphic novel that heavily inspires this film, and was prepared for Affleck to be an older, angrier Batman. I also really enjoyed seeing what Jeremy Irons as Alfred. Both performances were different from what we've seen. Darker and grittier from either any film version we've seen so far, this is a Batman film universe that had me gripped to the edge of my seat.

As far as a sequel to Man of Steel is concerned, the film doesn't do too bad of a job with it either. There are some interesting concepts that really had me thinking. In this movie, Superman is being held accountable for the destruction of Metropolis in the last film. There's a lot of political debate and questioning theologies that discuss the conversation of if the world needs a Superman and what the world would be able to do if Superman decided he could rule over all of us. It even gives Henry Cavill a chance to question himself and wonder if what he's doing is worth it. I like when the film is able to do that. If this and the stuff with Batman were the only two plots, leading up to an ethical and logical clash between the two, this could have been a great movie. If only the writers had stopped with just these two plots.

Because DC and Warner Bros. feel the need to play years of catchup in order to go head to head with Marvel, Batman v. Superman falls victim to tons of new characters and future plots being shoehorned into this film. Some of these end up doing alright, like Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. It's still a bit too early to judge her performance, since we didn't get to see a whole lot or know everything about her. Her solo movie next year will be the proper test of how she measures up in this universe, but for now, she's doing a fine job. Then there's some that really don't work at all, like Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. Good Lord, he was a strange choice for Lex. I think he's a good actor, but he's not right for Lex. He's too cartoony and quirky. Kind of reminds me of the Gene Hackman version, but that kind of worked for its time. This one...doesn't. I'm looking for the Lex Luthor you'd see in Superman: The Animated Series, or Smallville, or even Kevin Spacey's portrayal in Superman Returns. There's also a very weak subplot unveiling some of our future Justice League members. Some of them are kinda cool, but then there's some that just feel lazy and tacked on to get some fanboy buzz circulating. But the most frustrating shoehorn for me was in the form of Doomsday showing up in the third act to be the final villain. No, I didn't spoil anything because the trailers already did that. This was NOT necessary. Superman fighting Doomsday in a Death of Superman adaptation would've been great one, maybe two Man of Steel sequels down the road. It's not necessary here and just feels like a big waste of potential, which feels like the overall theme with majority of this film.

With so many components crammed into one movie, it's no wonder it all doesn't really work. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice fails to live up to the hype because it lacks proper storytelling that would allow the huge showdown to make sense. Heck, even on the action standpoint, the big fight fails as a whole because there are two action scenes immediately afterwards that put the Batman/Superman fight to shame. Zack Snyder is still making all the mistakes he did with Man of Steel. Shameless product placement, tons of pointless destruction, and main heroes that are cold blooded killers. The only difference with Batman v. Superman is that it had a lot more riding on the line, making the failure hurt a lot more to diehard fans that were looking for one of the greatest superhero movies of all-time. Just tell us the story of how Batman and Superman went at it. There were ideas that really worked. Leave Wonder Woman out of it. Leave Lex Luthor out of it. Leave the Justice League out of it. And for goodness sake, leave Doomsday out of it. This is all stuff that could've been introduced much later, in other DC films. At this point, maybe the problem is Snyder as director and Warner Bros. should really consider picking someone else to direct Justice League. If it's in his hands, we could be in store for another disaster from DC.


Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

While the stuff with Batman really works, not much else does. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice proves that the current creative process in the DC Cinematic Universe is to promote style over substance. Good luck to the rest of the DC movies coming out in the future, because right now the entire franchise could be dead on arrival.

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and movie images are copyrighted by Warner Bros.