Movie Review: Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
Batman V Superman: A movie finally exists where Batman fights Superman and how can that not be exciting! Most of you must have watched the movie by now and are either disappointed or loved it.
It was only natural why Superman was my favourite superhero character growing up as a kid. His arsenal included flight (who doesn’t want to fly!), super-speed and super-strength and many other Super Powers. Fast forward a decade and my favourite superhero got replaced by Batman, thanks largely to the much acclaimed movie series made by the genius Christopher Nolan; he changed the face of superhero movies forever.
Despite the association with bigwigs such as Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, David S Goyer and the great Hans Zimmer, Man of Steel was a disappointment for me. But Batman V Superman turned out to be another story altogether.
I watched all the movies Zack Snyder directed and in the order they released. Snyder’s directorial venture Dawn of the dead had something that caught my attention and ever since I made it a point to watch his movies. I am somehow hooked to the vision he tries to bring about on screen and rarely disappointed with his work, Man of Steel not so much.
Second outing as director, Snyder delivered the worldwide blockbuster 300 which needs no introduction, a breath-taking spectacle, an action movie that doesn’t get any better than that. Watchmen a disruptive comic-book movie which is gritty and nasty; one viewing is enough to know what a potential masterpiece it is. Legend of the Guardians, an animated movie which could have been better; once again it was technically strong with one of the most jaw-dropping visuals. The twisted fantasy Sucker Punch rolled out in 2011 had bizarrely riveting action scenes complemented with stunning cinematography sets the overall tone capturing the emotion of the characters.
Movie critics say Snyder is great at visuals and has a long way to go to become a great story-teller. I fail to understand this and I am of the opinion that is not in agreement with the above. If you have watched Zack Snyder’s earlier movies you would naturally think he is a visionary director with a grand vision having great scenes, gorgeous action sequences and unconventional story-telling and editing. Agreed his movies are not perfect in the conventional sense but carries a dark texture throughout; a trademark Snyder thing. Experimenting and unflinching to try a new path, a unique set of qualities that differentiate him and I believe can earn him a place among the all-time greats. I know this came across as a Snyder fan-boy but that’s not entirely true.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. This is an entertaining movie that sets up the platform for Justice League movies set to release in a couple of years. The movie opens with Batman’s story of his parents getting killed which felt unwanted (as we all know how it happens) but that’s only half the story, what makes it so good is the way it has been composed and that pearls’ scene during the gun shot is great. The introduction of Bruce Wayne/Batman is kept very simple, by showing the ending of Man of Steel which connected the two movies and provided continuity.
Batman V Superman had many characters to play around and hence not as focussed as Man of Steel was. Majority of the two and a half hours run time is spent on giving a back-story about what motivates Batman to fight Superman. This setup eats away the screen time of Superman and Lois Lane; the latter’s existence barely being felt or for that matter any other characters such as Perry White played by Lawrence Fishburne, Senator Finch played by Holly Hunter and Alfred played by Jeremy Irons (killed it as the guy with an attitude made his presence felt with his dark and sarcastic humour).
Lex Luthor has little screen time and doesn’t have enough background. We are in a way forced to accept whatever he is doing makes sense from his frame of reference; then again guess it’s the director’s call (which can go either way with the viewers) which makes you wonder if Jessie Heisenberg is overacting at times. His character is mental; in a real life situation you would know he is nuts in a second. With this I don’t think Jessie Heisenberg was outstanding as Lex Luthor, let`s see what the Justice League movies have in store for him.
The set up: We are all aware from the trailers that this movie is a proper face-off between Batman and Superman; revealing too many plot lines in the movie through the trailers took away the surprise element. A change in marketing approach could fix this.
Highlights of the movie:
Batman: Ben Affleck was believable as an older, brooding Bruce Wayne/Batman. This Batman is kick-ass, probably the best Batman to-date (yes, that’s right, the best). This Batman isn’t like any of his predecessors, much different than Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight; this new Batman is beyond the breaking point; he is viciously violent, savage and a brutal merciless killing machine; especially in that scene where he fights 12 villains or so is simply brilliant. This movie also has the best fight-scenes in a batman movie ever, easily.
Action: There is plenty of action and they are meticulously choreographed also thoroughly entertaining. The fight between Batman and Superman is just incredible, every camera angle, the slow motion and the costumes of course. The BatSuit looks menacing and convinces a good fight lies ahead. The fight with Doomsday was good and probably the best part of the movie as it introduces Wonder Woman in the most bad-ass manner with an intense background score by Hans Zimmer(needs no introduction) and Junkie XL (who also gave scores for Mad Max: Fury Road and Deadpool) elevate the excitement further.
Ending: This movie shows Superman’s vulnerability; which humanizes him and shows him in a completely different light than ever before. That ending! Wow! Very courageous, they took the leap and showed Superman die. I do not think any other director would have been comfortable doing that. I don’t think I was comfortable watching that, nevertheless did it with some slick camera work. There are particularly slow-motion shots of canons firing in the honour of Superman, it was almost unwanted but Snyder stuck to it to bring out grief and sympathy; this unconventional styling is very Snyder like.
Snyder does a wonderful job of giving a backstory, laying the foundation for Justice League movies scheduled come out in the future; looks like the producers said to him that this is the only chance he got and he does a fantastic job in my view introducing Cyborg, Flash, Aquaman and Wonder Woman(Oh yes!).
Having heard initial negative reviews of Batman V Superman I was convinced the fault has to lie primarily with fast paced narrative, rushing through plot-lines as it was in Man of Steel. Having watched the movie I did not think of a single shot was out of place.
I totally disagree with those who are thrashing the movie on the basis of number of people getting killed in the movie or how Batman is not supposed to kill. Well, that is where the genius/eccentricity of Snyder lies. Like in his other movies this movie also takes a fresh approach to the showing the characters (especially Batman) in a different light. His movies are indicative of his grand vision wherein he often abandons the conventional story-telling methodology; some even say his movies are style over substance.
I know this is not a fitting piece to conclude but just to sum it on a light note I want you to recall the incident when Rachel (from the TV show Friends ) prepares English trifle from the oddest ingredients and Joey not only loves it and goes onto appreciate each of the ingredients in it. This movie is nothing like that English trifle but has the right ingredients and cooked to perfection.
Simply put, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice has a straightforward premise but stylishly made with effective use of slow-motion shots incorporating some well-choreographed intricate action sequences that come alive on IMAX especially.
