Dawn of Justice: A fantastic film which stays true to its comics
I still remember the announcement of this film back on 2013, and I’ve been patiently waiting since then. It’s been three years, and I still can’t believe I finally got to watch it! Between the time of announcement and the actual film release, there were close to ten trailers which gave away a lot of the film. There’s been a lot of controversy with the reviews of this film. The so called ‘critics’ have called this a disaster while the audience clearly love it. The biggest reason being, this is not close to any superhero movie ever made.
For over a decade, Marvel has been shaping up the superhero movie genre by making them kid friendly and adapting them to fit the bigger screen. But Zack Snyder has taken a different step. The Dawn of Justice is a dark and gritty film which is true to its comic book counterparts. In fact, this is not the first time Zack has done this. He did it with the Man of Steel and Watchmen way back in 2003. Back when these movies came, they were also rated as disasters by those so called critics, but are now being hailed as one of the greatest superhero movies ever made. Especially, watchmen.
Dawn of Justice makes most of the other superhero movies look like a joke! Why should every movie be kid friendly? Deadpool was an R-rated film mainly because of the language used. The director’s cut of Dawn of Justice is R rated for its darkness and violence. It was cool to watch Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, but those were not Batman films. At least not the Batman I know of. Nolan invented his own version of the superhero and made three brilliant films with it. Zack Snyder on the other hand chose to stick with the comics which can be uncomfortable for a few folks.
Dawn of Justice takes place right after the events of Man of Steel where Bruce Wayne feels insecure of Superman and believes Superman is a threat to humanity. Bruce Wayne has also been emotionally affected in what indicates to be his sidekick Robin’s death. If you haven’t already watched the countless trailers, Batman decides to take Superman on and obviously levels the playing field using Kryptonite. The fight takes an ugly turn when Doomsday comes in(Thanks to Lex Luthor) and they have to join forces along with Wonder Woman to fight it.
There is a whole level of casting done in this movie. The film was titled as Batman Vs. Superman, but I was pretty anxious when they introduced so many new characters with each new trailer. But to keep it true to the title, Zack made no mistake and the movie is predominantly about Batman and Superman with them getting most of the screen time. Other characters were a nice addition to build up the DC Universe and to lay groundwork for the upcoming movies.
To start with the actors, Ben Affleck was a brilliant Batman. He was arrogant and smirky, the Batman I’ve always known in comics. There was so much backlash when he was announced as Batman, but I’m happy that did not affect him much and he has been amazing in the movie. WB wanted to make a standalone Batman film after Dawn of Justice. But after watching this film, they have signed him up for three standalone films and not just one. This makes up to at least 5 more films with Affleck as Batman, including the two Justice League movies.
Henry Cavill for the second time played Clark Kent, AKA, Superman. He did an excellent job with his role in Man of Steel and once again he was good with the Dawn of Justice. He has maintained his physique and looks fantastic in this one too.
Jesse Eisenberg played Lex Luthor, and this was one character I was really excited for. He is one of the most important characters in the DC Universe and never been portrayed properly in movies. The Lex Luthor played by him is really young and still has a lot of hair on his head. Like Bruce Wayne, he is also terrified of Superman, but the difference is he would go to any lengths to take him down. He was the perfect villain for this film and we could not have asked for more.
Gal Gadot played Diana Prince, Wonder Woman in this movie. She does not get much screen time but was a crucial part of this film. She appears as Wonder Woman to help Batman and Superman with the Doomsday mess. Even though she appeared for barely 15 minutes in this film, they were some of the best parts of the film!
Jermy Irons played Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s Butler. He’s not the Alfred who keeps advising Bruce Wayne not to do what he is doing. This is the Alfred who helps Batman in his fights and kicks ass with his British accent.
Most of the shots take place in the night. It is filled with action and explosions. It is in the night when explosions look cool and it is child’s play for Zack Snyder. He has toned down on the destruction when compared with Man of Steel. The movie was shot on IMAX and every detail looks cool on it. This is a must watch on IMAX.
For the background score, Snyder has once again roped in Hans Zimmer. The music has been meticulously done to add to the intense experience of the film. Once again, Hans Zimmer has done an excellent job with the background score.
The story was written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer. David also helped in writing the Batman Trilogy by Nolan. But with this one, he had a lot more independence. This is the closest superhero film which stuck with its comic book counterparts. They sure have done an incredible job and I’m glad the story is the way it is.
Costumes was another important thing to look into for the film. The first DC film after a very long time was the Man of Steel. It was the re-invention of the DC Universe, and they had to come up with their own costumes to modernize the characters. Superman looked pretty cool with his red cape on Man of Steel and he dons the same costume in the Dawn of Justice. Batman wears one of the first generation suits which is grayish black in colour and looks cool on Affleck. The best was for Dianna Prince. She has a fiery red costume with her legendary sword, shield and the lasso of truth.
Dawn of Justice is a piece of art. Something even if not truly appreciated now, people will look back to this moment as a beginning of a new era of superhero movies. Some of the scenes in the movie gave us goosebumps. Especially the scenes where they show rest of the Justice League team, laying groundwork for it. There was a crazy scene where Flash briefly appears! I just wish there was not an insane amount of trailers before the movie which gave so much away, including some of the best scenes.
Zack Snyder is one of the greatest contributions to superhero films. Every film of his has received a lot of hate for release and a few years later will be hailed as a great film. Guess he has to live with this. But he should not be bothered with all the noise. There is only so much one can do. Thank You Zack Snyder for giving us one of the best superhero films and I still can’t believe I got to witness it! Please give us more movies like this.
