Flashbacks | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016 / 151 minutes / US)
“Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham,” Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor — the primary antagonist in virtually every Superman films — declares in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Though the movie title itself long announced the heavyweight matchup, pitting two of Earth’s most formidable and heroic pugilists against each other.
Following director Zack Synder’s Supes debut Man of Steel (2013), BvS introduces post-Nolanverse Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aka Batman who sees Superman (Henry Cavill) as a threat to humanity after witnessing collateral damages Metropolis suffered as result of a vicious brawl between the latter and Kryptonian villain, General Zod (Michael Shannon).
Nevertheless, the public celebrates Superman as a saviour from the stars but senator June Finch (Holly Hunter), on the other hand, demands accountability from a potential weapon of mass destruction. Luther, as well, is unnerved by Kal-El’s existence and so seeks the mysterious rock Kryptonite, Supe’s fatalistic thorn in the flesh.
Meanwhile, the enigmatic Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) — Wonder Woman actually — wanders into the sight of Wayne as she investigates Luther’s nefarious activities.
The gloomier BvS distinctly shifts from Christopher Nolan’s semi-realistic The Dark Knight trilogy, and heck, features a very poignant Superman as its “the other Knight with the shiny armour.” Its weighty ambition is conspicuous with its ever growing plot developments by the hour, and that’s when the narrative focus struggles. With an unduly deep story arbitrary to what delights the fans, the plot weaves liberally through a series of events, including a strange dream sequence.
Oddly, despite the attempts at a cavernous premise of a conflict, one is left to question the actual agenda of Luther, who seems keen only to instigate the animosity between Batman and Superman. Still, Eisenberg holds well in his more contemporary interpretation of Luther — a crazed techno-genius of the Facebook generation, whose response to a godlike strongman is to unleash a city-destroying monstrosity.
As for Affleck’s Batman, it turns out not to be the debacle previously feared. The Dark Knight this time is by far the most hard-line and authoritarian ever committed to the big screen, breathing post 9–11 paranoia and branding criminals with Bat logos.
Cavill’s Clark is otherwise an overly solemn character, given to excess of contemplative and near-preachy moments, and appears to have too much dilemma coming to terms with his Earth-messianic role. It’s even harder to root for a hero who is constantly sombre and cheerless, and I do have an issue with how he — a force of world-ending proportions — thinks Batman’s actions amount to illegal vigilantism.
The film’s best surprise has to be Gadot’s Wonder Woman. And hell, does she charges into the final minutes of BvS with the kind of Amazonian girl fury that would nearly have demoted Superman and Batman to sidekicks. Wonder Woman’s presence never felt like a gimmick and indeed holds one of the brightest promises for upcoming DC Comics movies.
Yet, no matter the dangerous appeals of some of its characters, BvS suffers in its execution. The red cape protagonist falters and the film obsesses with a slew of gravitas. When the eponymous showdown feels like one of those 10-minute YouTube clips ripped from movies (i.e the only scenes that really matter), it speaks a lot about a film that overextends its running time for so little of value.
At the end, Synder’s flawed direction is a quantitative padding of plots — plus a seemingly reluctant conclusion that just refuses to end — hollow of an ethos in which superhero stories are the stuff of inspirational delight.
There’s only so much emotional grittiness a Batman/Superman flick could go with until the boxing ring epiphany becomes apparent: people pay simply to watch a good fight.
