‘Batman v Superman’ Fails to Soar, But Still A Fun Time (FILM REVIEW)

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It’s difficult for me to discuss Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice—and, by extension, the whole of the DCEU (DC extended universe)—without first considering the merits of DC’s rivals over at the MCU. Marvel has been, for the last eight years, changing the game for cinematic superhero storytelling, gently finessing an entire universe from nothing, and taking their time to let the larger stories and themes develop themselves over time. It’s almost tantric, the way they operate. They tease their audience, letting the desire build and build for 3-4 years at a time until the next Avengers movie comes along to release our satisfaction. DC, by contrast, is a sloppy one-night stand with a partner you might call again, sometime, maybe. It might be physically satisfying, but it’s never emotionally fulfilling, and it may just leave you feeling somewhat ashamed in the morning.

I suppose that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There is something to be said for the immediacy of instant gratification. But, if you’ll allow me to extend the metaphor a little further, while you might hold closely the memories of your one-night stand, it may not be something you talk about much, if at all. It’s a guilty pleasure that is perhaps better left unspoken, lest you gain a reputation.

In that way, Dawn of Justice is never the movie it needed to be if DC ever wants to be a legitimate rival to Marvel Studios. Instead, they’ve cast themselves as a poor substitute at best, or a desperate wannabe at worst. It’s a movie that’s all about payoff, but it’s a payoff to a buildup that never existed, like a play that goes directly into its third act after its first. You can sense the desire to appeal to pathos, but none of the legwork is put into it that might make it as satisfactory as is necessary.

Indeed, the pathos is there. It’s almost inherent in the minds of comic book fans and lovers of superheroes. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with comics from the last few decades understands that the relationship between Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) is often tense. This has led to both exciting face offs and thrilling team ups over the years, as both heroes circle each other with equal parts caution and respect. That might’ve worked here—in fact, it nearly does—except the narrative relies almost solely on what pathos you bring into it. It never puts in the requisite effort to make it work on its own.

Instead, what they do here is exactly what everyone feared they were doing from the outset—they’ve stuffed the movie beyond the brim with world building devices that do little but set up future outings into the DCEU at the expense of this movie. They rely on what we already understand about the titular characters instead of building it into the narrative.

The approach kind of works, almost. I admit, there was something inordinately satisfying about seeing Batman and Superman share the screen and exchange blows. One might make a compelling argument that this alone is reason enough for the movie to exist. I can’t say I was disappointed, in that regard; nor can I say I’m unexcited for what the future might hold for the universe, should they continue the direction they’re moving towards.

As a follow up to Man of Steel, Dawn of Justice does what it can to defend itself from the criticism lobbed at its predecessor. The wanton destruction that plagued the final movements of that movie begins the animosity between our two heroes-turned-combatants as Bruce Wayne helplessly watches one of his buildings collapse due to the battle between Superman and Zod. This plays well into seeding the idea of Superman’s danger to the world at large, coaxing Wayne back into his role as Batman in order to take down the alien among us.

In that regard, Dawn of Justice is more a Batman movie than it is a Superman movie. Lacking a proper set up movie of his own—a move that will probably be regretted as the series progresses—director Zack Snyder attempts to cram all the Batman he can into a movie that needed to do so much in order to be successful. We get Batman’s backstory, we get the idea that Batman has seen some shit, we get the idea that Bruce Wayne is damaged by all he’s seen and done over the years. As audience, we can imagine what this might entail. We’re already so familiar with the kind of shenanigans that Batman gets up to, thanks to his other cinematic incarnations, that maybe we don’t need to see more of that for it to work.

Except that’s sort of cheap, isn’t it? That’s not an inaccurate description of the problems of the movie as a whole. It’s full of short cuts and cheap tricks that try to replace any real agency that might’ve been present if DC had taken the time to finesse their universe instead of trying to play catch up to Marvel. That not only lessens the effect of all that is good about Dawn of Justice, it also highlights the bad.

And what’s good is really good. Against all odds and expectations, Affleck positively kills it as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. In a way, he’s just about the most Batman character ever depicted on film, becoming the closest cinematic depiction of Batman to ever reach the glorious heights of the Kevin Conroy voiced version on Batman The Animated Series. I hope and I pray that we see Affleck in a proper Batman movie of his own. He is, in a very real sense, the saving grace of the entire endeavor.

So too with Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. While there’s little time for characterization, with her first outing on the big screen she damn near steals the show, and it makes me salivate in anticipation for her currently-in-production movie of her own. The presence of both Affleck and Gadot speak wonderfully for the future of the franchise, provided it can survive all that is negative about this outing.

Which, frankly, might mean letting someone besides Snyder take the reins. It’s almost as though the director took every bit of negative criticism he’s ever gotten and then made the decision to dig his heels in and do more of everything people hate about his movies. It feels slapdash and thrown together, feeling less like a cohesive movie than it does a series of loosely connected scenes that never quite amount to anything of real significance. Exposition is minimal, and an overreliance upon melodramatic dream sequences often brings the narrative to a startling halt.

Some of the plotting decisions are baffling—without giving anything away, the final impetus for the titular battle drew from me a groan and an eye roll—and at times the movie teeters just abut the edge of pure absurdity. But anchored, as it is, by Batfleck, Dawn of Justice stays just this side of believability and works, for the most part, as whole.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie—but strictly as a fan of Batman in general. Dawn of Justice is a movie whose problems are legion, and is deserving of every bit of the critical scorn it’s currently receiving. As a crowd pleaser, however, it does its job well enough and offers satisfying moments that peek out beneath the smoldering rubble. It’s a mess of a movie, but it’s an interesting and exciting mess to behold. With some tempered expectations, you might just find yourself having a bit of fun, but DC has a long way to go before they ever catch up with Marvel.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is now playing in theaters everywhere.