Director Zack Snyder is somewhat of a controversial figure among film fanatics. His highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes is “Dawn of the Dead” at 75 percent, while his lowest-rated movie is “Sucker Punch” at 23 percent. Most commonly, he is criticized for his bad habit of choosing style over substance. Disappointingly, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” is one of Snyder’s worst offenders.
“Batman v Superman” is the sequel to the Superman origin story told in “Man of Steel,” which was also directed by Snyder. “Batman v Superman” deals with the aftermath of the events of that film and tackles some big thematic questions. Or at least it tries to.
The film’s first hour or so centers on the consequences of Superman’s actions and whether or not he is the kind of hero the world needs. The involvement of politicians and courtroom hearings makes the film feel like a political thriller until it is all quickly traded in for meaningless spectacle.
Any semblance of thematic significance is disposed of, and the film quickly changes its tone into a standard action blockbuster affair. The film’s marketing would have you believe that the titular conflict occurs because Batman distrusts Superman’s power and intentions, but that is not entirely true.
Rather, the draw for their confrontation comes from an incredibly contrived plot point. As the result of such a lazy plot device, the conflict is something that realistically could have been avoided altogether if they just had a basic conversation, once again taking away from any sort of depth the film could have had. Rather than seeing two men clash out of a difference of ideology, we see two boys fight over their inability to communicate.
So, what about the action of the titular conflict? Well, it lasts for less than 10 minutes. In a 151-minute-long movie called “Batman v Superman,” Batman and Superman fight for less than 7 percent of the movie. While it is an enjoyable sequence while it lasts, the reason they stop fighting is even more ridiculous than why they started.
Further, there are so many noticeable pieces missing that the story’s pacing is wildly inconsistent. That can be partially attributed to the overstuffed nature of the story, dealing with an insane amount of characters, plot lines and obligatory setup for future films all at once. The film either needs to go all in with everything it wants to do, accepting a significantly longer runtime, or completely scrap all of the subplots and setups it ineptly attempts in its current state.
The incomprehensible middle ground it settles for makes “Batman v Superman” one of the most poorly edited movies in recent memory. Too often does the film cut to a new scene without any proper introduction, creating some baffling scenarios where the viewer will wonder whether or not they have just passed out, because surely they must have missed something.
This is most offensively evident in the film’s use of dream sequences. They are introduced with little to no indication that what is being shown is in fact not reality. Only through sheer ridiculousness can someone discern that these events are not actually transpiring, until the scene ends and reveals its true nature.
It gets worse. Batman and Superman are mischaracterized to the point where they are both openly killing people. For those unfamiliar, Batman follows a strict moral code where he will not take the life of anyone, no matter what. Superman historically follows a strict moral code as well but will kill if he absolutely must.
There is some extremely subtle indication that perhaps something horrific has happened to this Batman in order for him to change his core beliefs, but there is nothing evident enough that makes this excusable. The film provides absolutely no excuse for Superman, who, within the first 10 minutes of the film, takes the life of someone he did not have to.
Thankfully, Ben Affleck carries the torch as the new Batman character extraordinarily well. He is cynically dark and brooding in a believable way, while also portraying an aged and tortured version of the character that has yet to be seen on the big screen. Jeremy Irons as Alfred is also a great casting choice. The two of them have excellent chemistry and easily make up the best parts of the film.
Henry Cavill returns as Superman and wavers from mediocre to good. There is not much else to be said, which could be considered disappointing, as he is a title character. Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor range from laughable to great, creating extremely stressful on-screen scenarios. The characters either pull off a powerful scene or totally ruin it.
The truth of the matter is that a film called “Batman v Superman,” has to be seen at least once. Batman and Superman are some of the most iconic characters in the world. So when a film headlining the both comes out, there is not much stopping it from being a success. It is a shame, however, that world-class characters do not get a world-class movie. Although a massive disappointment, the best thing to do would be to go out to the local theater and just get it over with.
“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” opens Friday in theaters nationwide.
