Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

nBatman vs.nSuperman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

nDirector:nZack Snyder

nCast: BennAffleck, Henry Cavill, Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, LaurencenFishburn, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter

nAs a movienbuff, I’ve never liked it when people hate a movie intensely before it isnreleased. Sure, a film can show signs of being a stinker just by looking at thentrailer, but it is my belief that every movie should be given a chance (well,nalmost every movie) before you decide to pour every ounce of hatred upon it. Anrecent example of this is the new Ghostbusters movie set to be released thisnsummer 2016. As the trailer played before Batman vs. Superman, I heard actualnaudience members boo at the screen. Sure these aren’t the originalnGhostbusters, but what’s with the immediate hatred without having seen thenfilm? They can’t base their hatred on a three second trailer! Is it becausenthey are women? Is it because it’s not the original cast? I don’t exactly know,nbut there they were, booing at the screen to a movie they have not seen yet. Casenin point, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) a film that audiencesncame in hating from day one. Again, I decided to give the film a fightingnchance, to prove itself to me. How was it?
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nBehind the Scenes Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

nThe premisenfor Batman vs. Superman is that the world now sees Superman as more of a threatnthan a protector. His fight with general Zod in Man of Steel (2013) caused manyndeaths, and so now people don’t trust him, in fact, they’re thinking that ifnsomething should push him off the deep end someday, he might actually make thenentire planet disappear! Lex Luthor is one of these people who sees Superman asna threat, so he orchestrates a way to get Batman and Superman to fight, so thatnBatman can kill Superman and therefore wipe the threat from Luthor’s mind. WillnBatman have what it takes to go up against the Son of Krypton?

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nNow if younask me, all the hatred comes simply because its coolnto hate a big budget movie that stars Ben Affleck, an actor whose career seemednto be in an inevitable downward spiral after he starred in a string of badnmovies like Daredevil (2003) and Gigli (2003). But that was all left behindnwhen he vindicated himself by directing and winning a couple of Oscarsnfor Argo (2012), suddenly he was on the proverbial comeback. Gigli was finally left behindnin the dust like some long lost fuzzy memory. But apparently, people stillnassociate Affleck with failure, because his casting as Batman is one of thenmany things that people immediately draw upon to bad mouth Batman vs. Superman:nDawn of Justice (2016). Good thing about Affleck is that he’s resilient, henhasn’t given up. He figures it’s all about making good movies, good scripts andngood solid performances, which is exactly what he’s been sticking to lately,nand its worked. To me he has more than demonstrated he’s a good writer/director/actor,na multi talented individual. And he’s awesome as Batman in my book, in fact, Inpersonally dig his Batman more than Christian Bales, who always seemed kind ofnlike a half crazed Batman. Affleck’s plays him more like a cool, calculatednbusinessman.

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nThe filmnitself is a bit unbalanced, because it doesn’t stick to one story line, it leaves some threads hanging, and starts others up. I don’t mind seeing hints at future plot lines, because Marvel movies have been doing the exact same thing in theirnmovies for years and nobody seemed to complaint then. DC/Warner Brothers isnsimply applying that successful cliffhanger formula to their movies, what’s thenbig deal? Is there a double standard with using this formula? Its okay fornMarvel to do it, but not for DC? I frown upon that and say that it’s cool thatnDC movies are giving us small glimpses of things to come within their cinematicnuniverse, which in my book is vast and unexplored. But I do agree the film needed a bit more focus. Follow through with what you propose with your plot lines. What happened to the whole story line about the world feeling Superman is a threat? What are the governments of the world gonna do about it and why aren’t they taking action? This story line wasn’t followed through, and then they introduce Doomsday and Flash and Cyborg and Aquaman. Still, even with these flaws, fan boys were eating up this movie. I know it, because I felt the wave ofnawe when the geeks (myself included) got a glimpse of these visages of thenfuture. People actually cheered and clapped when Wonder Woman first appears! So naysayers, don’t hate this movie for hates sake. Sure it’s got flaws, but I had a blast with this movie anyways!
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nIt’s both anSuperman film and a Batman film, both get equal screen time, both get explored.nI mention this because I read complaints that the film is more aboutnBatman than Superman, but I do not agree with these comments either, in my booknboth characters get the exposition they deserve. Superman is seen as more of a threat thanna savior! When had we seen that story line played out in a Superman movie?nNever! Superman is seen as a god like figure, who can either be our benefactornor totally annihilate us if he chose to, a concept explored by Alan Moore andnZack Snyder through the character of Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen (2009). So in anway, this is Zack Snyder revisiting some concepts he’d explored before.nActually, this whole idea of the superhero suddenly turning into a threat tonhumanity rather than a savior seems to be the hot ticket in Hollywood, CaptainnAmerica: Civil War (2016) will apparently explore the same themes, with CaptainnAmerican being seen as a threat to humanity, because of all the destruction he’sncaused. Suddenly, Captain America: Civil War doesn’t seem so original. Butnwhatever, something tells me that will be an awesome movie anyways. I just wish Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice had explored this plot further, to its full measure, instead this idea is only half explored.

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nJust so younknow, what the writers behind Batman vs. Superman did was they took parts of FranknMiller’s The Dark Knight Returns and mashed it up with parts of The Death ofnSuperman story line, primarily issue #75 of Superman. I kept seeing elements andnimages from both of these story lines popping up, so you might want to giventhose two story lines a look. Finally, I even liked Jesse Eisenberg as LexnLuthor, he was a formidable villain. He has no super powers, but he knew exactly whatnbuttons to push in order to get the ball rolling. Sure he’s maybe a bit tonjokey, but that’s Eisenberg’s own personal take on the character. I have a feeling we’llnsee this villain evolve into a serious threat in the upcoming films. Finally, I’mnlooking forward to the growth of the DC cinematic universe. I had a blast withnBatman vs. Superman, loved how it mixed its serious tone with the exaggerated antics we’vencome to expect from a comic book movie. Naysayers are hating for hates sake,npay no mind to them and go see this fun slice of comic book cinema, warts and all.