Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is a BIG movie. Big characters, big setting, big music, big money and even bigger hype. So unfortunately, anything this big is going to get extra scrutiny without those rose-colored lenses. If you are true comic book fan-boy/girl then you should pretty much never go see comic book movies. It’s the same for any book turned into a movie. There’s limits on how directors can correctly tell the story no matter how big the budget is. Plus the fact that these movies must set-up and solidify franchises to keep the money train rolling. I always try to let the movies exist in their own “dimension”. That happens a lot in the comics- alternate universes and “What If’s?”. With that in mind, I gazed upon the screen to see what director Zach Snyder was going to do here…(Don’t worry! No spoilers ahead.)
We start with a flashback to the final moments of Superman’s battle with General Zod but from Bruce Wayne’s POV. After the fierce battle and destruction of Metropolis, Superman is hailed as a “God among men”. Fast forward 18 months later and many people are starting to get upset and even scared of what Superman really is. Quite a few people, including Bruce Wayne, hold him responsible for the destruction of Metropolis. This, along with his severe PTSD over the murder of parents in front of him as a kid, Wayne is set off to confront and ultimately try to destroy Superman. Ben Affleck portrays and older and angrier Master Wayne to Henry Cavill’s bumbling Clark Kent. Enter a jittery Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luther and a lovely Amy Adams as Lois Lane and we are ready for the “Son of Crypton versus Bat of Gotham!”
Clocking in at 151 minutes, the PG-13 Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice gets so big that at some points I did get a little annoyed. It took way too long to hammer home the fury, vengeance, justice, and “what kind of hero the world needs/fears of the future” story-line. And, we get it all wrapped up with a super dark look and special effects on steroids all to the beat of an overzealous Hans Zimmer/Junkie XL drum orchestra soundtrack. There is some cool action and I sometimes wonder how long it would take to render all those images and CGI! It is, for sure, a comic book movie as most everything that happens is quite unbelievable.
The most fascinating part of the movie is Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman! She keep herself quite mysterious throughout most of the film until finally revealing herself as (the under utilized) Wonder Woman! Zach Snyder sets in motion the Wonder Woman spin-off and plants the seed for the Justice League and formation of the DC cinematic universe.
Although I was a little lost in the tangled web we find Lex Luther, Lois Lane, Martha Kent and even the appearance of Doomsday, I was overall entertained and even a bit shocked in some sense! Although my allegiance is with Marvel, I do have a soft spot for both the Man of Steel and Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-Batman who made their appearance known to me on the screen (movie and TV) long before I started flipping the pages of comic books. Marvel is way ahead of the game when it comes to producing comic book movies but it is exciting to see where Snyder and Warner Bros will drive the DC cinematic universe.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is big, bombastic and your kids are going to love it! Although heavy on the action, the violence is cartoonish and the adult language and sexuality are at a minimum. This movie is set to make a ton of money no matter what anyone says and it opens Friday, March 25.
