Director: Zack Synder
Writers: Chris Terrio, David S. Goyer, Bob Kane
Stars: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams
Synopsis: Batman is manipulated by Lex Luthor to fear Superman. Superman´s existence is meanwhile dividing the world and he is framed for murder during an international crisis. The heroes clash and force the neutral Wonder Woman to reemerge.
With James Gunn’s Superman releasing last year to general critical and audience acclaim, shortly thereafter lighting the fuse for what is quickly becoming the “new big thing” cinematic universe, the equivalent that was attempted before it has been promptly buried.
The so-called “DCEU,” as it were, has become a thing of the past; dead with it are the dark, brooding, and most often colorless tendencies that defined the franchise. Chief among those examples would be Zack Snyder’s infamous Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. A movie that not only failed to capitalize on the insane excitement that preceded it, but that has since garnered a reputation as an odd misfire that is ardently loved by a waning corner of superhero cinema fandom.
Now 10 years old, looking back at BvS does do the film a little justice (no pun intended), although what didn’t work in 2016 absolutely doesn’t work now. Snyder’s gargantuan comic book blockbuster got a crucial element wrong, among many, that hampered it from the beginning. That is, its interpretation and use of Superman.
Much can, and has been said about the movie’s vision of Batman as a bloodthirsty, gun-wielding maniac. And while that has been exaggerated by many, it’s true that the Dark Knight kills and kills aplenty. It’s a weird, off-color version of the character that tries to validate this needless violence through his arc. Beyond that misconstruction, though, Superman is almost given the opposite treatment. He’s barely in the movie at all, and undergoes essentially no journey.
For a movie about two heroes butting heads, their conflict orchestrated by the nefarious (and unfortunately teeming with hair) Lex Luthor, the latter half, in name, of the duo is a quiet inclusion. Henry Cavill looks on in stoic silence, uncaring and apparently soulless. It isn’t Cavill’s fault that both Clark and Kal-El are written entirely dependent on their connections to other characters.
Superman is seen on the news in glimpses of heroism, and does get his chance to display that in this film in a climactic, late-movie measure. But between the ticket-selling action sequences, Superman feels like a middle-man. He helps Bruce/Batman mend his severed connection to humanity; he briefly talks to his father in a vision (dream? who knows, really) on a mountaintop, in a sequence that essentially goes nowhere. Otherwise, he spends the majority of the movie under political and governmental fire, and then dies.
He makes Batman more compelling in the end, sure, but when Wonder Woman and her grating sonic accompaniment hit the scene, it’s hard to count much of what Superman accomplishes beyond the basic beats of any Superman story that are only to be redeemed in Justice League. That’s an entirely different and much more compelling story, though. Especially given the aforementioned presence of a bright, world-loving and leading Superman, this adaptation almost seems like a different character. Superman, and the entire movie, truly, is unfeeling. It’s a Batman story at the core; but given the issues with Batman’s own characterization, sprinkled with scarce hints of compelling philosophy between senseless killing and poor one-liners, what are you left with?
You’re left with a movie that looks great, swings big and, ultimately, says very little. For fans looking for a pure aesthetic feast that at least attempts to bring these characters into a grittier, more realistic light, you’ll find that here. It’s fair to say that Snyder fans can argue for this film on its merits as a filmmaker, because it is unashamedly committed to the director’s diehard look and feel.
But for anyone who has read ‘All-Star Superman,’ or seen and loved Mask of the Phantasm, this still misses the mark an entire decade later. If you’re determined to tune in, at least do yourself the favor and watch the Ultimate Edition. Get all that you can out of the big budget on display here, because it’s about the only thing worth watching BvS for.
