Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Since I am way too late to write about Deadpool (only having seen it last week), I will make up for this by writing about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (referred to as BvS from hence forth).

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/20/Batman_v_Superman_poster.jpg

For this piece I shall be writing on what may make it work for viewers and what may break it for viewers. BvS is a painfully average film. It does not break new grounds nor does it fall flat on its face. It just stands there awkwardly wondering why its sprinting is making everyone laugh while willfully ignoring the glaring holes in its pants. On the other hand, it is trying to sprint. There are reasons why I believe this film may entertain some and why it will disappoint others so here goes.
[Thank you Google Image search]

What makes it:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/Comic_Art_-_Batman_by_Jim_Lee_%282002%29.png

Batman, or an alternate take on the character (not pictured above). For this film, the Batman here is a veteran hero in contrast to the relatively beginner hero that is Superman. This is a rather interesting take on Bruce as the movie presents this Bruce as someone so worn out from a seemingly unsuccessful superhero career that he is unstable and reckless at times due to his experiences. Ben Affleck, at least from where I was viewing, does manage to portray this new alternate take of Bruce Wayne in a way that I found acceptable. In addition to this, the action involving the Batman is awesome to watch with some moves reminiscent of the Arkham games (with one rather significant detail I may hint at later). As Bruce Wayne, Ben Affleck was rather decent for the most part and Batman's action sequences are entertaining to watch.

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/9/95/Wonder_Woman_0024.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140728202508

Wonder Woman. She does not get a lot of time focused on her but she works. At least this Wonder Woman is far superior to the one of infamous pilot episode for the TV show that never happened and does not leave anyone with pants to be darkened. As Diana, Gal Gadot is able to portray a rather strong, independent woman who knows how to tease her equals while being a civilian. As Wonder Woman, she was serviceable and used Wonder Woman's tools properly (unlike the infamous pilot and that unfortunate reference involving the lasso). She did not appear enough to win me over but as it stands, the Wonder Woman movie could tide me over plus the writers were smart enough to not cram her backstory here (unlike another backstory I will mention later).

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/batman/images/2/2a/Alfred_BVS.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150731170400&path-prefix=es

Alfred is decent. Jeremy Irons was able to play a decent Alfred, loyal to Master Wayne but able to throw out snarky remarks under his breath to express disapproval. I would say more but since I do not actually know a lot about Alfred, aside from his loyalty to Bruce and his cause along with his concern for Bruce and his snark, I will refrain from critiquing Alfred. I will say that his character here does attempt to bring in some humour to balance out the dark and dreary DC universe of the films. 

(No picture here unless I want to get caught for recording in the cinema)

The visuals. They look stunning. The action looks good (substance differs in quality at times). The murder of the Waynes had some decent visual flair here and there. There is more colour here than in Man of Steel. That is all I will say since I rarely place any real value on visuals but I do acknowldge its effect on viewers. This is probably what the average viewer will be paying to see (making me one of the non-average viewers then).

What breaks it

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Doomsday. I am willing to spoil his presence in this film since the trailers already spoiled his presence in the film. I hated it when I saw the trailer and I hated him in this film. Aside from being a smaller cave troll from Lord of the Rings visually, I hated his presence in the story as Doomsday's role here ultimately serves as the common ground for the three heroes to unite against. A plot device like he was in his actual role in the comics (the Death of Superman precise to be precise). The impact of his actions however is the main part I hated about this film. To avoid spoiling this major plot point, I will only say this: his role here and the impact of his actions are implemented far too early and wastes future usage of Doomsday in a future DC film. He also looks horrible compared to other iterations of Doomsday so there's my petty gripe out there. At least they kinda got his abilty to become immune to attacks that could harm him... I guess? The way they did it here is visually annoying to be frank. While normal viewers may overlook this flaw, people who have an understanding of the comics may get annoyed with the CGI mess that is Doomsday.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e2/Juniorposter.jpg

Lex Luthor. Or rather Lex Luthor JUNIOR as some will insist. Whatever, the film promoted him as the Lex Luthor of this film so I will compare him to the Lex Luthor I do know (while using a pointless image to illustrate my lack of concern for that insisted label). This Lex Luthor acts more like a poor man's Joker with whimsical antics followed by tranquil madness and constantly disjointed spoken lines that try to hint that there is a 'method' to his madness. The trailer already gave me a bad impression of Eisenberg's Lex and this movie flat out justifies it. Nowhere did I see the cold, egotistical and corrupt corporate executive with intelligence rivalling Brainiac in this film but instead I was left with the antics of that one person who thinks that acting like the Joker is cool. Aside from his antics, Lex's motives for trying to eliminate Superman is rather unclear. From what I can tell, he believes that Superman is some kind of monster for being a godlike being and since god cannot be good, he must kill him before he becomes a threat? It's rather peculiar way of thinking that suggests irrational hate (like what one finds on the Internet) rather than proper motivations that the proper Lex usually has (the irrational part is how long he can hold on to his hatred of Superman but his selfishness often allows him to cast blame on Superman for his actual flaws). So his reasons for instigating the film's events were pretty much bonkers. Combined with his cringe-worthy antics, I left the film with the opinion that Lex Luthor was horribly miscast in this film (no offence to Jesse Eisenberg, I did like Zombieland and Social Network). The Lex here is too Joker-like that it could turn off people, especially those who know what kind of person Lex Luthor is supposed to be.

https://www.askideas.com/media/11/Funny-Cat-Fight-Picture.jpg

The actual conflict. It is one primarily forced by two individuals. Batman who wants to take out Superman after witnessing the destruction caused by Superman leading to his single-minded conclusion that Superman could eventually become a threat to the world (though what Superman and Zod did to Metropolis do count) and Lex Luthor who wants someone to kill Superman because... orcas? (see previous paragraph for what I think Lex's motivations are)  The film does build up on Batman's eagerness to finish off a threat and even includes a decent montage of prep while having actual motivation and reasons for picking a fight. Batman however does show an irrational stubbornness when Alfred brings up the notion that the clash is irrational and his basis for Superman being a lethal threat becomes shakier with his actions in mind as compared with Superman's actions. Superman's reason for getting into the fight is... rather stupid. It does involve Lex and the way it leads up to the actual clash is pretty damn silly in retrospect. I even could, in the span of five minutes, think of ways that Superman could counter Lex's plans and how he could even avoid such a clash. The fight itself plays out in a similar vein to the Dark Knight Returns (comic and film) with Batman being crazy prepared and Superman holding back against an opponent he does not wish to harm. Since Kryptonite is in this film, it sadly plays out like the Dark Knight Returns (and I spoil this with no shame since it is rather obvious this is how the film will play out). The fight itself barely takes up time in the film when compared to the drawn out drama of the film. The reason for the conflict ending though is pathetically hilarious and stupid. All I will say is that a lucky coincidence can often mean the difference between life and death. People expecting a proper fight between the titular characters will probably be disappointed or left wanting more.

https://www.askideas.com/media/14/Bored-Clipart.jpeg

The drawn out drama. Initially, the film seemed to be a film to question the consequences and ramification of having an independent god-like being like Superman on Earth who answers to no one that is capable of mass destruction but is able to protect those under his care. Rather than continue with these notions and ideas, the film drags on without exploring these ideas properly. There is even a bit of drama on Superman's side as he begins to wonder if he is supposed to be a hero when he is still unable to prevent harm. This bit however was kinda left hanging with a dream sequence. The film had some good ideas that could have been explored but most of them end unsatisfactorily like a feverish wank. Drama is necessary for a serious story but when the approach is done half-heartedly and drawn out, the drama feels like a chore to sit through which could harm this film. [EDIT: I forgot to mention the dream sequences. These sequences were dull in my opinion and only served to set up future movies as all the sequences do is foreshadow. I get that the film is supposed to set up future films but when it is that obvious and serves no purpose to the film itself, the sequences may feel unnecessary and drawn out in order to lengthen running time]

(Cannot find an appropriate picture depicting an edge-lord)

The dark and edgy take on the DC film universe. As a result there is barely any humor and few lighthearted moments to balance out the dark dreary reality of the DC film universe (a filmverse if you will). I understand that some works can be dark and dreary but still entertain like Dark Souls and Berserk but when the works are unable to balance out the dark and dreary state of the world with some appropriate light-heartedness, the dark and dreary elements become cringe-worthy (like Attack on Titan) and dull where all the audience ends up feeling is apathy. I do applaud the effort to balance this with Jeremy Irons' Alfred being someone who shoots appropriate sarcastic quips under his breath. The problem of this kind of apathy is the risk that the apathetic viewer will then wind up finding comedy in unexpected and unintended places. I, for one, found myself laughing at the 'tense' moments as I began thinking of ridiculous scenarios in the context of those moments (like Batman needing to get better car insurance and that sort). The alternative is boredom and that has a far worse impact on films in the long run.

Credit to: http://hellacre13.tumblr.com/post/131622085972/lancelot45-look-i-know-some-people-like-this

Lois Lane. There is not a lot of chemistry between Clark and Lois here. They just seem like a couple who got together (in the previous film) just because the plot said so. The bathtub scene around the start was the only time I felt that there was a real romantic spark between the two. Aside from that, there is a lot of talking, destiny reminding, and  "I have faith in you" speeches that crop up far too often, making their relationship seem less natural. Lois herself mostly acts as a damsel in distress and the few action sequences she has end up making her into an even more vulnerable damsel in distress. She does not have real relevance to the plot except as Superman's damsel and possible moral chain so her scenes only serve to move the story rather than to add depth or character to both Superman and Lois. What truly made her a negative point to this film in my opinion is the sheer stupidity of her actions in the film's climax that highlight her role as damsel in distress too clearly. I will not spoil her actions but the sheer stupidity of her action will make one question her actual role and significance in the DC film universe. Hopefully future films will remember to give personality to Lois rather than make her a living plot device and damsel (as the film seems to imply). I bring this up since I do feel that this Lois may end up feeling less like a character and more like a living piece of furniture to furnish future Superman films.

http://izismile.com/2010/12/28/all_about_batman_71_pics.html

Batman. Once again, another film with Batman introduced starts out with his origin story and I immediately mock the film for it. It is a story that most people know already but screen time winds up being wasted to remind the viewer of Batman's origin story. Aside from that, this Batman is different enough from the normal Batman that viewers may have the expression pictured above when seeing him in action. I will avoid spoiling what I mean but those who do know will be aware why some viewers will react that way. That aforementioned difference does make this Batman seem hypocritical at times as while he claims that Superman is a threat to humans, Batman's actions... are harmful to say the least. His irrationality also makes him completely blind to Luthor's schemes which is an outcry to the World's Greatest Detective (who uses technology mostly to solve crimes honestly) who could pick up such manipulations quickly. People with knowledge of Batman may be put off by this iteration of Batman. I was not as put off simply by remembering that this Batman is a veteran from a failed career as a superhero.

Summary:
I know this looks like I hate this film but honestly, all I feel is disappointment and pity. Disappointment because the film's potential was wasted and pity because I had a strong idea on where the film went wrong. From what I can gather from this film, the problem it had was how DC wanted to compete against Marvel and to set up the future Justice League film so quickly that it brought in so many elements into one film and tried to cram it in; a dangerous move for any film. A long introduction to this Batman and a thankfully brief intro to Wonder Woman should not have been crammed in this film. These introductions should have been in their own separate and independent films. Due to these flaws, BvS ends up feeling like an average film rather than an entertaining and strong instalment to the DC films. While Suicide Squad is still on its way, I am retaining my pessimism when it comes to DC films. Note though that I am carrying a similar amount of pessimism for Civil War as well since it does have way too many characters in one film and not enough time to focus on all of them. If the reader does not agree with this point of view, I do not blame the viewer. Whether it be from hype, genuine fondness or seeing it drunk, BvS is a watch-able film though I think money could be spent on something else like groceries, another film or Resident Evil 4. 

I should get back to Resident Evil 4 then.




What makes it
Batman
Wonder Woman
Alfred
The visuals

What breaks it
Doomsday
Lex Luthor
Actual conflict
Drawn out drama
Dark and edgy take on the DC film universe
Lois Lane
Batman