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Ben Affleck without his mask
C Batman has always been a somber, brooding character, especially in recent comics and movies, but director Zack Snyder‘s version of the Dark Knight (played by Ben Affleck) makes most of the others incarnations seem like Adam West in comparison. Throw in an equally depressing version of Superman (Henry Cavill), and their eagerly awaited encounter, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is perhaps the most gloomy, slow-moving, and downright unenjoyable superhero movies ever made.
The centerpiece of Batman v Superman is the showdown between the two heroes, orchestrated by an insane Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), who manipulates Batman and Superman into hating each other. When they both survive their epic showdown, Luthor unleashes an even more powerful threat on the world, Doomsday, a giant superpowered monster he created from Kryptonian DNA.
Admittedly, saving the world from diabolical business tycoons and mutant behemoths is serious work, but never before had I seen a superhero movie in which nobody, with the exception of the manically hysterical Luthor, had a single bit of fun. Snyder apparently set out to make sure that the audience wouldn’t have any fun either. Most of the set pieces in Batman v Superman take place at night, often in pouring rain in rundown decrepit buildings. The film moves at a near glacial pace, taking nearly two hours of draggy exposition to lay the groundwork for the heroes’ battle royal and to invent a mechanism whereby the all-too-human Batman can credibly take on the seemingly invulnerable Superman. But the filmmakers aren’t content with their already overstuffed central storyline. Instead, they introduce Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), who helps fight Doomsday, and drop hints about other members of the Justice League (DC Comics’ version of Marvel’s Avengers), all for the purpose of laying the groundwork for future sequels and spinoffs. What gets lost in all the gloom and doom are solid performances by Affleck and Cavill and some genuinely exciting set pieces, especially those featuring Batman in action. These sequences reveal the movie that Batman v Superman could easily have been with a bit more of an upbeat tone and faster pace. Instead of epic excitement, however, Snyder and the producers seemingly went for epic tragedy, and the result for audiences will be an epic disappointment.
Continue reading on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Mini-review
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