SPLATTERdrome

Release Date: March 25th, 2016

Director: Zack Snyder

Screenwriter: Chris Terrio & David S. Goyer

Genre: Action/Comic Book

 

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“There was a time above, a time before, there were perfect things, diamond absolutes, things fall, things on earth, and what falls is fallen.”

 

This is how Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice begins, with a rambling, disjointed voiceover from Ben Affleck which, although ineffective in itself, is actually a perfect introduction for this film. That quote embodies everything you are about to encounter while viewing BvS; thematic ambiguity, persistent awkwardness, and a grim, hollow sensationalism that permeates every scene. 

 

Director Zack Snyder wastes no time modernizing these characters and the world they inhabit; Lois Lane and Superman are dropped into the middle of an unexplained Middle Eastern conflict while American political figures back home are beginning to question the constitutionality of our favorite Kryptonian’s general behavior. Bruce Wayne’s time is occupied by disfiguring human traffickers and brooding for the camera at every opportunity.

 

Neither of the title characters come off as particularly likable in Snyder’s world of ceaseless menace. Both are subjected to considerable alterations from the temperaments we've come to know from previous films (Batman branding criminals like cattle feels off). Snyder also severely underdevelops his heroes, a move which puts his Batman at a disadvantage before the primary action gets rolling. Considering that this is a film largely about the inner conflict of righteous men the lack of depth generated around these two characters is a considerable detriment to the narrative.

 

As far as the casting goes I quite like Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor even though both come off awkwardly for various reasons. Affleck can’t help but appear stiff with what the script gives him, Batman didn’t get a full-length reboot feature leading up to BvS like Henry Cavill’s Superman did with Man of Steel and this script doesn't allow Affleck to stretch out and introduce himself properly. Eisenberg’s dialogue and delivery are both extraordinarily cheesy but this film actually needs a little camp; Snyder is so determined to make every scene grim and intense that Lex Luthor’s hackneyed exuberance becomes the only relief the film offers against persistent melodramatic fatigue.

 

I believe that there are specific failures which mar this film but, even if none of those existed, BvS is cursed from the start by giving in to the temptation of the popular character mashup movie. Films which are built only to create a confrontation between established icons are one-dimensional by nature, all the energies of the script are bent towards this one purpose and anything that gets in the way (character development, storytelling, basic logic) is considered irrelevant. BvS is hamstrung by this from frame one but the writers make it worse by also trying to fit in Wonder Woman and the other “meta humans” which will comprise the Justice League in future productions. 

 

As if the script wasn’t overstuffed already it also has to find space to generate plausible animosity between Batman and Superman which will then result in the penultimate clash of the film. To do this the writers lean on the climactic devastation of Metropolis from Man of Steel and a flimsy squabble between the two heroes over limits of power in their respective crime-fighting methods. Batman and Superman both rush to action against each other in a manner which rings completely hollow to viewers who understand that these characters are not so impulsive as this; both are highly intelligent and possess strong moral centers, they would not be so easily coaxed into a needless brawl. Unsurprisingly, the much hyped encounter is dissolved just as carelessly by the revelation that both of their mothers were named Martha, as if that explains something. 

 

The conclusion of the film is barely worth noting, it’s a predictably mindless masquerade of CGI monsters and fiery mayhem. This is a real problem for these new DC films, all the climaxes are overlong sequences of explosion-laden, computer generated desolation which I find terrifically boring. At some point you have to choose: are you going to focus on dour realism in order to place these comic book icons into a modern context or just digitally insert Godzilla into your film and blow shit up? Batman v Superman tries to do both and it doesn't work, not even a little bit.

 

The truth Zack Snyder may not want to accept is that Christopher Nolan’s work has changed our expectations of superhero films. Audiences are less willing to accept posturing without context and images of destruction without sentiment. DC has a lot of work to do.