“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” was one of the year’s most anticipated films because it had to be. The DC Cinematic Universe has hinged upon its success, with DC hoping to gain an iota of credibility next to Marvel Entertainment’s dominance of superhero movie franchises. “Batman v Superman” goes to great lengths to meet this challenge, yielding a film that goes big on star power and, as the title would suggest, delivers on a fight comic book fans have been itching to see since Frank Miller’s 1986 masterpiece, “The Dark Knight Returns,” introduced the idea of the Caped Crusader fighting the Son of Krypton.
The film starts off with an introduction to the character Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck). Although the introduction will probably look familiar to fans of Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight Trilogy,” it folds in the slow-motion elements of director Zack Snyder’s earlier “Watchmen” adaptation. From there, the movie picks up where “Man of Steel” left off, with the relationship between Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) and Lois Lane (Amy Adams).
While the titular Batman and Superman are the main characters, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) are also present to provide, respectively, much-needed plot motivation and a setup for future franchise films. Inevitably, the two worlds collide in what Luthor terms a battle of “God versus man,” and the result is undeniably epic.
The film has some great moments. The choices to cast Affleck as Batman and Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth both paid off. The first act of the film constantly ratchets up the tension and sets up all the later explosions, and the plot moves along remarkably well. But what audiences really must be excited for is the fight. That fight — like the rest of the film — is visually stunning.
While some will take issue with the film’s overly-serious tone, it makes sense for the direction the franchise is taking. Hans Zimmer, who created the lauded scores for “The Dark Knight Trilogy,” and Junkie XL, who worked on last year’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” composed the music, which significantly helps the tone.
What some moments of brilliance and impressive music and acting cannot do, however, is save a movie in dire need of rewrites. The second act relies too much on dream sequences and plot contrivances to keep the story going. Later on, the need to set up the future Justice League movies is handled lazily with an email. The movie also tries to approach some serious themes to which the simultaneous need for action ultimately cannot abide.
The third act is essentially one long action sequence which, though thrilling, depends too much on some middle-of-the-road CGI. It also salvages another great DC Comics storyline, which is already spoiled by the trailers. Perhaps most egregiously, Batman not only uses guns frequently, but he he also quite clearly kills people.
Besides these narrative inconsistencies, there is one glaringly poor casting choice — Jesse Eisenberg. Audiences who have come to love Eisenberg for performances in “The Social Network” and many other movies will see in Lex Luthor none of the depth of character or talent from those previous roles.The character Eisenberg creates devolves into full-on clown mode by the end, twitching crazily and jittering like a child. He’s reminiscent of Jim Carrey in “Batman Forever,” only without any of the mirth.
In making “Batman v Superman,” Zack Snyder had to balance two separate movies — a stand-alone superhero epic and a set-up for future franchise installments — resulting in the film’s jarring split in two. It is still worth watching, as there are certain moments of greatness showing the franchise’s potential.
Audiences seeking a CGI-packed superhero smackdown will probably be entertained, but audiences wanting a mix of great action with well-developed characters and plot will probably have to wait for “Captain America: Civil War.”
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