Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) ***/5: A poorly conceptualized film although it’s a comic book extravaganza. Tries to do too much

(image courtesy of bgr.com)

Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice is a poorly conceptualized film although it’s a comic book extravaganza. As a comic book extravaganza the film had  all the materials to make something happen but the film goes out with a whimper. DC and Warner Bros. have regressed with this film and if they want to salvage anything from this debacle they should fire Zack Snyder and bring back Nolan or get a director with some quality.  The film has some redeeming features  but because of the poor conceptualization some of the characterizations are poor. This film threatened to boil over into a Batman and Robin scenario except that this is a more grim film.  Snyder promoted the serious nature of the film but he made his source material very evident in this film. He merely copied instead of assimilated the source material which is Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and the famous comic book story The Death of Superman. The storylines in those books were very good but here bits and pieces of them are added on without any real sense of direction. By adding those source materials in bits and pieces some people have claimed that there is a good film underneath. There is not a good film somewhere because of how Snyder and his co writers have adapted the storylines from these two films. Either comic  book storyline from the The Dark Knight Returns or The Death of Superman , could have been adapted into a film of its own and it would have been more successful.  The Death of Superman could have been adapted into Man of Steel 2 and The Dark Knight Returns could have been adapted to a new Batman film before the 2 heroes collided. Just imagine a film entitled Superman: Doomsday or The Death of Superman. BvS is just poorly conceptualized and there is no real objective here. BvS is a comic book extravaganza and Warner bros. clearly hasn’t learnt the lessons from Batman and Robin. They didn’t need to play catch up to Marvel with their own rich source material.  Instead everything seems forced.

This film stars Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman as he tries to come to terms with the all powerful alien popularly known as Superman (Henry Cavill). Their paths eventually collide in a not so good way before there is some resolution. They eventually have to grapple with Lex Luthor and his nefarious schemes in creating the doomsday creature. Lex Luthor  seems to be making way for a very powerful foe (Darkseid?) to come. A foe they will be fighting in the Justice League which opens next year.

Positives

Although the film is poorly conceptualized there are some positives or redeeming features which, if in the hands of a better director, can be utilized much more effectively.  The first positive for me is the casting. They got that spot on. We all know about the design of superman from Man of Steel but Ben Affleck isn’t bad as Batman/Bruce Wayne although he does comes across as a bit stodgy at times. The real win in terms of casting is Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. She certainly has the look. She plays the undercover role as the mysterious and  beautiful Diana Prince well and she also captures the look and feel of the powerful  amazon warrior known as Wonder Woman. In the hands of a good director the Wonder Woman film, slated to be released next year, will do well. The other supporting roles were also very well cast. Jesse Eisenberg’s Luthor is the weakest cast member because his Luthor is merely a rip off of Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight. He does provide a menacing air but we all know what the joker is capable of. They could have gone for a more mature Luthor who is sinister on the inside yet sparkles in the public eye.  The original Luthor from the superman animated series was a very effective villain because he had his hands in everything related to metropolis. It was always difficult for Superman to take him down because of this particularly as many people in metropolis depend on his corporation for their livelihoods. How else could DC have a famous storyline about Luthor running for president. You would never get this from Eisenberg’s portrayal of Luthor. The really suave and more mature Luthor from the animated series would not have exposed himself so easily as the luthor  in BvS. He would have been much harder to take down.

Another positive was the detective work in the film not just from Batman’s side but Lois Lane’s. It was fairly well done but it didn’t lead to any striking revelations.

The other positive for me was the presence of a major villain in the form of Doomsday that was woefully underutilized.  Doomsday should have been the subject of an entire film not just the final minutes. A being this powerful would eventually bring the future members of the justice league into play because his impact should be global. This is why I did not like how doomsday was created.  If he had to be created the way he was then I still would not have liked his limited screen time. There was no method to his madness. No explanation whatsoever is provided apart from how he’s created by luthor. As a result Doomsday becomes a hollow shell.

One thing they also got right was the formation of the trinity: Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is the buffer between Batman &  Superman.  They are truly the original members of the Justice league. Wonder Woman could have played a more effective role when batman and superman come to blows but that role seemed to be reserved for  Lois Lane.

Negatives

The main negative of this film is that it is poorly conceptualized. The storylines from two famous comic book stories are supposedly melded into one. If Snyder managed to meld the two effectively then this would probably have been a great film . The story of The Dark Knight Returns is Batman’s story and superman plays only a supporting role. The Death of Superman is Superman’s story. These are 2 major story lines that were sacrificed at Snyder’s altar. These stories were 2 big to be crammed into 1 movie. What Snyder and Warner Bros. should have done is broken this film up into 2 or 3. It would be titled only The Dawn of Justice Pt 1 or The Dawn of Justice: The Dark Knight Returns.  The posters would feature Batman’s logo and would have adapted the storyline of The Dark Knight Returns  storyline, particularly the part referring to the cross over with superman and without his faked death. It would be a meeting of the 2 only with some fisticuffs involved obviously and could have even featured other minor characters like Green Arrow.  The next film would have been The Dawn of Justice: The Death of Superman. This film would have featured Superman’s duel with Doomsday and the need for earth to be protected by superman in light of these galactic threats.  In fact there could have been a part three  entitled The Dawn of Justice: Wonder Woman. There would have been some cross over between the 3 but it would be more limited. Each film would have been told from different perspectives. Then for the Justice League film to be released next year they would all unite. It would have been somewhat similar to the marvel model but all three films would have been anchored by a particular story related to each character which would have made their stories much more enriching. It would make these characters more pronounced in the public eye. It wouldn’t be just like Marvel because these three films would deal with the famous DC trinity. The original Justice League members. Well if we’re pushing it then they would probably have to include films for the Flash, Green lantern and maybe the Martian later on. These films, if done well, would have given marvel nightmares. BvS as it stands just won’t do it even though marvel is now running out of gas.

What we get from BvS instead are snapshots of what could have been. I am not going into any nitpicking because that would be useless. Suffice to say that DC did not have to rush to keep up with Marvel. Their source material is already so rich that if they made just one of the 3 films proposed by me then marvel would be having sleepless nights. Particularly if it was a good film. Why would DC hurry to catch up with marvel. They already dominated the 1980s and 90s. Marvel was like a mouse to the large DC cat. DC already showed with its Nolan films that it can compete with Marvel by telling comic book stories in its particular style. With BvS they got too bogged down into thinking they have to play catch up. If DC and Warner Bros. held its nerve then when Marvel’s project is finished with The Avengers: Infinity Wars, DC could have taken over completely with their Justice League films. DC did not have to rush because, historically speaking, their comics do have the better story lines.

The Hans Zimmer score in this film is one of the worst offerings I have heard for a superhero film. The choral aspect of the score  was  very contrived. Hans Zimmer did well in Man of Steel  but he really blew it here.

The Batman storyline was very contrived and more supernatural than natural. It reminded me of  Batman Forever.  Batman is shaped more by his dreams than his actions in the real world.

Doomsday was underutilized and could have been more effective if this was just superman’s movie.

Luthor was a weak villain and seemed like a carbon copy of Heath ledger’s Joker.  The Luthor from the comics would have been a better fit. The motives  of the characters  in the trinity are weak or poorly defined.

Zack Snyder should be fired from the project. He wrecked Watchmen and there is every chance that he will wreck the Justice League.  The only reason this film is doing well at the box office is because batman and superman are hot property. The question Warner bros. should ask is: Would Snyder’s film be doing well if it were not for the characters of batman and superman?

Some people should not confuse comic book extravaganza with a good film. It’s good to see certain characters  on screen but it’s even better when most things work from the perspective of the story.