Movie Review: Dawn of Justice

The following is my review of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.  The short version is, “Holy Cow!  I can’t believe I just saw the movie that I saw.”  And for those who hated the movie, what is wrong with you people?  Have you ever read a bloody comic?  Go to a comics shop, grab one of the “essentials” guides and read through those and then go back and rewatch this film.  I actually suspected I would not like this film, but I loved it.  I should forewarn you, there will be MASSIVE spoilers ahead because I can’t properly discuss why this film was so good without giving elements of the story away, so with that said, stop now if you haven’t seen the movie yet.

 

And now for those still here, we can get into a bit more detail.  The thing that worked most for me is that this was a story.  A big problem the film suffered from was that people went in with a lot of preconceptions about what the film was and what it wasn’t.  The story component of super hero films has taken a backseat in the last few years.  The films coming out lately are character driven more than story driven.  When we meet these characters, we don’t know them well enough for that to be the driving factor.  Yet, an entire world was unfolded right before my eyes.  A rich world filled with fantastic and also flawed characters.  And to my amazement it was a world that I believed in from the second we saw Bruce driving through Metropolis.  

This movie wasn’t made for people who can’t appreciate the artistry of comic books, and I think that is responsible for some of its backlash.  Moreover, there is a lot of fan service here that means those of us who read comics will walk out knowing a lot more than those who don’t.  Throughout the film, Bruce experiences dream sequences or perhaps they were visions.  Some are myths that maybe he has told himself like the story of rising to the light.  Others are his worst fears realized, where we see nods to stories like Injustice.  Still others I suspect we will have to wait to fully understand, like the Flash appearing in a cloud of lightning to give Bruce a clue that will ultimately save them all is straight from the pages of Crisis on Infinite Earths but has nothing to do with the story at this point.

We get hints of what is to come, and much as I was excited for the Avengers, I am now very much looking forward to Justice League, a film I was rather ambivalent toward up to this point.  And if it delivers in the same way that this film did we have a lot to look forward to for a long time to come.  This film had a number of nods and a lot of influences that were taken straight from the comic pages.  They range from little things like Bruce standing at the computer in full costume just without the cowl to larger elements like Luthor not trusting Superman because he doesn’t believe that he can be that powerful and also that virtuous.

This film is one chapter in a story that is being told.  This is not a stand-alone movie that then ties into a larger team-up film.  That’s the marvelous competition for the super hero market you’re looking for.  This is one chapter of a single story.  And for that reason it also might feel like a miss to some people  From the above mentioned appearance of the Flash to the showcasing of Parademons to a giant Ω on the ground in another of Bruce’s visions, there is a much larger game afoot.  My preference for a storyteller other than David Goyer aside, they are foreshadowing things that aren’t going to pay off for a number of films.  As such, the viewer who doesn’t know what these symbols mean is likely to feel things are much more disjointed than they actually are.  

That brings us to one criticism the film is getting: “When in doubt, [Snyder] simply slings another ingredient into the mix, be it an irradiated monster, an explosion on government premises, or the sharp smack of masonry on skull.”  This review by Anthony Lane is hogwash and I question if he was writing the review rather than watching the movie.  This is not a case of another ingredient being thrown into the mix at all.  This was organic storytelling.  It’s complex, not convoluted and there is a difference.  Everything makes perfect sense in the film.  This story is the natural progression of things being manipulated by Lex Luthor and tying together elements from Dark Knight Returns and the Death of Superman while laying the foundation for a shared universe that is distinctly different from the one Marvel has been building, and should be.


Then there is Leonard Maltin’s statement “When was it decided superhero movies shouldn't be any fun?”  When was it decided that superhero movies had to just be fun?  This isn’t a story about fun, this is a story grappling with ideologies and belief systems and the hard concepts of life.  In the words of C.S. Lewis ““Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. . . Let there be wicked kings and beheadings, battles and dungeons, giants and dragons, and let villains be soundly killed at the end of the book.”  Fairy tales are not always fun.  Ancient and Medieval literature can be slow and plodding, but entertainment is not always their goal.  They were and are tools to teach and demonstrate principles and ideas, and that is the kind of film we have here; one that touches on and questions our ideas regarding justice and legality, good and evil, god and man.

True, I’m a DC fan.  Man of Steel I walked out having thoroughly enjoyed because we finally got to see Superman cut loose and not be bound by his powers.  That doesn’t mean that the film was without its flaws, but just because a film has a flaw doesn’t mean it’s not a good film.  And flaws can be fixed.  The color pallet for Man of Steel was far to stark, here it feels more vibrant, a distinct improvement.  But, like its predecessor, Dawn of Justice does have some flaws.  The biggest one for me is Lex Luthor.  I liked Lex and I thought he was an excellent antagonist.  I simply did not care for the way he was made a modern boy billionaire in this film.  I did appreciate that they got to show his genius on the other hand.  This was also something that was finally restored to the Bat.  Bruce was once again a detective.  The element of Batman that had been missing from the Nolan films, replaced by gadgets, was restored.

As glad as I am to see Batman as a detective, I was equally glad to see him as the master strategist.  He orchestrated every aspect of his fight with Superman from where it started to where it would end.  However, there are some concerns with this character as well.  It is not that he uses guns.  Batman has ALWAYS used guns of some sort (grappling gun anyone).  There are people who got really upset to see Batman holding a gun in the trailers.  It never ceases to amaze how quickly people will jump to conclusions in this day and age.  There is this thing called context and it would be nice if we could all start waiting for it before leaping to conclusions again.  

The gun he was using in the trailers that stirred up so much controversy was a gas gun.  He previously used guns on his Batmobile and Batwing (1989).  In Final Crisis he literally shot Darkseid with a handgun so it’s not out of character for him to use that sort of weapon.  What is out of character is that he seemingly kills people.  I don’t particularly like this development.  However, it’s also clear that I’ve never seen this Batman before.  We see Bruce 20 years in.  He’s lost a Robin,that much we know.  The mansion has been burned.  He’s been broken and it has made him callous.  He doesn’t kill anyone that isn’t trying to kill him, and even then he kills as few as possible.  When he stops a grenade from being thrown it hurt fewer people blowing up where it fell than it would had he thrown it.  

However, Superman ultimately inspires Batman by the end of the film.  Bruce emerges from this storm a different and better man than he was when he sank into it.  Superman ends the film as Superman.  He sacrificed himself for the world, and the woman he loved.  And the silver “S” on the black coffin was beautiful.  He threw himself into the path of Doomsday in order to stop him.  And this was yet another character I feel they adapted him with great success.  I understand that this wasn’t panel by panel, but it was indeed the spirit of the character.  An abomination of Kryptonian science that gets stronger every time you kill it that Lex is ultimately responsible for… does it really matter how he was an abomination?

Though I would have preferred not having the somewhat awkward bathtub scene with Lois, the character fits in the modern world.  She is the same character we met in Man of Steel.  She is putting her neck on the line to get stories that no one else will and is able to connect the puzzle pieces of the bigger picture before anyone else.  Gal Gadot gives us a bit of an enigmatic Wonder Woman.  She works in the film but is not essential to it.  Much as she did in Bruce Timm’s Justice League cartoon she sort of just drops into the film to save the day.  I don’t consider that a valid complaint, because honestly that is my favorite portrayal of the character, but I would have liked her to get more fleshed out.  Fortunately, Wonder Woman is not far from being released.  And while I was concerned about Jeremy Irons as Alfred, I found I loved the way he handled the role.

So no, this is not a fun little romp into the world of superheroes.  This is an intricate story.  The manipulations of Lex are subtle.  Truthfully, I was on his side for the first 2/3 of the film, until everything was revealed.  The motivations for the characters are implied.  This history is in the background, not at the forefront of the film.  There are easter eggs scattered throughout that may just be fun nods, but more likely are foreshadowing events that are years from seeing fruition.  This is a comic book movie, not a superhero movie.  If you want to go on a fun little romp through the land of capes and tights, if you want to see the same story we've seen over and over again of guy becomes hero to stop villain or has to up his game because of new villain, then stay clear.  If you want to have an entire world and mythology built in front of you, then you must see this film.