Film Review: ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’
Zack Snyder paves the way for a DC Comics universe on the big screen with an exhilarating, scattered showdown between two comicbook titans.
Who would win in a fight,
Batman or Superman? Could the Flash outrun Superman? Could Superman
craft a boulder so heavy even he couldn’t lift it? While “Batman
v Superman: Dawn of Justice” ostensibly seeks to tackle the first of
those evergreen schoolyard hypotheticals, it’s the third that ends up
proving the biggest litmus test for director Zack Snyder.
Tasked with colliding the two most archetypal of American superheroes
while also answering critics of his last outing, “Man of Steel,” and
perhaps most importantly, paving the way for an extended DC Comics
universe of films on which much of Warner Bros. future bottom line
relies, Snyder has set a Sisyphean task for himself. That this very
long, very brooding, often exhilarating and sometimes scattered epic
succeeds as often it does therefore has to be seen as an achievement,
and worldwide box office should be sufficiently lucrative to ensure
future installments proceed on schedule. But amidst all the grueling
work of saving the world and shouldering a franchise toward the heights,
it would be nice to see these heroes, and this series, take a few more
breathers to enjoy the view.
Proving that the placement of names in
the title isn’t simply alphabetical, the first few reels of “Batman
v Superman” are dominated by the Caped Crusader, with controversial casting Ben Affleck
stepping quite comfortably into the role. That the film opens with yet
another operatic depiction of the young Bruce Wayne’s most formative
trauma is perhaps unavoidable — Thomas and Martha Wayne have been killed
so many times in so many different media that their deaths may as well
be one of the Stations of the Cross — but our first glimpse of the adult
Wayne is hardly standard issue. Taking a civilian-level view of the
cataclysmic destruction of Metropolis that ended “Man of Steel” on a
contentious note, we watch as Wayne attempts to remotely evacuate his
own Metropolitan Wayne Enterprises skyscraper, crippled by a wayward
Superman (Henry Cavill)
as he battles with General Zod just outside the frame. Despite his mad
drive through the battle-torn streets, Wayne arrives just in time to
watch, horrified, as a friendly security guard loses his legs and a
young girl becomes an orphan.
Setting Wayne up as the film’s initial
conscience is one of Snyder’s most interesting gambles, especially as
his Batman quickly evolves into the most morally ambiguous iteration of
the character yet seen on film. More than willing to shoot, brutalize
and kill if the need arises, this Batman is still a figure of mystery in
Gotham, and Snyder refrains from showing us the character in full cowl
until surprisingly late in the game.
Fortunately, Affleck’s Wayne — here
sporting salt-and-pepper temples and all the baggage of a man who, as
faithful butler Alfred (Jeremy Irons) notes, “got too old to die young,
and not for want of trying” — is a winningly cranky, charismatic
presence even when out of costume. Diving headfirst into the sorts of
detective work that Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy often
short-shrifted, Wayne casts a skeptical eye on Superman while
investigating a mysterious underworld figure named White Portuguese, his
tracks traced by an equally mysterious woman (Gal Gadot).
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