Batman v Superman: why so serious?

Okay, it’s landed on the back of two years of solid hype, and the critics haven’t been kind. But I’ve never met anyone who has stayed away from a superhero flick because a critic didn’t like it, so I don’t think a few slatings are going to sink this one; there’s a billion dollar franchise riding on it, after all.

But I have to say that I agree with the critics; there’s plenty I didn’t like about this film, and not enough I did. It is quite bad, though not the worst superhero movie I’ve ever seen; I think the Fantastic Four’s last outing still holds that title.

Okay, first of all, let’s talk about the length: this film came in at a shade over two and half hours, and they could have easily cut a good half hour of that. It started very slowly with a recap of Batman’s origin (inevitable, though I don’t know why) and a few fast scenes featuring Superman being… well… God, basically. The cuts were so fast that you couldn’t possibly get a handle on the characters as they whipped in and out, saying very little but wrecking whole cities in their wake. The acting was uninspired, as was the script, and the special effects were so frequently over the top that I came pretty jaded after the first half hour or so (Superman saving a rocket; Superman towing a ship through the arctic…). We had a flash forward to the future, for no apparent reason, and lots of symbolic dream sequences that really didn’t help with the overall feeling that the movie was thrashing about, looking for a plot thread to hang on to. I got the impressions that the level of on-screen destruction  was trying to hide the fact that there was little else going on.

Wonder Woman was shoehorned in at various points, introducing yet another element that only made the whole thing appear a little bit messy… and long.

The battle scenes were brilliantly choreographed and magnificent to watch for the most part. The best by far was the fight scene featuring Batman against unpowered criminals. Superman doesn’t really do fighting, but then he doesn’t have to – he’s powerful enough to destroy the planet on his own, so what’s the point?

And I think that’s the main problem with the film; the players (and I find this with a lot of DC characters) have no humanity, and this makes them very difficult to identify with or care about. There is no fragility or humour in this movie and I think that’s why it fell short for me.

Will it kill the franchise? I hope not, because I think the directors/producers/scriptwriters can look at the criticism and turn it around for the next one (featuring The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg by the looks of it). If they do their homework, the next outing should be a hundred times better. Remember: humour and humanity.

However, I didn’t really like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – so four out of ten.

4 thoughts on “Batman v Superman: why so serious?”

  1. Ok, I finally saw it and am excited to talk about it. I agree the flashbacks were kinda forced. I get it that they had to make the connection between the Martha’s…Batman’s weird dreams were completely unnecessary. Fight scenes were cool. Wonder Woman’s parts (pre-fight) were a little awkward but I get it. They had to create a link to her and then make her care enough to fight with them.

    Now, on to my issues. Ever sine I heard about this movie, I thought “hmmm Superman is, well, super and indestructible by any mere man. Batman is just that, a man. There is no way Batman can beat Superman. Period” I was completely proven wrong. Batman whipped his ass and really COULD have killed him. That beast was beating his ass. He let Lex punk him. I was totally disappointed in Superman. I feel like Batman was a jealous, sensitive, cry baby. He did not think twice or even try to investigate the accusations around Superman before deciding he wanted to bulk up and be Super Bat on Kryptonite.

    Overall, I feel like the movie was a bit unnecessarily long but not bad. I am not a die hard comics/dc/marvel fan. I am just a fan of movies. Oh, and of Superman, obviously, and of Christian Bale Batman. Not so much Ben. He was alright. Ok, he was pretty good. I am just still hurt that Christian Bale was not Batman. I think he has been the BEST batman so far. I am excited about Wonder Woman. I think it was a good introduction for her. She was pretty kick ass. Without her they would not have been able to win.

    So, that’s my two cents lol

    1. Oh and Lois Lane…don’t get me started. I just wanted her to sit down somewhere and chill. She is kinda to blame for it all lol Since when does the Daily Planet send reporters to Africa?!? I’m just saying…

    2. Yeah, I think the main problem was that they tried to pack too much in. They wanted to bring in Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash. They wanted to do something clever with a possible future timeline, and then they had that screaming guy appearing in the Batcave. It was all just too much.
      I’ve always had a problem with Superman being way too powerful to be interesting. If there’s no Kryptonite then every battle is a foregone conclusion. (Still, it was good to see that when it comes to unarmed combat, he’s nowhere near Batman’s level of skill).
      Now Marvel Comics has a character called The Gladiator who can match Superman, but they realise that vulnerability makes characters a lot more interesting, so they gave him a really weird one: his power level goes up and down depending on his self-confidence. So in the morning he can move a moon, but if you tell him he’s not such a powerhouse in bed, you may be able to take him out with a housebrick.

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