A chef will tell you that the first bite is with the eyes as he turns the presentation of his dish into some elaborate architecture. For a film, that first bite comes from reputation.. It can be a great thing as you’re reassured by positive responses and feel a bit more accepting of the dollar you’ve shelled out to see it. But then there is the opposite: when a film you’ve been dying to see is taking flak from all directions, tearing down your faith in the film piece-by-piece. What do you do? Do you take the chance, see the film yourself and risk bitter disappointment? Or fold your cards in believing you’re better letting this one go. While the DC Extended Cinematic Universe’s new film arrives with the promise of Batman Vs Superman, they barely got a punch in before critics swarmed in to beat them both into a bloody pulp dripping into the Gotham sewers. This film has been called a failure, a disaster, a mess and a lot of words best confined to describing Donald Trump. So should you see it?..... Yes, you should. This is a film with more problems than successes but those sucesses are worth seeing for yourself, and even if this film leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you will walk out more eager to see many of the future DC films.
Following his destructive battle in Metropolis against General Zod, Superman (Henry Cavill – Stardust, The Man from Uncle) has become a more controversial figure. particularly in the eyes of the tech genius Lex Luthor (Jessie Eisenberg – Zombieland, American Ultra) and billionaire businessman Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck – Argo, Gone Girl) who each make plans to destroy him.
So starting with the positives ,and the biggest by far, is Ben “Batfleck” Affleck absolutely nailing it is both Bruce Wayne and Batman. Everything that works in this film involves or is connected to him. His emotions and motivations for seeking conflict with Superman are the most effective arc of the story, right form one of the film’s real highlights, the early Metropolis (Superman Vs Zod) flashback seen through his eyes on the ground as the collateral damage piles up. His back story is efficiently and quite stylishly covered through the opening credits and they play the age card with his character very well as he really feels like a product of his age and experiences, having seen enough evil to doubt the good in anyone. It was featured in the trailers but the Batman warehouse fight is arguably the greatest action/fight sequence in any Batman film to date. It’s like the climatic lightsaber fight in The Phantom Menace, an anchoring point of awesomeness amongst much poorer material. Then, there’s Jeremy Irons (Die Hard With A Vengence) as Alfred who firt both into the character and film perfectly. He’s cynical and even sarcastic about Bruce’s endeavours, and at all times loyal and supportive, but crucially without requiring his own story to justify his existence (more on that later). He’s a veritable butler to the film as he does his job selflessly without the need to draw attention to himself.
Next on the honours list is Gal Gadot’s (Fast & Furious) Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. Although she may only suit open in Amazonian in the film’s final act, when she does, she’s absolutely fantastic, looking and feeling more powerful than both the titular characters combined. Gadot also impresses as Diana Prince as she casually discards the advances of Bruce Wayne while wearing rather stunning getups. In many ways, she is a surplus to the Batman Vs Superman Story and merely attending to develop the Dawn of Justice aspect, but the film is decidedly improved for having some added wonder. Finally, the visuals of the film are generally great and at times, outstanding. For the most part, no matter what knots the story is getting tangled in, there is something for your eyes to devour from the fight effects of the Doomsday battle, the Batcave interiors to the sprawling cityscapes of Metropolis and Gotham.
And so to the bad or at least the worst offenders: the narrative of this film is dreadful. If you were worried the film would be overcrowded, it is. There actually a good or 4 or 5 different films (Man of Steel sequel, Justice League prequel, Batman solo film, Batman Vs Superman conflict etc.) trying to tell their stories here but spend most of the run time just getting in each other’s way. Now, this could still be okay if it was all edited well and compiled with momentum and continuity but it isn’t. Instead scenes are chucked in left, right and center as we flick between different character groups often with no connecting material.
There are many elements that just don’t need to be there, and the biggest offender by far is the Lois Lane story arc. Some genius studio executive clearly demanded that having an actress like Amy Adams on your books means you have to use her prominently. That’s fine, in that case, use her as the conduit to Superman’s emotional conflict, like The Maid in Romeo & Juliet. Instead Adams is pointlessly elevated to Mercuito status, wasting scene after scene chasing after plot devices and being a damsel in distress whenever the plot requires one just to be seen as involved. Even the Daily Planet cast are overused, which keeps Henry Cavil wearing his glasses a lot of more than he should and brings us to the heart of the problem: there just isn’t enough Superman in this film! The whole premise of the film is supposed to revolve around the accountability of Superman and his Godlike power amongst men, but it doesn’t explore it anywhere near well enough from either Kal-El’s or the public’s perspective. There are moments when the film teeters on the edge of getting much deeper into its subject and more rewarding only to get nervous and back out of it. In a press conference, we see a key senator ask, “Should there be a Superman?”-- which is an outstanding question and point to be debated but the response is nothing but silence before cutting away on another tangent.
Even the selling point fight of Batman Vs Superman misses its mark, getting far too sloppy in setting it up. We understand why their ideologies conflict and why Batman is calling the Kryptonian out, but the reasons for starting and ending the fight will leave you going “Seriously.... that’s the best they could come up with!”. Then there is Jessie Essienberg’s Lex Luthor, which despite providing some relief, is a travesty (and I say that as a firm lover of all Essienberg’s prior films). He’s an annoying squeaky voiced kids TV presenter reject that has less business being a supervillain than Jar Jar Binks returning in Episode VIII. Then, there is the wider Justice League setup arc of the film, which his predominantly delivered by via email in the most lazily-written fashion possible. Some of the character cameo teasers we get are cool, but you’ll feel cheated by how they arrive.
If you’ve seen the trailers, you’ve seen the film in that you know all the key events, key lines and have seen a lot of seemingly unrelated scenes cut together. There are some decisions in the film that will leave comic fans choking on their Twizzlers; most notably --and you are better off being prepared for this-- Batman kills people. This is a huge waste of potential in bringing together many iconic characters played superbly by great actors that gets squandered by director Zack Snyder’s desire for style over content. If it had made been a few more films down the line it could have been justice for the ages rather than over-rushed fumble. It is still a passable viewing experience if you can lock your inner-fanboy away in the Phantom Zone. You may walk out of Batman V Superman feeling shocked but you will be excited to see Wonder Woman’s 2017 solo film. You will be longing to see Affleck’s solo Batman trilogy and maybe even Zack Synder’s Justice League if he can some feedback onboard. This may not be the greatest gladiator match in human history but neither is it a kryptonite dagger through the heart of the DC movieverse just yet.