Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Review ⋆ The Flow Check

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

Let’s get this out of the way right now, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is not a good movie. Which is disappointing considering the source material is legendary.

The movie begins with a flashback to Batman’s origin. Which seemed rushed, hollow, and just plain flatter than a New England Patriots’ football. I felt like director Zack Snyder was telling me, “You already know the genesis of the Dark Knight, so why should you care about the quality.” The film then shows the end battle of Man of Steel from the Bruce Wayne’s perspective. While I was watching I couldn’t help but realize THIS should have been in that movie. It would have been nice to see a cameo of Wayne during the destruction of Metropolis. These two examples is a running theme with BvS. Scenes that wouldn’t need to be so long, or even used at all if DC had the common sense to lay the ground work with other movies.

What made the fight between Batman and Superman in the comic so epic (Dark Knight Returns) was the fact they were friends for years before going toe to toe. In this film they are fighting because of the machinations of Lex Luther (who is Mark Zuckerberg on caffeine and crack) which is different from the source material. Which would be fine if the politics, soul searching, and ridiculous forced cameos didn’t suck away any joy this movie had. Other then name recognition, BvS really gives no reason why the viewer should be emotionally invested in the showdown, or most of the movie for that matter. Batman v Superman is that person who tries too hard for acceptance. Seeing Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman (who is too skinny) fighting together for the first time means nothing, yet you can tell the director is begging you to care. Why should we? Until the Doomsday battle, Wonder Woman and Superman had no interaction whatsoever. I don’t even think they spoke to each other the entire movie. If Batman and Wonder Woman had their own solo movies first, then DC would have hit it out of the park with this team up, or at the very least, the warning track.

It’s not all bad though. Batman v Superman has some good dialog and action that keeps your interest, but as soon as the momentum is good, it gets cut off at the knees with scenes that will go over most people’s heads. For example, the movie shoves (figuratively of course) Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman down your throat with cameos that take away from the flow of the film. Had these other characters had their own movie (or TV show) before Batman V Superman, it would have made more sense. DC is a victim of their own greed. Erroneously jammin several movies into one will always fail. Telling a story is more about building the road to the payoff. DC simply refused to do this because they wanted an Avengers type movie without following the correct template.

Batman v Superman once again shows why DC/Warner Bros simply can not get their shit together. While Batman breaking his foot off in criminal’s asses, and certain one liners are somewhat interesting, the movie is leaking with more holes than an alcoholic’s liver. BvS has a plethora of head scratchers. Batman willing to kill, his apocalyptic nightmare (is he a clairvoyant now?), and don’t get me started with the fact this movie wants to get by on the name of the characters, rather than give you a reason to give a shit.