Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

I enjoyed Batman v Superman.

I did. Don’t look at me like that.

I feel that I got my money’s worth of cinematic experience. There was some great action and excitement… but…

… and that’s the thing, there’s this “but” associated with this movie, no, this franchise, that we have to deal with. There are so many things about Batman v Superman that I didn’t like, so much about the build-up to the movie that I didn’t like, and so much about Man of Steel that I didn’t like… it’s difficult to define what I DID like. Maybe it’s the unabashed fanboy in me that just can’t get over my excitement to see Superman and Batman on the big screen.

Batman v Superman is the second installment in the DC Cinematic Universe (well, third installment if you’re counting Green Lantern but I believe we can all agree that we’re ignoring that movie) and now the tone is set in stone. What we have is this product that will be driving the movies featuring the characters I love and it is bleak. It is a bleak world. Bleak, sweaty, desperate and filthy. I get it. DC wants to separate themselves from the behemoth that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a major way and they do that by toning down the color, the fun, the lightheartedness, and the charm of the Marvel movies and replacing those elements with, well, the opposite.

For the most part, it works. Even if it’s difficult to watch. If DC didn’t invent “grim and gritty” they certainly perfected it back in 1986 with Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns, and this film is all of that writ large.  It’s an interesting parallel, but when DC was really getting dirty in the mid-eighties, making Batman violent and jaded, killing the Flash and Supergirl, murdering Robin with a 900 phone number and so on, Superman was being relaunched by John Byrne from Marvel’s X-Men and it stood out as one of the most hopeful, happy titles of the era. Much like the current cinematic Superman seems to be the only hopeful thing in the movie.

Kinda.

The bleakness is necessary to setup the purpose for the Justice League films as prophesied by Batman’s dream sequences (SPOILER ALERT, Batman has dream sequences, LOTS of dream sequences. A guy I saw the move with said it was like watching Inception 2). There is a darkness coming and this horribly distrustful world will be ripe for conquest. Fans of DC Comics will recognize immediately who and what we’re talking about as soon as they see a giant Greek alphabet character carved into the barren landscape of Batman’s dream. Frankly, that made me happier than any other part of the film. We know that the JLA will win in the end, and to do so, they’ll have to beat back the darkness and restore hope to the world. This franchise is building up to the emergence of fun, happiness, charm, and hope. That bright palette we are all lamenting is an endgame.

The only performance I’m really going to mention is Ben Affleck’s because he nailed it! Absolutely nailed it. He was a fantastic Batman and an even better Bruce Wayne. Gone is the gravelly caricature that Bale’s Dark Knight became and it’s replaced with a freaking superhero who works out old school, pulling tires and swinging a sledgehammer. I wish they had given him better things to say and do! Perhaps in the Affleck-helmed Batman solo film.

Speaking of “things to say,” not everything Superman says needs to be epic. Nearly all of his dialogue has this stiff, “I’ve got to save the world” vibe. It’s really ok to just let him talk like a real person. It would help the audience identify with him. In fact, none of the main characters got a chance to interact in ways that weren’t confrontational. DC could use a little “shawarma.”

There were some logic problems, some difficult editing, the acting was stiff, the dialogue was awful, there was WAY too much going on, and the Christian symbolism was so far over the top that it was circling back on itself.

But I still enjoyed it.

Decide for yourself. This is not the worst movie I’ve ever seen and I don’t think it deserves a 31% on Rotten Tomatoes. Don’t let other people decide for you, and realize that we are talking about an entire franchise here, not just one movie. You might not agree with the direction they are taking but, hey, it’s what we’ve got.