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RDT Reviews Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Big spoilers here…I mean you probably aren’t going to see it if you haven’t already…

Somewhere inside Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a great film. While apparently a four hour cut, the two and a half remaining hours still feels rather challenging to get through. It’s a shame that this is the case as when this film hits its peaks, it hits them amazingly. Some of the scenes in this film are A+ material no doubt. But unfortunately there are a lot of F scenes in there too. I want to get to the performances before the actual plot as there’s a lot to digest here.

I’m pretty sure Snyder wanted to make just a Batman film. Most of the Batman/Bruce Wayne stuff is tremendous. I rolled my eyes that again we were going to have to see Bruce Wayne’s parents murdered, but the scene is done so well that despite seeing some version of it probably ten times by now it still stood out. After that Ben Affleck absolutely owns the role, giving us the perfect Bruce Wayne and a sinister, blood thirsty Batman. Affleck’s great at changing gears here. He effortlessly switches from the super serious detective one moment to suddenly joking around that he “had one martini too many”. Affleck is the best live action Batman and the best live action Bruce Wayne. As a result I have high hopes for the stand alone Batman film coming out in the future. I should also point out that the Batman fight scene that felt like it was lifted straight from the Arkham Series of games is the best cinematic Batman sequence ever.

Wonder Woman also delivers. There was tons of skepticism regarding Gal Gadot but she nailed the role. She steals almost every scene she’s in and when she finally gets into the battle she’s awesome. She also has good chemistry with Affleck’s Bruce Wayne (so much that again, this was probably a lot better off as a Batman film featuring Wonder Woman) and I am excited to see how the Wonder Woman film plays out. But Gadot is a huge positive here.

Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor is interesting. I dreaded seeing Eisenberg in the trailer as he felt like a Batman Forever Riddler and at times his character does feel that way. Other times it feels like a homeless man’s Heath Ledger Joker, which also doesn’t work. But there are scenes where his character was thought provoking and creepy which is a nice new direction to take Lex Luthor in. Luthor would have been lost in the background had he been a serious character like everyone else. Instead a chance was taken. Sometimes it worked well (like when he’s in his home speaking with Senator Finch), sometimes it didn’t (like his rooftop scenes with Lois Lane and Superman) and sometimes it was downright awful (his speech or the end). I do think he did a better job than he’s been given credit for.

Now let’s get to one of the big problems here. Lois Lane and Superman are awful in this film. And unfortunately they’re both in it a lot. In Amy Adams’ case I don’t feel like it’s really her fault. The Lois Lane story arc here just doesn’t work. While I get where they were going with whole desert framing Superman deal it really wasn’t well done and I couldn’t have cared less about Lois’ adventure trying to prove Superman’s innocence. There’s also some cringe worthy moments from Lane as well. “I’m not a woman I’m a reporter” was a pretty awful line despite the empowering effect it was supposed to have. Superman is practically lifeless here and has exactly one good moment, which is when he takes Doomsday into space. Everything else is rage that I don’t completely buy, him shaking his head despite atrocities, or Clark Kent complaining about the Bat Vigilante. While perhaps I felt bad about his death, it feels like such a wasted moment. Superman’s death is supposed to be something that every hero in the history of DC was supposed to mourn. Here, it’s a rushed moment that only Batman and Wonder Woman experience. Adding to that, Wonder Woman and Superman don’t even have an interaction together, so while I’m sure she was upset at his death it’s not as if there’s a heavy emotional feeling to have here. What a mess.

Speaking of Superman’s death, Doomsday was horrible. Whoever had the idea that the DNA of Lex Luthor and General Zod should create Doomsday needs to stay away from all comic books films forever (assuming it was Snyder). While admittedly it was always going to be difficult to match the greatness of Batman’s rogues gallery, horrific portrayals of Superman’s isn’t going to help. The effect was laughable. At least there were two good moments here: Superman taking Doomsday to space and Wonder Woman showing up. Still, what a waste.

There’s some small other plusses here: Jeremy Irons as Alfred is great, Senator Finch is good and some of the Superman imagery is cool (like when he saves the girl during the Night of the Dead celebration). But going on with the ongoing theme of there being a lot of positives and negatives, Mercy Graves (and probably Jimmy Olsen) is absolutely wasted here. Why would Lex want her dead anyway?! I didn’t even get into Batman’s dream sequences. There’s just too much going on here.

Be prepared for a lengthy pro-con list.

Pros:

+Ben Affleck is great as Wayne/Batman.

+Batman vs. Superman fight is pretty good.

+Pretty much all things Batman here are incredible. The Arkham inspired fight scene is my favorite live action Batman scene ever.

+Gal Gadot steals every scene she’s in.

+Justice League cameos are cool.

+Jeremy Irons is a great choice for Alfred.

+Good references to comic book stuff, especially The Dark Knight Returns.

+The themes are pretty solid, just not explored enough.

Cons:

-Plot is all over the place. Even once you understand it, it doesn’t always make sense.

-While I liked Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor in some moments, this is still overall a negative because the bad is awful.

-Mercy Graves is completely wasted here.

-As everyone’s said so far, the film just isn’t fun.

-Some awful references to comic book stuff, like the Death of Superman.

-All things Lois Lane.

-Almost all things Superman and his motivations here don’t work.

-Doomsday.

-Doomsday again.

I’m going to give this a better grade than most have. The reason being that the Batman stuff is awesome. Not just good, but awesome. I can get through some of this bad Superman stuff as long as I get my Batman (and Wonder Woman) action. It’s enough for me. Still, if you told me Batman v Superman would have to settle for a grade and not be an automatic A, I would consider that a disappointment.

Grade: B

 

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@JonRoyalty Review | The Three Separate Films Found in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

As a 6th Grade English Language Arts teacher, I have read many essays. The biggest error I notice is the lack of coherency. Instead of focusing on a singular objective or point and developing it, kids introduce many claims and fail to substantiate each one with fidelity. Such was the fate of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (henceforth referred to as BvS), a film with the coherency and development of a 6th grader’s english essay.

For this review, I will discuss the “separate films” inside BvS that, if made into standalone movies, could be fairly solid. My main go-to line with my kids is “You’re making a lot of good points here, but you’re not developing each one enough. Choose one to focus on, and build it to fruition.” BvS will get the same thesis in this review:

Film 1: Dark Batman “Origin” Film that takes place before Man of Steel

Origin is worse than some swear words in the superhero film genre these days. “We already know how Bruce Wayne became Batman; We don’t need to be told that story again!” When I say origin, I mean the origin of how this Batman came to be the way he is. Ben Affleck (henceforth referred to as Batfleck), the best part of this film, portrays an aged and fatigued Batman. However, he is so vigorous and relentless with his justice distribution. His two big scenes were a grand car chase and a hand-to-hand showdown with an entire floor of bad guys. You can assume that many of the thugs in BvS die instantly or later succumb to the wounds inflicted on them by Batman.

SLAM!

Batfleck also does a great job portraying the Bruce Wayne millionaire playboy mystique and much of the “World’s Greatest Detective” moniker when he sneaks around downloading secret files. Jeremy Irons’ Alfred was also stellar and a nice foil to Batfleck.

We can infer that either a singular event or his body of experiences turned Batfleck into this type of Batman, but which one and/or what was it? This is important because we never get a true sense of where he stands on the morality line. Does he refuse to kill people? Or does he refuse to kill people directly, but is okay with people dying because of his actions? He brands criminals who murder and kill, but then does the same thing and, again, outright plans to Superman!

Batfleck is definitely the high point in the film, and we should have gotten to spend more time with him.

Film 2: Superman’s “Hopeful, Political Thriller Synthesis” Sequel to Man of Steel

After the events of Man of Steel, Superman has become a controversial figure. There are those that see his existence as  a bright beacon of hope, a savior of some kind. Others see him as an alien creature with godlike power who has proven to be a serious threat. Superman is so distraught about people’s perceptions of him and the complications people fabricate regarding him saving people.

Holly Hunter’s Senator [name] had a lot of interesting dialogue with other characters in interviews. “Does the world need a Superman?” “What should he do?” Amy Adams’ Lois Lane is serviceable. She’s in love with Superman and basically exists to handle plot macguffins.

This Photo Lied!!

Jesse Eisenberg’s “Lex Luthor” is terrible. His motivations are unclear. He hates Superman because he’s either a) jealous of his power b) has a complex about God and gods c) has daddy issues or d) wants to destroy the world by creating Doomsday who, if he succeeds in doing what he was creating for, will kill Superman (yay!) but kill the entire human race afterward (yay?). His performance is less Lex and more Joker. Kevin Spacey and Gene Hackman already gave us campy quirky Lex; when can we get the Clancy Brown, cold and caculated Lex from the Bruce Timm series? I just wasn’t on board with what Eisenberg was going for.

The Superman stuff basically ends there. The world has mixed feelings about him while politicians and journalists argue. Instead, a follow-up to Man of Steel should be a hopeful tale of Superman’s redemption in the eyes of the public. He goes on to save people while the people argue about him. Superman is a figure that is to inspire hope; the “S” on his chest stands for “hope” on Krypton in this Zack Snyder lore. A proper Man of Steel sequel should articulate through Superman that even though you may make great and destructive mistakes, people should eventually realize your true intentions and be appreciative. The idea that people argue over Superman even though he does the right thing even feeds into the Lord Jesus Christ metaphor that permeates Man of Steel, since a plethora of people had a problem with Jesus performing miracles and challenged him.

The Baddest Pharisee in the Land

Film 3: A Justice League Recruitment Film?

You could argue that the third film found in BvS is a Justice League Recruitment film. Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman (I’m so happy that this is print so I don’t have to risk mispronouncing her name) was better than I expected. Without spoiling anything, she doesn’t do much action-wise until the end. Along the way she’s a woman of mystique and basically an object to facilitate the big Justice League mini-teasers that would be post-credits scenes if this was the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Any further discussion regarding the Justice League setup and recruitment would invite spoilers.

Should you see it?

I suppose you could do worse than BvS. The overall narrative has no coherency at all. The action sequences are filmed well enough. The titular fight is about 3% of the entire running time. Character motivations aren’t clear or sufficient, except Batman. In fact, most things in this movie aren’t great except Batman; see it for Batman at least.

You can read this posts and others just like it at JonathanMKing.Wordpress.com and can Follow this writer on twitter @JonRoyalty

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RDT Reviews Batman (1989)

Big spoilers here…it has been out for over 25 years afterall.

Tim Burton’s Batman is the prototype characterization of Batman that we see today. After Batman’s popularity had sunk throughout the 1970s, mainly due to the camp version no longer connecting with audiences, several producers (primarily Michael Uslan) looked to restore the dark, serious version of Batman. Many movie studios scoffed at the idea though until Warner Bros. decided to take a chance on it. It still took years to for Warner Bros. to truly believe in a Batman film adaptation project. This mainly happened because of several successful comics depicting Batman as that serious, dark character (The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight Returns for example).

Ultimately this direction worked. While the film isn’t perfect by any means, it set the tone to which DC Comics and Batman especially uses today. Batman has two major positives that outweigh pretty much all of the negatives. For one, it’s visually impressive. Batman looks great, the Joker looks great, the set pieces look pretty cool, especially since the film was made in the 1980s. The film’s dark look also helps the Joker stand out, which is a positive. Lastly, I should point out that the Batmobile is pretty awesome as well.

The other major positive that makes Batman work is that Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne and Batman is very good, and Jack Nicholson is incredible here as the Joker. Had those two performances not worked we may be looking at an entirely different way comic book films are looked at. Nicholson outright steals pretty much every scene he’s in. Most of the memorable scenes in the film involve him. The defacing of the artwork. The parade. “The pen is truly mightier than the sword”. And of course, his first appearance as the Joker.

It’s interesting that Batman v Superman has gotten so much heat for not being fun when this film is pretty much just as depressing. Roger Ebert made this argument that it looked like it was a depressing experience for everyone, even those who made the film. Perhaps Nicholson’s Joker was fun enough that no one cared? Maybe it was what people wanted from the comic book characters in 1989, especially from Batman? I’m not sure, but it definitely worked here.

There’s really not much else that’s to write home about in Batman. Kim Basinger is bland as Vicki Vale (no reaction whatsoever from finding out Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person?). The plot is pretty basic with several changes from the comic book that would infuriate comic book fans today (like Joker being the one to kill Bruce Wayne’s parents).  The only other standout is that the music is great and really sets the dark and gloomy mood.

But none of these negatives really matter. Batman is about two comic book icons (or freaks, as Tim Burton put it) creating one another and then finally having their big fight. It’s about two characters who operate with different levels of freedom: one operates in the shadows while the other opening mocks the city he’s attacking. And both characters are done exceptionally well. That’s what mattered.

Pros:

+Jack Nicholson as the Joker is amazing.

+Michael Keaton also works well as Bruce Wayne and Batman.

+Great change of the darker version of Batman that served the prototype for many future comic book films.

+Visuals are pretty good.

Cons:

-Outside of Keaton and Nicholson no one stands out whatsoever and Kim Basinger falls flat.

-Nothing special about the plot.

One of the most influential films in history that inspired some of the biggest comic book blockbusters in history. And it even holds up thanks to the performances of the main characters.

Grade: A

 

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I’m Worried About Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

If I had to pick between Marvel and DC, I’m on the DC side. It’s more about what I grew up with than anything else. I grew up with Batman. The only Marvel properties I enjoyed as a kid were X-Men and Spider-Man, but neither of those were Batman. Iconic villains, a bad ass hero, an awesome animated series (I was never a comic book reader), Batman had everything. It took until the Justice League animated series for me to appreciate any other DC heroes (Flash, Green Lantern etc.), but even then I would avoid episodes that didn’t really feature Batman.

I hated Superman. I found Superman to be perhaps the most boring superhero of them all with just about nothing capturing my interest. When watching The World’s Finest, a three part Batman/Superman Animated Series crossover, I cheered each time Batman (and The Joker) would outsmart the overpowered alien. I was frustrated when Superman easily dispatched a robot Batman struggled with. It’s interesting how looking back on it, Batman is actually more overpowered than Superman considering he’s outsmarted every being in the world, which really doesn’t make any sense. But I don’t care. I just hated Superman. And up until Man of Steel, I hated Superman.

The only way Batman could beat Superman
The only way Batman could beat Superman

Man of Steel’s direction was a riskier proposition than perhaps all fans realize, and here’s why. As X-Men and Spider-Man were dominating the big screen with light hearted, yet serious films, Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins rebuilt the Batman franchise from the pit that the awful and nearly genre killing Batman and Robin left it in. Before Batman Begins, the Batman franchise experienced massive success with two exceptionally dark films, the 1989 version of Batman and its sequel Batman Returns. Batman Begins went back to the dark Batman, drawing inspiration from Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One. And it was an incredible film. Suddenly, the talk wasn’t about Spider-Man or X-Men. It was about Batman again. The hype for Begins’ sequel, The Dark Knight was incredible. And then the film itself delivered like nothing else. DC found its stride as the brooding dark world Nolan gave DC a leg-up in the film business.

The Scarecrow was just one example of the darker tone Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy used
The Scarecrow was just one example of the darker tone Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy used

But something else happened along the way. Marvel figured out the big screen superhero movie better than DC ever could. The reason? Outside of the hardcores, no one really cares about DC heroes other than Batman or Superman (and maybe Wonder Woman). Sure the Flash and Green Lantern are cool, but they aren’t Batman. It didn’t help that the Green Lantern film bombed in every way as well. Marvel had a roster of heroes that all fans could get into. Suddenly, after a series of successful films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel had the whole Avengers team going up against Nolan’s last Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. Marvel had created 6 or 7 characters the casual fan cares about. DC still had one. And now at least a couple of them could draw on par with Batman at the box office (well, that’s stretching it for Captain America, but certainly Iron Man was at that point). If you were looking at this as a pair of basketball teams, DC were the late 80s Bulls, with Michael Jordan and not much else. Marvel had become the mid 80s Celtics or Lakers, with multiple top guys and real top guys like Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

avengersvsjl
There’s just more big box office money on the Marvel side right now

 

Marvel had also provided a more kid friendly action packed film experience as well. Surely no one would describe Rises that way. So it seemed the lines were drawn, Marvel had the colorful over the top super hero experience, and DC had the dark, realistic (for a lack of a better term) Batman. And Nolan, Warner Bros. and DC continued that route with Man of Steel. Was Superman that type of hero? Man of Steel’s visuals are excessively dark, and while I enjoyed Superman for the first time, many others didn’t. It turns out the dark thing is a Batman gimmick, and it just didn’t click for Superman. And now for the risk factor: Marvel, which has done pretty much everything right in terms of creating a cinematic universe that is critically acclaimed, has also turned to the dark. Age of Ultron not only looks like the MCU’s darkest film yet, it looks a hell of a lot better than DC’s last film, which was Man of Steel. With other Marvel properties doing the dark thing quite well (X-Men: Days of Future’s Past was great), what DC specialized in is something they are now behind in. (It should be noted DC went a different direction seven years earlier with 2006’s Superman Returns…which didn’t work either and also had a strange, dark tone to it)

Have no fear though, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is probably going to be the darkest installment ever seen for a superhero film (which is saying something…again, just look at DOFP or Nolan’s trilogy). Just look at this trailer.

It’s admittedly pretty awesome. But I’m still worried. I’m worried we’re going to see Age of Ultron…and next year’s Captain America: Civil War and just see BvS playing catch-up. It’s trying to be darker. It’s trying to gain ground on Marvel. Worst part is DC knows that it’s doing this. The other fear I have for BvS, is that they are trying to cram way too much into this universe into one film. The only established characters for this film so far are Superman and Lois Lane. This is a new Batman, and apparently a Batman inspired by Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, which is a problem for me as that storyline should be something that should be at the end of the Justice League, not before it. In the midst of all this, Wonder Woman is in there to be established as well. Marvel smartly had the Black Widow play a supporting character in many different Marvel films to establish her where she actually could have her own film and I could buy it. Here, we have to establish Wonder Woman to the point where she can have her own film. At first glance it seems like a distraction. There’s also the rumor of Carrie Kelley, the female Robin, which would make sense as she was Robin in the Dark Knight Returns. There’s just a lot going on here. Funny enough, this Dorkly Bits video pretty much sums up my feelings.

I didn’t even get into the fact that Civil War has Spider-Man in it. I mean just how can DC regain the advantage? Can DC pull ahead while playing catch-up and without overcompensating? I just don’t see it. I’m worried. But I still stand by Batman. Always have, and hopefully always will.