Expectations are a funny thing.
I walked into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with full confidence that it was going to be dismal from beginning to end. Indeed, prior to seeing a single frame of the movie, I had already begun mentally preparing a series of clever-but-scathing comments to express my geeky displeasure. So imagine how surprised I was when I discovered it wasnt nearly as awful as I thought it would be.
Thats not high praise, surely. No ones going to use that as a blurb on a movie poster. Theres a great deal this movie gets wrong, but whats remarkable is how much it manages to get right.
At the top of the got it right list is Ben Afflecks Batman, who may well be the best big-screen incarnation of the Dark Knight to date. (Dont tell my wife I said that. Shes something of a Christian Bale groupie.) He makes a magnificent world-weary and cynical Batman, and his Bruce Wayne is note perfect. This movie was sold as a Batman and Superman team-up, but its really a Batman movie with Superman as a guest star. Since the brooding tone is entirely Batman-appropriate, I never resented the fact that Affleck was the center of attention.
The movies greatest weaknesses, then, stem from the futile effort to shoehorn Superman into Batmans dark and gritty world. Man of Steel was already several shades too gloomy for such a bright character, but this movie pushes the boundaries of bleakness well beyond Supermans breaking point. The original Christopher Reeve Superman movies of yesteryear somehow managed to marry a gripping adventure tale with a great deal of humor, but director Zack Snyder cant seem to play anything but blue notes.
True, there are some limp attempts at levity, most of them from an overwrought Jesse Eisenberg, whose nails-on-a-chalkboard performance as Lex Luthor couldnt possibly have been more irritating. He comes across less as a criminal genius and more like an overcaffeinated teenager trying to sell you a cellphone case at a shopping mall kiosk. Hes supposed to be the mastermind pulling all the strings behind the scenes, but hes not at all menacing and hes impossible to take seriously. That makes him a poor fit for a movie that takes itself far more seriously than it should.
Snyder thinks slow-motion footage is synonymous with profundity, so he slows down every weighty emotional moment in order to bludgeon the audience with the message that people in capes can be solemn, too. Thats one of the reasons this movie is about a half-hour too long. The other is an overabundance of pointless dream sequences that repeatedly stop the narrative momentum dead in its tracks for no other reason than the fact that Snyder thinks they look really cool.
That said, they did look really cool. Visually, this movie is stunning, and the action sequences never fail to deliver. And I defy any geek to fight off goosebumps when they finally see Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman in the same shot. (Gal Gadots Wonder Woman doesnt have enough to do here, but the movie is better every moment she's on screen.) Critics have complained that this movie is really nothing more than a trailer for the upcoming Justice League film, but as far as trailers go, this one definitely does its job well.
For all its flaws, Batman v Superman makes you eager to see what happens next. That doesnt necessarily make it a good movie, but it really could have been a whole lot worse.
I walked into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with full confidence that it was going to be dismal from beginning to end. Indeed, prior to seeing a single frame of the movie, I had already begun mentally preparing a series of clever-but-scathing comments to express my geeky displeasure. So imagine how surprised I was when I discovered it wasnt nearly as awful as I thought it would be.
Thats not high praise, surely. No ones going to use that as a blurb on a movie poster. Theres a great deal this movie gets wrong, but whats remarkable is how much it manages to get right.
At the top of the got it right list is Ben Afflecks Batman, who may well be the best big-screen incarnation of the Dark Knight to date. (Dont tell my wife I said that. Shes something of a Christian Bale groupie.) He makes a magnificent world-weary and cynical Batman, and his Bruce Wayne is note perfect. This movie was sold as a Batman and Superman team-up, but its really a Batman movie with Superman as a guest star. Since the brooding tone is entirely Batman-appropriate, I never resented the fact that Affleck was the center of attention.
The movies greatest weaknesses, then, stem from the futile effort to shoehorn Superman into Batmans dark and gritty world. Man of Steel was already several shades too gloomy for such a bright character, but this movie pushes the boundaries of bleakness well beyond Supermans breaking point. The original Christopher Reeve Superman movies of yesteryear somehow managed to marry a gripping adventure tale with a great deal of humor, but director Zack Snyder cant seem to play anything but blue notes.
True, there are some limp attempts at levity, most of them from an overwrought Jesse Eisenberg, whose nails-on-a-chalkboard performance as Lex Luthor couldnt possibly have been more irritating. He comes across less as a criminal genius and more like an overcaffeinated teenager trying to sell you a cellphone case at a shopping mall kiosk. Hes supposed to be the mastermind pulling all the strings behind the scenes, but hes not at all menacing and hes impossible to take seriously. That makes him a poor fit for a movie that takes itself far more seriously than it should.
Snyder thinks slow-motion footage is synonymous with profundity, so he slows down every weighty emotional moment in order to bludgeon the audience with the message that people in capes can be solemn, too. Thats one of the reasons this movie is about a half-hour too long. The other is an overabundance of pointless dream sequences that repeatedly stop the narrative momentum dead in its tracks for no other reason than the fact that Snyder thinks they look really cool.
That said, they did look really cool. Visually, this movie is stunning, and the action sequences never fail to deliver. And I defy any geek to fight off goosebumps when they finally see Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman in the same shot. (Gal Gadots Wonder Woman doesnt have enough to do here, but the movie is better every moment she's on screen.) Critics have complained that this movie is really nothing more than a trailer for the upcoming Justice League film, but as far as trailers go, this one definitely does its job well.
For all its flaws, Batman v Superman makes you eager to see what happens next. That doesnt necessarily make it a good movie, but it really could have been a whole lot worse.
