Film Review – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

I got the opportunity to attend the premiere of Batman v Superman courtesy of Capital FM and Qatar Airways at Prestige Plaza. I must admit I was pretty thrilled coz I am a huge fan of both Batman and Superman and had been anxiously waiting for this film like the rest of the fandom for what seemed like forever. I watched every trailer that came out and could barely hold it together on the day of the premiere. Yes, I was team Batman. Yes, he is a superhero Superman fans! One that doesn’t need superpowers to kick butt but uses his smarts to get things done. (Let’s not argue about this please.) So after getting sloshed on cocktails and fantastic music from the Capital FM and Qatar Airways team, it was time for Batman v Superman.

There was a lot of buzz about the casting choices with regards to especially Batman, played by Ben Affleck and Wonder Woman played by Gal Gadot. They both pleasantly did well in their respective roles and I actually am looking forward to seeing them reprise those roles. The film is in 3D and runs for 151 min, which is a pretty long time but clearly not long enough to squeeze everything in. Directed by Zack Snyder, best known for 300, Watchmen and Man of Steel, the whole film felt like a build-up to The Justice League, and not in a good way. There was simply way too much happening with the Batman v Superman fight build-up on one end, Lex Luthor and his unbridled ambitions on the other and somewhere in the middle, Wonder Woman deciding whether she wants to get in on the action or not.

I feel the film had a script issue. (Though to be fair, a writer can put out a great script and it’s watered down or mutilated by a Director or in the edit.) There wasn’t enough character development. There was a snippet of Bruce’s backstory with the famous scene where his parents are murdered and a flashback to the end of Man of Steel (a film I pretty much slept through), which apparently ended with the deaths of thousands including Bruce Wayne’s employees leading to the start of Bruce’s hatred of Superman. Bruce views Superman as a too powerful entity that must be stopped or at least be controllable to keep humanity safe. Clark on the other hand is opposed to Batman’s vigilante methods and thinks Batman is a menace to society. Pretty hilarious how they each think they are the only one to be trusted with the safety of humanity.

The film is pretty gloomy but I do love the cinematography. The dialogue is filled with a lot of references to the battle between God and man and there are symbols of this philosophical language scattered throughout the film. The action scenes are pretty solid and I have to say probably one of the best Batman fight scenes I have seen is in this film. Wonder Woman steals the show at the end (we clapped when she came on screen in her costume) and there is great chemistry and camaraderie among the heroes. I also liked that they gave us a glimpse of the other superheroes expected to be in Justice League: Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg. Though I was disappointed it was through a laptop.

A major peeve I had with the film was Lois Lane’s annoying damsel in distress arc that basically had Superman saving her every ten minutes. Though it was nice to see some light moments between them in an otherwise gloomy film, it was too much. The bit where she stops Batman from killing Superman (so clearly Batman won!) by revealing that the two men’s mothers share the name Martha is ridiculous. Superman could easily have just told Batman this and I feel it would have been more poignant. Lois Lane is painted as a strong, smart journalist in one scene and in the next she is drowning and basically in the way. I swear she’s Superman’s kryptonite and Lex Luthor knows it and uses this to lure Superman into a trap.

I’m not sure what I think of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor though. He comes off as an amped Silicon Valley technocrat bent on world domination though. At some point, it felt like he was on the verge of being The Joker. Curiously, I was still drawn to the character and do want to see more of him. There’s a lot that could have been done better in the film but I do think it was generally good. Interestingly, it ends up being a commentary on power, responsibility, hero worship and the danger of the narcissism that afflicts heroes. I will definitely be looking forward to Justice League as well as individual character films from the DC Universe.

Marvel has perfected the game and DC has a lot of catching up to do. Hopefully, in their quest to catch up, they’ll make better films than this one.

Rating: 3/5