[yasr_overall_rating]
Fearing the actions of Superman are left unchecked, Batman takes on the man of steel, while the world wrestles with what kind of a hero it really needs.
Zack Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” tries to hit the mark but fails in a series of wildly unconnected scenes which promote a larger picture rather than focusing on the characters at hand. The film felt as though it was a defensive attempt at Snyder’s vision of “Man of Steel” which some felt to be off kilter yet he it also tried to stay true to the characters such as creating an increasingly gritty Batman than is usually depicted.
Although portrayed as an evenly distributed movie, most of the film centers around Bruce Wayne all the way up to the third act as he wrestles the limelight away from the Kryptonian in his struggle with the dangers of an all-powerful being having the ability to run rampant on earth. If this was meant to be a continuation of “Man of Steel,” it fails to do so as Batman, who is played by a very capable Ben Affleck, is the one who drives the action forward.
Snyder has always been one to rely heavily on cinematic bombast and symbolism to make his stories larger than they seem. “Dawn of Justice” seems to be his most grand attempt at that yet but instead of adding to the film, it takes away from it at key moments by being multi-faceted in what symbol it wants to stand on. It is very apparent that Batman, Superman, and Lex Luthor all stand for structured, real world powers. Batman is a military force, superman is that of religion and Lex is that of business or commerce. This is where the film’s errors lie in that it would be fantastic to stick with one and pledge to follow it to the death but instead it skimps out on all three symbols in favor to push them all on the audience which causes cracks in the story and immediate changes in the scenes and progression that aren’t necessary. A key character in the story is one that was ultimately wasted and that is Scoot McNairy’s character. He could have been a key emotional arc which if used correctly, could have provided a progression that would win over any audience yet the opportunity was lazily pieced in as an afterthought which had no emotional effect on the audience and created a shallow reason to move ahead in the story. This film is based off of a dark conception of the universe; one that worked very well in previous times and should play to Snyder’s strengths, considering his background yet it was perceived as a bright and colorfully commercial portrayal of a subject matter which wasn’t constructed with that in mind.
This film could have done very well with itself if the story had been laid out in a manner which followed a logical progression. If both sides had actually been focused on instead of giving the stage to Affleck, maybe the emotion could have collectively flowed through both main characters instead of being curbed towards one individual. When the film was announced the main concern was Affleck tearing apart the role of Bruce Wayne yet that was not the problem at all. No one thought that we’d be sitting here asking ourselves about the half-assed story. It’s a shame, I really wanted to like this one.
In theaters March 25th
