Review Round-Up: Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
The Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice reviews are in and…yeah…they’re not great.
After a wave of largely positive tweets from attendees of the world premiere of Zack Snyder’s world building (and most likely world destroying) follow up to Man of Steel, the critics have had their say and it’s a decidedly mixed bag indeed. Empire’s take on the gladiatorial showdown between Ben Affleck’s Batman and Henry Cavill’s Superman, found that the omnipresent gloom and general moodiness of the piece almost unbearable.
“For those who thought Man of Steel was too gloomy and navel-gazing, we have some bad news: the addition of Bruce Wayne to the franchise has not lightened the mood any. Horribly scarred both inside and out, Ben Affleck’s grey-templed Darkest Knight is so morally burned out that he not only subdues foes, but tortures and brands them like cattle. His dreams are plagued by screeching, man-sized bats. Not even the very pleasant water feature in his lakeside cave cheers him up. There’s nothing wrong with a little angst, but here it’s doubled down: pitting him against an insecure and self-doubting Superman, Zack Snyder’s movie is a spectacle that proves heavy on visual pizzazz but markedly light on fun.”
Singling out Ben Affleck for his portrayal of the Dark Knight while tussling with a film that’s both under-developed and over-extended,The Guardian offered a caveat filled, largely positive review – even if it cannot take the operatic emoting seriously.
“Moreover, the influence of directorChristopher Nolan’s furrowed-brow Batman films – which addressed their characters’ tortured backgrounds and unhappy responsibilities – looms large,even if Nolan has drifted to executive producer credit on this film. It’s tough to take all the hardcore emoting seriously, particularly as the emotional heavy lifting is designed to be done by the occasional maudlin line in brief pauses between the explosions. For a film so concerned with its characters’ inner lives, there’s a fundamental disconnect going on here – enough to make you yearn for the lighter touch of the Marvel films.”
Choosing to focus on what works and what doesn’tRolling Stone were equally praiseworthy – in the battle betweenSuperman and Batman, they call a win for Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman - but took some umbrage with the politicalsubtext, which, sadly for all of us, is scarily relevant and perhaps not what you would expect in a PG-13 comic book movie.
“Gadot, a combat instructor in the Israeli army, is a wonder indeed, a true warrior. "Is she with you?" asksSuperman. "I thought she was with you," counters Batman.“That kind of quippy repartee bumps against the grain of a script that takes things very seriously, especially the notion of illegal aliens like Superman taking over the world and the Trump-like wall Batman would like to build around them. No matter. Snyder, juiced up by Hans Zimmer's caffeinated score, throws everything at the screen until resistance is futile. Better than Man of Steel but below the high bar set by Nolan's Dark Knight, Dawn of Justice is still a colossus, the stuff that DC Comics dreams are made of for that kid in all of us who yearns to see Batman and Superman suit up and go in for the kill.”
While we’re on the subject of political analogies, it’s worth mentioning the devastating GQ review – offering as it does, perhaps the biggest ‘mic drop’ to appear in an opening paragraph, which I’ve included simply because it’s awesome. “It says a lot of very depressing things about our world right now that this astonishingly dumb film has real-life parallels. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is the story of a self-important billionaire with a casual attitude to the truth, who becomes paranoid about a segment of the immigrant population. He decides to take brutal and - as it happens - entirely unjustified and even self-endangering action against that immigrant, to the benefit of a rich psychopath who wants to distract everyone from their own nefarious grasp at power.”
The whole thing is worth a read.
Screen Crush treads a similar path,questioning the very ideal of heroism presented by the film, while again,singling out Gal Gadot for praise in the brief screen time she has. “Ironically, though, the best character is the one who got left off the marquee: Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. It’s never made clear why she’s wandering through Metropolis and Gotham, and she doesn’t have a lot to say, but in a movie where no one else ever shuts up, that’s a refreshing change of pace. More importantly, she exudes an alluring aura of mystery and power whether she’s flirting with Bruce Wayne or beating the crap out of Doomsday. If nothing else, Batman v Superman makes you excited to see Gadot take center stage in her solo Wonder Woman movie, due out in theaters next summer.”
And finally, starting with the line ‘this is a very bad movie’Birth. Movies. Death. takes Zack Snyder to task for his incoherent storytelling, it’s ‘apocalyptic self-seriousness’ and, perhaps most damning of all, questions whether or not the 300 director actually cares for the character of Superman. “It’s because Snyder doesn’t believe in what Superman stands for. He doesn’t believe in the idea that he’s just a guy trying to do right by the world, and that he doesn’t have to learn to do right or be convinced not to quit, that this just is how Superman is. It’s as integral to him as his Kryptonian powers.”
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice goes on general release March 25th.