A note from FR: I saw this movie last night in 3D. My simple opinion is that it’s a good movie, though I didn’t think the 3D effects added anything to the movie. Ben Affleck made a great Batman just as I thought he would. I give it 8 stars.
AF Vet gives it 8.5-9 stars.
This is a review written by Eric D. Mertz.
***
What I said was, “God exists, and he’s American.” If that statement starts to chill you after a couple of moments’ consideration, then don’t be alarmed. A feeling of intense and crushing religious terror at the concept indicates that you are still sane.
-Prof. Milton Glass, Dr. Manhattan: Super-Powers and the Superpowers
To fully understand Zack Snyder’s Batman vs Superman, one must look back to a previous film, also by Zack Snyder and based on the work of Frank Miller. In this case, we must look to the seminal graphic novel; Watchmen. Very specifically, one must understand the character of Dr. Manhattan.
The only character in the story of Watchman to have powers, Dr. Manhattan was born Jon Osterman. The son of a watchmaker who became a particle physicist, Jon dies in the mid 1960’s after being trapped in an experimental particle physics chamber where his body was torn apart at the atomic level. Somehow managing to recreate himself, he returns as a walking person of mass destruction with powers such he is indistinguishable from a pagan god – and a growing detachment from humanity.
Although considered the best asset the United States has to win the Cold War, the average person tends to view him with some combination of awe and fear. A fitting attitude towards one so powerful.
While Superman does not share this detachment – if anything, he may be too attached to our world and our species – he shares that level of mixed awe and dread from the people who do not and cannot know him. To them, Superman is simply an individual with the power to destroy the world unilaterally. A level of power which comes with no checks or balances. A level of power which could result in Superman declaring himself our god-king if he so chooses.
In Rick Snyder’s Batman v Superman, this is exactly what Batman fears.
He has the power to wipe out the entire human race; and if we believe there is even a 1% chance that he’s our enemy, we have to take it as an absolute certainty. And we have to destroy him.
However, Batman is not innocent here either. Having begun branding criminals he finds particularly odious, this has become a death sentence for those in Gotham’s prison system. Combined with his tolerated vigilantism, Superman views Batman as a threat to the civil liberties and judicial rights of the residents of Gotham. From where Superman sits, Batman is doing the very thing which he has been accused – acting as a solo judge, jury, and executioner.
And this is not Christian Bale’s Batman.
Or rather, its a hardened version.
Once more, I will draw the reader’s attention to an unrelated comic. Namely, Dennis O’Neill’s A Death in the Family.
First written and published in 1988 as Batman #426-429, the second Robin – Jason Todd – was murdered by the Joker.
Beginning his career as the second Robin in 1982, Jason Todd was introduced in Batman #368 as a carbon copy of Dick Grayson – the first Robin who had gone on to become the leader of the Teen Titans superhero team with Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven. After the DC Universe was rebooted with the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event and reboot in 1985, Jason Todd was recreated as a street kid who was first introduced to Batman when the later arrived to discover Todd trying to steal the tires off the Batmobile.
This change was not well received by the fans, and DC decided to place the life and death of the young hero in the hands of the readers.
With a vote tally of 5,343 to 5,271 for his death, Jason Todd was written out of the comics with a bloody death. One delivered by the Joker.
An action which this author believes to have occurred in the DC Film Universe’s history. And one which has made this movie’s Batman a far darker and far more avenging character. One who is willing to use lethal force if such should be necessary to protect Gotham – and the world – from a threat if he believes it should be necessary. And make no mistake, he views Superman as a threat.
The film begins by giving us Batman’s point of view of the Battle of Metropolis from Man of Steel. From the point of view of an ordinary man we watch as Zod’s heavily modified World Engine pulses gravity higher and lower in the heart of the city, all while Batman is trying to reach the Wayne Enterprises tower in Metropolis and get his people to safety. We watch from Batman’s point of view as the city of Metropolis is decimated – with hundreds of millions in damages and thousands of lives lost – as the battle plows into the as of yet unevacuated Wayne Enterprises building.
An act which results in the deaths of several hundred employees. An act which shapes Batman’s impression of Superman. An act which will be used by Lex Luthor throughout the film to drive the two of them to fight.
I want to address some of the criticisms of the film here.
With a rating of 30% from critics, the general consensus is that the movie was a muddled mess which suffocated the plot. I disagree. Throughout the film there are four general threads which make up the tapestry. The first depicts Batman attempting to find a way to bring down Superman under the belief he is a threat and for the reasons outlined above. The second deals with the United States government trying to discover who and what Superman is, and what checks and balances should be placed upon him by the people of the country, through the person of Senator June Finch (X[R?]-KY). The third shows Lex Luthor in his attempt to destroy Superman due to his own petty jealousy at the power which the later can wield and fear of Superman becoming the same kind of petty tyrant which his father escaped East Germany to get away from. The fourth and final thread deals with Superman reacting to the new world which was created two years ago with his arrival on the world stage to prevent the destruction of the world at the hands of General Zod.
Although perhaps too much for the average critic – who tends to be sorely discontented at the presence of superhero movies in theaters as serious films, and which tend to dismiss their attempts at serious quality as a result – the threads are woven together expertly to create a brilliant tapestry depicting Batman and Superman meeting one another for the first time in much the same manner as Gilgamesh and Enkidu first met in the myths of Sumer. From the perspective the film gives us, such a clash was necessary and inevitable.
8.5/10 Stars. I strongly recommend this film.
