*Let me start off by saying, I love Batman. I love Superman. I love DC.
I like Batman v Superman, I liked Dawn of Justice. I did NOT like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.*
One of my biggest gripes in BvS:DoJ is that Superman doesnt actually speak. He is always told to shut up and is always spoken down to. Even when he asks for advice, people always tell him what to do and he NEVER responds.
This was not the case in MOS where his conversations where 2 sided and he actually learned something.
I wanna break down the opening act with Superman and offer suggestions to how to strengthen the film based on the current story.
Ergo, feel free to ignore since yall think I am a Hater:
The first time we are properly introduced to Superman, he is saving Lois in Africa. As soon as this scene started I knew something was wrong. He didnt say anything.
The African general has a gun to Lois' head and Superman tackles him. Now some of you will say, "But he trusted Lois, thats why she moved her arms and he smiled." While that is true, here is my issue: Superman would speak to the General first, and attempt to diffuse the situation. Superman is a peacemaker, he doesnt attack first.
Yes, Lois is in danger, but he still cares about people, even the bad guys. He would try to calm the General down and get Lois out of there while he stayed behind to negotiate. Even if the General was going to shoot Lois, Superman would calmly use his heat vision to melt the weapon. What Snyder did was NOT something Superman would need to do. By not allowing Superman to be Superman we are robbed of a really touching moment that would help understand how he is a good person.
The next time we see Superman, he is Clark Kent, and he legitimately has a conversation with Lois...or at least they try to have a conversation before he says "I dont care" and floods the apartment.
This is very odd. Their conversation is about how Superman is a loose canon and that the Government didnt know what to do about it. But didnt Swanwick somewhat agree to convince the government that they could trust Superman? Swanwick should know first hand how Superman saved them from Zod and he should have been at the Senate hearings.
The Senate hearings that start right after the Africa incident were COMPLETELY 1 sided and I find that quite stupid. The film gives us several scenes of people literally hating on Superman, and he just sits there and mopes about it. Lois goes on a whole tangent about wanting to clear Superman's reputation and discover the truth in Africa....why wouldnt she testify???
******************************************************************************
I think the movie could have gave purpose to her wanting to investigate the bullet. Here is what I would do:
*Have Lois be at the courthouse hearings in Washington & testify.*
If I were directing/editing, the entire opening act would have been her testifying what had happened. She could tell the Senator how things went down during her Interview. Lois would be trying to show that Superman saved her life, and he wasn't a threat.
After she testifies, that's when the African woman (shown to be a plant by Luther in the Ultimate Edition) could give her witness. We could see alternative footage of how she claims things went down.
Superman burning people with his laser vision and killing the solders. Lois could try to object and say she heard gunshots and that Superman arrived after everyone was dead, but the African woman could show a photo of the Generals body burned by extreme heat. This would call into question Lois' testimony. Superman didnt burn the weapon, he burned the General.
Not only does this make Lois look REALLY bad as a journalist who wants the truth, but it also strengthens, Lex's ploy to ruin Superman. Lois cannot weasel her way out of this. Her relationship with Superman has blinded her to the actual facts are. She could attempt to use anecdotal evidence to state her case, but this would make people question how close she is to Superman.
Knowing that prying eyes could start connecting dots, she sucks it the humiliation and leaves. This would be a good moment to show Mercy inside the courtroom and she could give Lois a weird look that would imply that she knows about Lois and Superman. Mercy could then send a message to someone (Luther) and confirm that they were right to assume that Lois was closer to Superman than what everyone else knew.
**********************************************************************************
Lois would then return to her Hotel (instead of the apartment in metropolis) and starts going through her belongings. It would be implied that she immediately was taken to the hearing after she got back to U.S. Soil and the government claimed her stuff until after she testified. This is when she takes that bath after discovering the bullet and hiding it from Clark. She knows that her relationship with Superman is not good and as it removes any sort of credibility for either of them.
The reason why Clark would show up in the Hotel would be that it was a few day since they had seen each other in Africa, and Clark could have a throwaway line of about Perry riding his butt about sports and that Lois needed to comeback so that Perry would yell at her again.
They could have a similar conversation like they had in the movie, only this time Clark suggests that he could go talk to them when Lois mentions that they think he killed those people. Lois tells Clark that she things it would be better if Superman stayed away for a while and that talking would only makes things worse. She could also suggest that when She returned to Metropolis that her Professional relationship with Superman and her private relationship with Clark should be put on hold.
Clark is confused by this and wants to know why she is upset. Lois would not tell him about her finding the bullet, or the embarrassment that happened after she testified.
Clark removes his shirt and jumps in the bath and floods the hotel room. We would have a random humorous shot of a celebrity cameo getting frustrated as water drips on his head as we hear laughter above.
______________________________________________________________________________________
I would restructure the film in this way because we would get a better understanding of the main leads on the Superman side.
1. Superman should actually be seen as a bad guy. This thread could end with the courthouse exploding but would be picked up by Batman who is watching these hearings and could be swayed by the evidence that Luther planted.
This could also enhance the nightmares. The burned corpse of the General would be on the Batcomputers and when he has the final Knightmare of a rogue Superman, seeing his allies burned the SAME way he believes Superman burned the Africans would paint a clear picture in Batman's mind that Superman must be stopped at all cost.
2. Lois would have better motivation to find out where the bullet came from. Not only does she want to repair the damage to Superman Character, but she needs to find out for herself. She needs to prove that she is the best reporter. This could be played out with Perry being more harsh to her in the film, and refusing to play along with her. Swanwick pushing back against her would also make more sense. His conversation with her about her wanting to do the right thing would be more meaningful.
This also gives some tension between Lois and Clark/Superman. We know that Lois is the World to Superman. Heck he even calls her Lo. I think it would be better for the characters to be shown strong together, but slowly move away from each other. Clark could be caught up with investigating Batman, that he doesnt have time for Lois. Lois on the other hand could be pushing Superman away so that people would not look down on her any further, and at the same time her investigation with takes her away from Clark.
I would develop the few moments they had together even further to suggest that even though we know Superman will always come for her, Lois ends up believing that Superman may not actually come to save her at the end.
When superman tells Lois that he didnt notice the bomb because he wasnt looking, I want the audience to apply that to Lois. They should move apart in such a way that, the audience believes that if Lois was in trouble, Superman would not see her, because he is looking elsewhere. Or if Lois were to scream, he would not hear her because he is distracted.
That way when that powerful moment Superman catches Lois from falling, the characters themselves realize how close they were to loosing each other. This is what promps Superman to say "You are my world". Earlier in the film Superman says in reverence to the 'S' that "it meant something on my world, but my world is gone.
Then before he dies, he tells Lois that she is his world, and that the 'S' means something to him, because it mean something to her.
Which would make an even bigger impact when Superman dies, because Doomsday effs up the 'S' on his chest.
3. Its just better/coherent film-making. The biggest problem with BvS is that not everything makes sense or connects properly.
By structuring the film this way everything ties together more closely, and some of the plot points that were made early on come back into play better and ties together more efficiently.