I want to start with the opening sequence as I haven't seen too much said on that.
***last chance spoilers starting now***
The Wayne Murders: Despite being the Guinness world record holders for number of times their death has been filmed with different actors this one started off with a really gritty, Watchmen-esque sequence that had a different feel then any of its predecessors. The Wayne's happily strolling down the streets, only to happen across a shady character; in a clearly shady part of town, with a handgun. Remember when I said this had a different feel then any of its predecessors? Well boom! Thomas Wayne (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) with a gun drawn on his family (Lauren Cohan and Brandon Spink as Martha and young Bruce) takes an ill-fated swing from 5 feet away at the shooter, setting of a reaction that ends with him being shot and incapacitated on the ground. WHAT??? Yes with a gun drawn on his family, the normally peaceful humanitarian Thomas takes a swing at his eventual murderer leaving his family protector less with this man.
Now there's no way of knowing that this wasn't a hired Joe Chill sent to kill the Wayne’s and the outcome wouldn't have been the same anyway but it seemed very strange that Mr. Wayne would take that risk with Martha and Bruce right there. Maybe he knew something could happen, maybe he was making enemies and knew that something could be on the horizon but I felt you didn't need to justify the junkie taking the shot at the rich guy who saw his face. While Thomas is on the ground bleeding out the screen goes back to Martha and Bruce and while attempting to protect Bruce, Martha gets herself stuck with a gun between her pearls and throat. The visual here is stunning, the hammer comes down and breaks the pearls but I feel that Zach Snyder takes this too far. There are a lot of people to introduce so the credits might be rolling for longer than Snyder wanted and he filled the gaps with images of a bleeding out Martha (in Snyder super slo-mo) and a dying Thomas that just didn’t need to be there.
This sets the tone for where we are going to go in parts of this movie, this is going to be dark and in your face, no apologies and you might want to reconsider bringing younger children (I mean PG-13 yes but I can see how easy it would have been for this movie to add a scene or two; almost 30 minutes according to Snyder, to earn an R rating).
We leave the dead Waynes and enter into my next gripe with the film, the dream sequence (s). This first one is a doozy; forget the rising from the grave imagery and religious rhetoric that Snyder feels compelled to push this entire movie, this is literally one of the oddest shot and looking scenes I have seen in recent history. The scene drags before Ben Affleck lets you know it’s a dream meanwhile I’m sitting there with my hands on my head wonder what I am looking at.
The battle of metropolis is next; Bruce arrives on scene in a helicopter (because he somehow found a helicopter pilot willing to fly into the same airspace that saw fighter jets being dropped from the sky) and races towards the action. This was a lot of destruction but I’m not worried about that here as there are message boards to this day that still argue the destruction of MOS. It was exciting and somber at the same time, Affleck does an amazing job of showing his frustration in not being able to do more and when the girl points to where her mom is I felt terrible. That girl had 2 minutes of screen time and she tugged at my heartstrings almost more than any part of the movie. This scene is bringing me back in, I’m excited and its shot masterfully, even if it does hark back to those very disturbing images of September 11
th.
Lois makes an appearance somewhere around this time and we find out after opening night that so does Superman’s #1 human buddy, Jimmy Olsen. A desert base to interview a known terrorist and with Lois is her unnamed (at the time) camera man are checked in by Callan Mulvey’s character who it seems is going to end up being just another Russian mercenary, maybe. Hopefully Callan can catch a big break soon, with both big comic universes on his IMDB page already maybe he can shift to Starwars or another big franchise as the main villain (Wolverine???).
Anatoli Knyazev (Mulvey’s character) finds a tracker in our mystery cameraman’s camera and sure enough, shits about to hit the fan. Gun drawn the Cameraman pleads that he is a member of the CIA and that Lois had nothing to do with it. Then Boom! Jimmy Olsen, who has been around forever in the comics, is shot and killed in the DCEU. This happens presumably before he ever meets Superman so forget that part of your Superman lore for this live action version but that’s not the biggest problem I have with this. Zach Snyder insist this is his way of having fun with a character… With the real life terrors captives of war are going through and the images of ISIS executions you could have found a better way to have fun with this particular character or at least call it something other than having fun.
Lois is taken to a back room and is seated in front of the head terrorist she was there to interview when a familiar sound is heard, by Lois and Anatoli. The sonic boom of Superman’s impending arrival, which has a really cool sound effect with sitting in an IMAX theater or the surround sound in my basement, this sets Anatoli’s real plan in motion. His mercenaries, dressed in black in the desert give a clear distinction between his men and the local terrorist and their skills are shown as they systematically take down all the locals and start packing up, leaving just as Superman enters the frame. The gun fight outside alerts the head terrorist inside and instinctively he grabs his only hostage and digs in as Superman crashes through the ceiling. In this instance, you know you’re screwed, I mean its Superman and you have a handgun but he begins by making the scripted threats to Lois’s life.
Lois and Superman lock eyes, man are these two in love, you can tell it look at those grins they give each other as Superman take the terrorist and puts him straight through three walls. Could this man have died from his injuries, yes! Did he die from these injuries, who knows? Either way as being that your Superman was it really necessary? Heat vision to the trigger, fly and grab him and stop before going through a wall. I know you shouldn't’t make your movie a certain way due to controversies that you may or may not face but showing that the guy survived and he was able to bring in a known terrorist might have calmed some people (Senators included) down and avoided that comments I saw most prevalent, “Superman kills someone in the first 15 minutes”. Even showing the terrorist alive later in the movie, say at the Senate hearing that goes to shit, could have been a positive in Supes corner.
The Bruce and Alfred banter is interesting and Jeremy Irons take on Alfred is different but welcome to say the least. He’s been around the block with Bruce and doesn't’t hold back his comments or snickers and he has effectively replaced Lucius Fox as the mechanic and gadget fixer for Mr. Wayne. He doesn't’t dress in the penguin suit Alfred is most often portrayed in and he has personality that makes you like his character, something very rare with the rest of the players in this movie.
This Batman is angry and it seems to cloud his judgment which to me doesn't’t make sense. He has already dealt with Deadshot, Killer Croc, Diablo, Harley Quinn and the villain most capable of screwing with Batman’s head, The Joker in this timeline. Wouldn't’t the death of Robin push him just as much to kill Joker as the destruction of metropolis points his batarang at Superman? Reasoning and sanity of the situation aside this Batman is whooping ass and taking names, and most different from the source material, branding people with the Bat logo which we learn is a no-no in Arkham.
This makes Clark Kent angry, and as Superman or Clark Kent, he needs to do something about this terrible Bat-vigilante. In the ultimate edition of “pot calling the kettle black” he sets out to destroy his credibility in his newspaper, despite numerous times Perry tells him to move on. Why does this Superman care so much about Batman, I mean in the grand scheme of things? He has terrorist, natural disasters, human trafficking and a nation he swears he belongs to, split down the middle on what to do with him. This I feel isn’t the biggest miss of not having a true sequel to MOS (if you call this a sequel in the comments try sky diving without a parachute) we don’t know where Superman is 18 months after metropolis, what else shaped him and what makes him obsess about The Batman.
Bruce Wayne is Batman (spoiler sorry) and Batman is a master technician and strategist. The world’s greatest detective and he has beaten some of the most powerful people in comic lore with just his mind so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he has all the info he has on the Kryptonite stash that was found by Lex’s crew in the Indian Ocean. He uses the extent of his reasoning and detective skills off screen but his on screen portrayal seems stuck on what Superman might be capable of doing and disregarding all rhyme or reason that the Batman I grew up knowing would use. Thankfully the task of getting the info on the Kryptonite requires Bruce Wayne to make a public appearance at a private party hosted by the one and only Lex Luthor.
I say one and only there with a hint of sarcasm because his constant ticks and really off the wall quirks make this a version of Lex Luthor different then I have ever seen. From reading other reviews people are raving about Jessie Eisenberg’s Lex I was shocked when I finally saw him on the big screen. I came to the conclusion later at night that because he showed a hint of personality, albeit a very odd one, people loved him. Amongst the statues and monotone acting that fills the movie, the darkness that Gotham and Metropolis are now considered to be shrouded in, Jessie’s Lex was a much needed dose of personality and dare I say charisma that this film sorely lacked.
Now this Lex is a shot in the arm when introduced, he first attempts to muscle a senator into allowing his kryptonite through customs but it seems he really does want the government to get behind his superman deterrent. He then hosts a lavish party filled with a who’s who of Metropolis and Gotham I suppose since no one other than Diana Prince is even focused in on by the camera. Bruce has infiltrated this party (as much as an honored socialite who was invited could) and plans on breaking information out of Lex’s home server. This same Lex that is supposed to be a genius, he runs one of the largest conglomerates in the world and has zero security posted at the entrance to his personal server room (or a door lock) where he keeps Intel on the Meta-humans throughout the world? Sure the data comes with military grade encryption but this world has damn meta-humans running around and judging by the footage a few of them know they have been found out. Seems very “let’s keep the story moving” to me which to this point lacked the action I thought act 1 would have. Fear not, a redeeming factor for the entire movie is about to be on screen. Princess Diana of Themyscira has arrived and what a great surprise she was.
“She’s too skinny, she can’t act, and she hasn't’t been in anything” all complaints rendered mute. It will still be a while before we see her in action but you can tell this Diana isn’t held back by her ignorance to the modern world. She embraced the world, came to it and something happened with mankind that forced her to back out of the lime light before she was ever really exposed. Bruce is struck by this woman he sees, even goes as far as saying “Wow, pretty girl, bad habit don’t quote me on that.” while speaking to Clark Kent (still angry and still wants to take down the bat and now knows, Bruce either is the Bat or has other intentions at the party).
Lex starts his speech and Bruce breaks into (as much as you can break into a room left unguarded and unlocked) the server room and attaches his little hacking device straight onto an Ethernet cord and just as he thinks he will just lay low and take it easy for 7 minutes, he is found by Lex’s assistant Mercy Graves (who may or may not be an android and uses the beat to death “I thought this was the bathroom” line and is brought back to the party again with no follow up by Mercy or anyone else to just check if anything is amiss in the server room. Someone I went with thought that Lex was letting Bruce steal the data, but that would insinuate he knew Bruce was either the Batman or involved with the Batman and wanted to push his Bat vs Supes agenda (why let the CEO of a competing company steal off your servers). I am opposed to my friends’ theory, there may be people that know Bruce Wayne is Batman but Lex isn’t and shouldn't’t be one of them.
Things go south for Bruce after going back and getting into it with Clark, this interaction between Bruce and Clark is the most natural friction between the two actors the entire movie. Clark is pushing his Anti-Batman movement despite still really having no real reason to do so and now that he knows Bruce is the Bat he seems to want to get them to throw down right then and there. It doesn't’t as Lex interjects with that charisma I was talking about and takes things to a lighter place. Bruce is itching to get out of this interaction and retrieve his hacking device so he can get out of the public eye and go back to his cave to work the data.
Simple hack and grab job goes wrong when the device is gone and sure enough Diana Prince is seen walking away. Bruce strikes out and is forced to go back home and use his detective skills to figure out who this new woman is, this again is done off screen and the next time we have interaction between Diana and Bruce is at an art exhibit, featuring strangely enough, the sword of Alexander which presumably WW has an attachment to. This again is a great scene between two people, not super heroes. Gal is really good, she gives me the feel that she’s been dealing with “boys” for a long time and has seen/heard it all. She gives Bruce back his device stating she couldn't’t get through the encryption but instead of just handing it over, its already in his glove compartment is what she whispers as she walks away, badass level 100.
Now data in hand it’s time to go back to the Bat cave and fall asleep so we can have another set of Snyder’s dream sequences…
These dream sequences will wrap up here but before they do be ready for them to get weirder. The Darkside tease dream sequence was action packed for sure, and while it was odd watching Batman just dispatch the super troops with headshots, it was clear this wasn’t reality and Bruce was letting his mind run wild. The Superman in this shot is also very different from his actual self, heartless and cold, willing to murder anyone at any time. This murderous dream version of Superman actually gets the best performance out of Cavill aside from the climax. He has emotion and it doesn't’t feel forced onto him, Lois is dead and he is staring at the person (s) responsible. Very Injustice and not too shabby but then…
This leads into another dream, maybe; or a dream within a dream; maybe it was speed force but here we are again pushing the Superman is the enemy, my dreams told me so angle. Snyder takes a ridiculous amount of time in this movie to push Batman’s agenda, we get it Batman is worried about what Superman could do. Flash makes his first appearance here in a weird speed force blob of SFX gone wrong and you can hear Barry Allen warning Batman about Superman, telling Bruce “You were right to fear”. Aside from looking like sh*t from an effects stand point and the fact that Bruce potentially has no idea who this guy is, Flash is noticeably beat up and it seems that all of Bruce’s worst fears not only could come true, but will. This was ripped from the pages after Crisis when speed force flash visits the heroes who think he is dead. No more than a moment later, Bruce wakes up at the Bat computer with that data just about encrypted and a new reason to continue his crusade against Superman.
Now the files on this drive are comical to say the least, I mean somehow LexCorp has the exact comic logos for these characters color schemes and everything. The Wonderwoman file gives us our Chris Pine cameo in the form of a picture and also dates our Diana Prince at over 100 years old, which makes sense because Bruce Wayne doesn't’t strike out with any woman under 100. There are also two files noticeably missing in Batman and Superman’s, reasoning for this could be that they aren’t unknowns like the others but nevertheless you have 4 JL logos there, might as well put the other two in there for the fans.
The remaining cameos were hit and miss as far as I’m concerned. The Aquaman video focused in on a cavern in the ocean, where first a pair of eyes lights up and then Aquaman bolts out, trident in hand, before taking off into the water. Not bad and with everything else going on not much more is needed. The Flash… I didn’t like how he allowed his powers to be caught on camera without wearing a mask. Maybe he is new to the game but Barry Allen has protected his identity for a long time and now anyone with security clearance at LexCorp and decent facial recognition software could tell you the identity of the Flash. He still doesn't’t look like any Barry we have seen but considering he didn’t have much to do, you can’t condemn him based of anything seen in this movie. Cyborg’s intro was very weird… Clearly Vic Stone was already involved in a major accident and the doctor (presumably Silas, I can’t remember if they said his name or not) has tried just about everything to save his patients life. Suddenly he pulls a box off his desk and it begins to interact with his patient, suddenly things are happening and again in a big CGI light show we are left to assume Cyborg has been born. Maybe it’s a motherbox, boom tube, or some other piece of Apokolips tech but it’s not said and thus we are left to wait until Justice League to find out.
That’s all Batman needs to see, it’s time to get info on the Kryptonite off the drive and put his plans in motion to stop Superman. The action is going to stay ramped up for the most part the rest of the way but here we are and not much to go off of and even less when you consider what really happened vs those dream sequences.
At this point, Lex has paid off the right people and is getting his shipment of Kryptonite into the country via Gotham’s known shady docks. He also is given unrestricted access to the Zod ship and body where they crashed to earth. He uses his access to dive into the knowledge the ship is holding onto and learning everything he can about his Kryptonian adversary and possibly much more (I thought a great time for a GL teaser, you don’t have to show Hal or John but a lantern logo amongst the info wasn’t too much to ask for).
Batman makes his way to the docks the kryptonite is coming into and make his presence known in a big way taking out henchmen and property, Snyder actually nailed this visually. It fits in with what Zach does best which is unforgiving action and explosions. It’s fair to note that Batman is more than likely killing these people, it’s based of comics so you will give him the benefit of the doubt in most cases but I think anyone will agree that he killed at least one person during this movie and he used live ammunition fairly regularly. He is about to catch up with Anatoli and steal the Kryptonite when we get our first meeting of the title characters in costume.
Coming around a corner thinking his night is just about wrapped up, Batman seems the red and blue subject of his ire standing right in front of him. This moment was in the trailer and even though I thought they might clean up or remove the line all together he still says the cringe worthy, “Do you bleed” line.
Superman warns him to hang up his cape and he is done, why he does this, well you see Batman is being overly aggressive to the criminals he is capturing and questioning, then branding them with his logo which is still the no-no I pointed out earlier. Nevertheless Batman is still only taking down criminals, and seemingly is on the same side as Superman. Batman limps the Batmobile back to the Bat cave and we now have set the stage for the impending confrontation between these two super heroes but just in case you haven’t completely bought into Bruce’s reasoning behind going after Superman we are given a spectacular scene that, while very obvious, was amazing to watch.
Scoot McNairy, whose character I have yet to bring up gives us the final nail in the Superman must go coffin. Wallace Keefe is the name given to his character and we first meet him during the battle of Metropolis flashback scene, his legs are crushed outside of the Wayne building in Metropolis and Bruce is there to help him get clear of the debris. He is now wheelchair bound and roaming around homeless defacing public property of the Man of Steel and getting anyone he can to listen to his propaganda. The God imagery runs deep whenever the Superman controversy is shown on screen. Hands reaching out to the sky, icebreakers being carried above the ice and a little girl in a building fire saved while the town kneels around him, it’s a decent way to show his other side as much of the movie is spent on people (actually Lois, Carrie Farris, and General Swanwick seem to be the only movie characters that have his back) who want Superman to face justice or flat out die.
After being arrested for his crime he is bailed out but an unusual person; Mercy Graves, who takes him into his first meeting with Lex. Lex says he wants to help but anyone that has picked up a comic knows he has other intentions. Wallace is brought to Senator Finch by Lex who offers him as an olive branch in the fight against policing Superman, again a Lex olive branch should be handled with a 39 and a half foot pole. Here is a firsthand victim of the crimes that Superman is being alleged to have caused and a visual that strikes to heart of people watching, the no legs thing.
Lex sends in Mercy to hold his seat and sit with Wallace, never entering the courtroom himself. The senator sits down and the hearing begins, and while in the midst of her opening statement she notices a mason jar labeled with a clear liquid inside. This brings her back to her conversation with Lex when he is originally trying to get her to lift his kryptonite shipping embargo, he asks if he can call her Judith and she responds with “call me whatever you like, you can piss in a jar and call it Grandma’s Peach Tea, doesn't’t mean I’m letting you bring in that ship.” Well clearly Lex remembers this conversation and in true Lex fashion has a surprise for our Senator at her own hearing. So she sees the jar and part of the label and it continuously distracts her from the point she is trying to make. She now can’t even finish a thought, she has to read the rest of the label and sure enough “Grandma’s Peach Tea” is what the label reads, she looks up to see Lex’s seat remaining empty and has her “Oh Sh*t” moment right then and there about 2 seconds before her and the entire hearing, sans Superman of course, are blown away. The chair Wallace was gifted by Lex was a Trojan horse and at the most opportune time( after she reads the label) it blows killing everyone inside including Mercy Graves who hopefully is mechanical and can make it back for any sequels.
Obviously Superman is going to take the brunt of the blame for this as well he should, his distractions cause him to miss an obvious plot to bring him down and a lot of lives were lost, lives that were only together because of the hot button topic he has created to begin with. The explosion is something and is televised throughout the day, Bruce Wayne watches said news and this is the straw that broke the camel’s back, it’s time to end this, end Superman and LexCorp is where he needs to go next.
Now I am not sure to this point how Lex feels about The Batman, I mean clearly he is a masked vigilante and he has been operating in the city across the bay since Lex was a baby apparently. Lex doesn't’t always keep the most respectable of company and one would think that maybe these two have crossed paths before. Either way once Batman takes the Kryptonite from Lex, leaving a batarang where the kryptonite was, Lex gets a new plan. Why sully your own hands when there is someone out there just as intent on stopping superman as you are. He now has the cards and players in place, it’s now time for everything to come into motion, but first why not experiment on that Kryptonian body you have.
Lex and the ships computer argue the merits of reanimating Zod, the computer mentions the monster that it will create and Lex doesn't’t care, he has the information and knowledge he needs and begins the process of birthing Doomsday. This is a welcome change to Doomsdays shaky origin and gives us a definitive and logical explanation for Doomsday being born and being on Earth, it also conveniently sets up a showdown that will require the might of all three of our films heroes.
Act 3 will be the best of the movie, this is what the film has been building towards and Zach’s directing style will shine throughout it. Batman has made his final preparations, three kryptonite gas shells and a bad ass spear as if he was inspired by Aquaman’s trident. It probably makes more sense, since he is using them anyway, to make the kryptonite into a bullet of some variety but I get that Batman wants to embarrass him, wants him to know that it was a man who took him out and he can’t have Earth. Bruce sets up, much to the dismay of Alfred and heads over to the Bat signal to get ready to call upon Superman.
During this Lois is kidnapped, again we get Anatoli doing Lex’s dirty work, and brought to LexCorp roof where Lex stands waiting. This is the best of Lex the movie has to offer as its clear he is insane and in his mind justified in everything he has done up to this point. He give Lois his speech and, needing to grab Superman’s attention, pushes Lois off the side of his building. At no point did I feel Lois was in any real danger, she’s dating Superman and with fear toxin not being introduced yet, he probably won’t think she’s doomsday and kill her. Interestingly enough Lex clearly has Superman’s identity figured out early enough, he puts Lois in danger in the opening sequence knowing it would call upon Superman and if that doesn't’t give away that he knows he now has kidnapped the only person closer to Clark and Superman than Lois, Martha Kent.
Superman shoots up to the roof after saving Lois and putting her on the ground, Lois knows that Lex plans to make Superman fight Batman and soon Superman will confirm as much, so she books it to her office to hitch a ride over to Gotham to try and talk sense into Batman and Superman before they fight for the wrong reasons. Superman confronts Lex ready and willing to get all sorts of bad on him but allows Lex to carry on with his showboating. It’s in this instance that Lex says “If you don't bring me the head of the Bat, the woman you love will die!” “She's safe on the ground, which you won't be.” Retorts the Man of Steel and then it hits that Lex does know Superman’s secret. “Close, but no cigar! A boy's best friend is his mother. Ah, but she's a witch. What else would you call the mother of a winged demon? And you know what happens to witches? Death. Death by fire!” Screening a video for Superman to watch of his tied up mother with witch written across her forehead, “WHERE IS SHE?” Eyes ready to fire off his heat vision. Lex gives Superman 1 hour to either bring him the head of the bat or save his mother.
“God is tribal, God takes sides! If God is all-powerful He cannot be good, if God is good He cannot be all-powerful!” Lex is really playing at Superman’s psyche here, Lex has a clear vision for the world and Superman doesn't’t belong in it. Superman flies to Gotham and the fight of the century is about to begin, in live action, for the first time and everyone, myself included, is at the edge of their seat, gitty as to what we are about to witness.
Superman lands and first attempts to reason with Batman who isn’t hearing any of it, I don’t get this entirely, I mean he’s upset yes but there’s a chance Superman says something that pushes the advantage more into Batman corner. Not to mention, even you spent all week getting stoked up, Superman just landed right in front of you and the only thing between him and you is ground and a metal suit you made knowing it could be torn to shreds by your opponent. I would have listened but this Bruce isn’t and that’s ok, I mean we needed to get the fight and if they decided to work together without fighting it would have wasted all those moment Zach Snyder spent selling you on the fight.
Snyder doesn't’t disappoint here, Batman and Superman fight through buildings and booby traps all the while appearing that Bruce is fairly useless in this fight without the kryptonite. The first grenade goes off and Superman is clearly effected like he never has been before, so much so that the next punch he throws is blocked straight up by Batman
And the look on his face tells it all. Uh oh, we might be in for something here.
They clash though a part of Gotham that has clearly been established as being deserted, thanks to Batman doing his best to save lives and all the backlash received during MOS. Batman loses his advantage and is forced to fire off another round of Krypto-gas, he doesn't’t waste this one, throwing superman around like a rag-doll and putting him down in position to end the fight, do what he came to do, and rid the earth of this alien.
This part loses me, I get that it shows Superman humanity and with his dying breath he is asking for Batman to save “Martha”. Just that name is enough to stop Bruce in his tracks and leave him confused. “Who’s Martha?!?” Being that it’s been at least 30 years since he lost his mother, and all the lives Bruce holds Superman responsible for, just the mention of a name gets him to stop in his tracks (I bet Superman wished he started with the Martha line, because he got whooped). Lois, making it just in time to explain that Martha is Clark’s mom and Lex has her hostage.
“Martha doesn't’t die tonight” continuing the cringe worthy lines this movie has Batman and Superman, now on the same side decide to get on the same page and go after the real villain, Lex. Batman is sent after Martha because, he promised the most powerful being in the world he would and that powerful being just decided to leave his mom in Batman’s hands. Again shaky logic, If I was Anatoli I would have killed Martha Kent as soon as the Batwing flies in and kills (yes he kills these people there is no getting around it) all the people guarding the outside. Meanwhile Superman is sent after the smart but regular old human being, who you would think would be a better matchup for Batman.
The trailer scene for BVS where he comes through the floors and starts beating everyone senseless is even better in IMAX. His suit is bullet proof and his cowl is clearly carrying extra protection as he takes gun shots and knives off the head with them having little to no effect. He takes out everyone and in the final confrontation with Anatoli’s character, he saves Martha, blowing up his flame thrower and in all likely hood killing KGBeast, or creating his origin, we will have to tune in down the line of the DCEU to find out but I hope he is gone so he can go onto bigger and better things.
Humor???? What are they thinking, this is the DCEU, we don’t make jokes, and we don’t have fun. Well leave it to Diane Lane to crap on that idea as she lets off a one liner that made the audience, as a whole, chuckle. I for one am not of the discipline that the DCEU doesn't’t have jokes or can’t. Make a great movie, if there is room for humor great, if not that’s fine to. Martha is saved, Lois is saved, Batman and Superman aren’t at each other throats and now it’s time to go arrest the bad guy and figure out what’s next. Unfortunately Lex has different plans and was always holding onto an ace up his sleeve, it’s time for the real baddie to make his on screen debut and when hatched from the embryo containing him, Doomsday looks intimidating. Yes the CGI could be better, or maybe the overall character design but it was clear they were evolving him throughout the final battle and his bone spikes would be coming in eventually.
look there is no way to portray this character in live action without heavy doses or CGI, at the very least he is overpowered killing machine he always was in the comics and right away he puts Superman in his place. The battle is taken to space and one can’t help but wonder if this is again a direct response to the death toll from MOS, Swanwick even mentions that they are high enough to avoid loss of human life. The president makes the call much to the chagrin of Carrie Farris and a nuke is fired at the two superpowers clashing in the clouds. A direct hit which turns superman into a walker and sends Doomsday flying back down to earth, which only makes sense because we find out that Doomsday is absorbing the power to evolve into his final form.
Batman is now ready to enter the fray and boy is he in for the surprise of a lifetime when Doomsday uses his heat vision to shoot down the bat plane. Jumping in front of the downed Bat plane, Doomsday lines up for the finishing shot, “Oh Sh*t”, Bruce exclaimed from the seat of his ride and it looks bleak for our caped crusader. This part should have been left off all trailers because you knew what was going to happen and the surprise, especially at that point in the movie, might have saved the movie from some negative feedback.
“Did he say save the movie from negative feedback?” yes I did and no I didn’t mean all of it. At this point of the movie you have sat through 2 hours of minimal action, murky storylines, and dialog that left much to be desired when BOOM! Wonder Woman, not Diana Prince comes down and saves Batman. How pumped would you have been, not knowing it was about the happen? How much would that gigantic piece of fanfare placed at the end of the movie effected how you viewed the movie as a whole? If that happens without the reveal in the trailer, I am probably pissing my pants and crying at the same time, that’s what I walk out of the movie thinking and talking about and I feel this was a huge missed opportunity.
“Is she with you?” “I thought she was with you.” You know Batman has over 75 years of stories in comics, Superman just as many although I cannot say I’ve read nearly as many of those stories, and the dialog gets bad at points during those 75 years. This is a movie with all that material to draw from and we are left with multiple instances where, if I was reading the comics, the dialog would have turned me off from the story. Thankfully we are inundated with action and have very little conversing left.
On screen, in live action for the first time we have our Trinity and they look glorious. The fighting continues and Wonder Woman is fantastic, even picking up the slack for Superman against his own rouge. Her powers are displayed beautifully and the style of her costume and weapons are taken straight from the pages of her newer books. Bruce and her do a good job of keeping him distracted while Superman has to go save Lois who, for her part in this movie, is probably the least intelligent version of the character we have seen. She is constantly in need of saving and is so weak of a character, not only does she not do the character any justice but she hurt my opinion of this live action Lois. I could do without her going forward in the DCEU.
After saving Lois and knowing the dire situation he is faced, he tells Lois she is his world and for one of the first times I feel the Clark Kent in Cavill’s portrayal, the human in the Superman. Kryptonite spear in hand, weakening along the way, Superman takes off for Doomsday and we get the combined might of our heroes used to take down the big bad. Batman gasses him with the last of his kryptonite grenades, Wonder Woman breaks out the lasso and wraps him up and Superman rockets in, spear in hand, going for the heart of the monster. The blow is struck but unfortunately he didn’t have enough in that initial push to pierce the heart and Doomsday after going through another transformation and bone spikes fully exposed now. Stuck in offense, Superman left himself wide open for Doomsday to stick a bone spike into his chest. This is a nice throwback image to the panel where Superman and Doomsday strike the final blows against each other, although in the comics they were just punches that finished them both off.
Superman finishes his job, sacrificing himself in the process, and gets the spear through Doomsday. This ends our battle and it appears Superman is down and out. The day is saved but our heroes are left the think what could have been. Why did Batman spend so much energy on Superman and allow an actual villain like Lex sprout up. Diana was investigating Lex, she had reasons and had she acted upon those reasons maybe this could have been avoided. Lex is arrested, brought to prison and for the first time we are treated with bald Lex as his head is shaved in the booking process and let me say does he look sinister with that odd looking head of his.
We follow up with Lex in prison and he is paid a visit, I was hoping it was Mercy but was floored when the lights went out and Batman was there. Lex talks about removing Superman from the fray, and opening the earth up to other conflicts, originating from beyond the Earth. Was Lex able to contact Darkside though the Zod ship? Mongul? Imperiex? Mr. Mxyztptlk or my personal hope, Brainiac has been contacted and is on the way to Earth.
(had to have one comic panel)
Superman and Clark Kent are given simultaneous funerals, both lost in the battle against Doomsday. Bruce and Diana are in Smallville with Lois and Martha (MARTHA!!!) Kent. The tone is a somber one, and while the average fan may have been taken along for the ride, I certainly wasn’t about to be. This is Superman; Cavill is already filming Justice League and its freaking Superman!!! If Phil Coulson doesn't’t stay dead I’m 1000% certain Superman won’t. Bruce tells Diana he is going to start a team using the data he received from LexCorp and when asked why, he blames it on a hunch. It’s nice to see Bruce know that he is in over his head, had he been on his own Doomsday would have finished him in a heartbeat. Living in a world that allows for these powered individuals he recognizes the importance of forming the team and having them on his side when things go down. Everyone walks away and we are taken to the close up of the casket and sure enough we are given a feint heartbeat followed by dirt rising off the coffin.
Screen goes black and credits begin to roll, given WB’s history on after credit scenes I wasn’t expecting anything but it would have been foolish to just walk out of the first ticketed showing of the day. I sat and waited, nothing happened, I yelled for Green Lantern and people laughed but no scene. The movie was over and I would say “whelmed” was my immediate feeling and anyone who has been waiting for this movie for 20 years would tell you, whelmed is a disappointment. This was supposed to be a benchmark film and the start of a film universe that could span a two decades. It was carrying two faces of the Mount Rushmore of comic characters (a case could be made for 3) and it didn’t deliver as far as I’m concerned.
Aware of how damn long this thing is I will briefly list my pros and cons and then leave it to the poor souls who read through all this to debate it in the comments.
Cons-
The movie was long without much content, and to my non comic fan sitting with me, boring
Despite being long it also felt rushed as far as character introduction and mythos
The Snyder effect for non-action scenes
90% of the characters; the story is dark and gritty but does that mean there needs to be no personality
The reasoning behind both Bruce and Clark being mad at each other and the two heroes fighting
Lex’s reasoning’s for anything, in comics he is crazy but he uses logic
Batman/Bruce while obviously being very smart, didn’t show it on screen very often and again no “world’s greatest detective” on screen
The awkward pairing of Amy Adams and Henry Cavill
Both heroes killing at will
Dream sequences
Dialog
Pros-
Alfred, one of the 10% with personality
Snyder effect for action scenes
Batman may not show his detective but he whoops ass like no on screen version has
Wonder Woman both as her title character and Diana Prince
Aquaman
Act 3
Future movie set up
Look I didn’t love the movie, I hope Snyder is done and DC reshuffles from the top down as far as its cinematic universe. But there is no doubt that these characters can carry on and create something very special for Justice League. I wish we were given a Batman solo movie (to see Bruce before the events of the battle of Metropolis) and Man of Steel sequel (despite not liking MOS or Henry Cavill as Clark/Superman) to give the character more time to flesh out who he is and possibly bring me to his side. I want to like Superman, hes the best that any human can hope to be but I can’t get on board with this version of him. This movie actually helped a little in that regard so I wonder what a proper sequel would have done.
See the movie, form your own opinion and decide for yourself if this belongs in the pantheon or not, I’ll be waiting for the R-Rated DVD directors cut in hopes it offers more pros for the movie.
6 out of 10 solid middle of the road film with missed opportunities aplenty