Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice Shouldn’t Exist

Last night I took my daughter to see DC Comics’ biggest superheroes fight it out. Two icons that are like night and day. My daughter a teenager is a die-hard Superman fan. I on the other hand am a Batman loyalist. This was to be as much about bonding as it was to watch a good movie. The line for the movie was around the block at the AMC on 42nd in New York City. The anticipation was beyond belief. From the moment the movie started to the end unfortunately I was left with one sad thought; this is not the movie I was looking for.

I am one of the most superhero comic book loving people out there. That is why I already know I am going to be disappointed by Captain America Civil War. Dear Marvel, Civil War can not work with no X-Men! That is a whole other issue in and of itself. I digress back your regular scheduled movie review. I went to see Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice out of a sense of duty. As a parent I had to partake with my best friend who happens to be my daughter. I was not really teeming with excitement for the movie in the first place for fear that it would suck. Sadly I was correct.

I am not going to say I was actively dreading Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. That would be an overstatement but I knew that it could never be really what I wanted. The director Zack Snyder has a way of making movies last longer than they should. Snyder’s movie run times average over two hours and add are always peppered with long unneeded pauses to reflect on a scene in slow-mo. He did the same thing with Man of Steel. Don’t get me wrong, that was a decent movie. However decent is not the same thing as good. Nor was it an action movie. How director Zack Snyder managed to have Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman at his disposal and still come out with a sub par movie that is more of reflective drama than action blockbuster is beyond all logic.

As soon as the trolls on Twitter started calling Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice the best Batman movie ever I knew something was up. My expectations were instantly tempered. So here we go. Are you ready? You should stop reading right now. No, really stop reading this very moment if you have not seen the movie. There are many spoilers ahead. 

Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice takes place two years after Man of Steel. This movie was a nightmare of bad plot loopholes weaved into spots of day dreaming goodness. I mean that literally and figuratively. Batman/Wayne have repeated dreams throughout the whole movie. This was how Zack explained the spotted holes in the plot lines. Batman’s origin is explained to the audience in a dream sequence right from the opening credits. If you are a Batman fan you will be turned off right from that point because even the origin story Snyder has set up for Batman is horrible and not true to the source material. Sadly it seemed that Snyder didn’t read comics and doesn’t understand aspects of these characters’ mythos. He certainly didn’t have it come across on the screen.  Snyder had Thomas Wayne taking a swing at a mugger instead of protecting his son.

Over in Metropolis Kal-El has lived with Lois Lane as Clark Kent for the past two years since his coming out party to the world in Man of Steel. Are you kidding me? The one redeeming part of the movie is also the underlining part. It’s the question that drives the movie. Does Superman do more harm than good? That is a very valid question. The movie gave nudges but it’s a question that never really gets answered. The movie did such a good job at painting Superman as a villain that I was so convinced Superman needed to be killed. Needless to say I was highly disappointed when Batman grew a conscience and spared his life. In this movie Batman knows Superman’s secret identity and vice-versa. You heard that right. Batman knows Superman’s secret identity and he does not take advantage of it.

Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice has a crazy amount of plot problems. Here is a summary. Batman wants to kill Superman, he has the kryptonite and feels it’s the most important thing he’ll ever do. Why does he want to kill Superman? He felt Superman is too powerful. When it comes time to kill Superman he does not do it. I call Bullsh*t! Superman on the other hand has no clue where he fits in the world. Wonder Woman was wasted until the near end. She was used for more cameos than anything else. At the end of the day this movie felt like Man of Steel 2 not a vs movie and certainly not any Batman movie before it.

Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice tried to do what the first few Marvel movies did. Namely expanded the DC Universe. While Marvel setup new characters it in post-credit teaser scenes. Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice tried to do it all in one film. In fact it didn’t even have anything in the closing credits. Why would you attempt to expand the DC cinematic universe in one film? It took Marvel years to accomplish that goal. It took four or five films to accomplish expanding the growth of its heroes. The use of security footage to introduce people to the “metahumans” is just ridiculous. The movie does not feel like it started until Lex Luthor unleashes Doomsday. If you read the comics you know that Superman dies at the hands of Doomsday. That is one of the few things the movie gets right. Doomsday was literally made to kill Superman. The problem here is that Superman does in fact die. The movie is called Dawn of Justice. I take it to be the dawn of the Justice League. For those that don’t know, Justice League is DC Comics version of Avengers. So, how are you going to have a Justice League without Superman? Batman and Wonder Woman are not going to cut it. That pretty much sums it. This movie was ill-conceived and should not have been made. As a Batman fan, the disappointment can not be measured. This movie simply shouldn’t exist. Save yourself some time and watch the animated version of Justice League. After it is all was said and done the movie did what I wanted it. It helped me bond and grow with my teenage daughter. Now these are my own thoughts. The new Snyder film has a 29% from critics like me according to Rotten Tomatoes however over 191,000 fan ratings have graded it at 70%. This movie is going to make a ton of money regardless what people say about it. Go see for your self.