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The Best and Worst Scenes in BATMAN V SUPERMAN

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Nick Doll in Batman, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC, Lists, Movies

Previously on “The Best and Worst of Batman V Superman”: The Cast.

This Time: The Strongest… and Weakest… Scenes!

It’s time again to look at the good and the bad. Because there is good in Batman v Superman yet.

There are SPOILERS ahead for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (unlike my Spoiler Free Review), so be warned!

Best: Artistic Take on the Wayne MurderMy initial review was glowing when it came to the style in which Director Zack Snyder filmed the Wayne Murder. I don’t want to rehash my review too much, so let’s keep this brief.

The Wayne Murder has never been presented in such a visually stunning manner, from choices like breaking Martha Wayne’s Pearl Necklace with the hammer of the gun, to the overall color/look of the scene. And featuring Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian in Snyder’s Watchmen) playing Thomas Wayne… well, that’s a slam dunk!

… if you have to show the damn scene again…

Worst: The Wayne Murder Happens Again… Again… AgainThe problem is that this scene never needed to be in the movie! We all know Jesus died on the Cross, Peter Parker let Uncle Ben get shot (basically), and Thomas and Martha Wayne died in Crime Alley following a showing of The Mark of Zorro.

And we don’t just see the scene at the beginning of BvS, oh no! Snyder cuts back to the retread of a retread of a retread of the scene later in the film to drive home a point (“Martha…”).

Warner Brothers, please don’t show us the death of the Lego Waynes in next year’s The Lego Batman Movie!

Best: Batman Superman (Finally) FightThe title promises one thing; Batman (Ben Affleck) will fight Superman (Henry Cavill), as ridiculous a premise as that sounds (A Man Vs a “God?”… okay… maybe the trailers and have covered that issue already).

Surprisingly, in a movie called Batman V Superman, the title players only physically fight once… and it’s not until the 3 rd act. While it was wise to save the climatic fight for what should have been the end of the movie (more on that later), I’m surprised there wasn’t a 2nd, less climatic clash earlier in the movie like every other superhero movie (likely even Captain America: Civil War). There was Batman’s “Knightmare” which doesn’t count because it was a dream(vision?) with Batman only fighting Superman’s Soldiers… before Superman ripped out his heart. The only other in costume encounter was the stern warning from Superman to Batman not to go to the Bat Signal when it was next turned on. The two heroes didn’t fight in that scene either. Sure, Superman crashed the Batmobile, but he did it by just standing there…By the time we do get to the long awaited fight it is as glorious as the trailer teased. In fact, it’s one of the more wonderful scenes in an otherwise surprisingly action-lite two and a half hour film. The visuals are still astounding (that Frank Miller inspired “Iron” Batsuit sure looks pretty in the rain) and the strategies The Dark Knight employs against The Man of Steel are entertaining; making you believe Batman really could beat Superman as a brilliant strategist… and with some weaponized Kryptonite gas… and spear!

It’s an extremely entertaining scene from the moment Superman lands to the final moment: “Martha.”

Worst: Why Batman and Superman FightBatman and Superman fighting over ideologies is enough! Writers Zack Snyder and Chris Terrio go overboard with unnecessary pressure pushing DC’s two biggest characters to brawl.

Bruce Wayne doesn’t trust Superman because the latter is all powerful. Clark Kent does not approve of the (murderous) Batman’s methods and “reign of terror.” Superman even warns Batman midway through the film that next time the Bat Signal is turned on he should stay home. So, when Batman prepares for battle and shines the Bat Signal in the sky to attract Superman’s attention, that should be enough!

Why does Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) have to kidnap Martha Kent and order Superman to kill the Bat?

Answer: He doesn’t. But none of Luthor’s plans make sense in Batman V Superman. His characters complete lack of logic is one of the most frustrating parts of the film.

Best: Battle of Metropolis I (Zod)Everyone’s least favorite part about Man of Steel has become my favorite scene in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. I also covered this scene in my initial review, so I will again be brief.

For the first time ever, we’re given Bruce Wayne: True Action Hero. He drives a Jeep between collapsing buildings, witnesses Wayne Finances collapse with his “family” inside, and runs into the 9/11-esque all-encompassing ash to help the surviving victims.

The destruction is on a whole new scale from Bruce Wayne’s point of view, both in the amount of destruction we witness and the bigger focus on loss of life. It’s really cool to see odd Spaceships without needing any sort of exposition as to why they are there and what each one does; Man of Steel covered that. Most importantly, this event is all Bruce Wayne really needed to decide to declare war on Superman.

Worst: Battle of Metropolis II (Doomsday)Just as boring and overblown as the Battle of Metropolis was at the end of Man of Steel (not to be confused with the Bruce Wayne’s POV version in BvS), the finale to Batman V Superman is so bad it is mostly responsible for making what could have been a great Batman film into a measly 6 out of 10.

Everything is wrong with this scene. Even the visuals take a massive dip from what is otherwise a beautiful film. Really, the movie is a 0 out of 10 following the actual fight between Batman and Superman, with the notable exception of the amazing Bat Combat we see in the Warehouse scene when Batman rescues Martha Kent.

Doomsday looks like an Orc. The landscape is simply fire… burning rubble everywhere with no discernible landmarks. Yet we’re assured multiple times by cutaways to the military that everywhere Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) fight Doomsday is uninhabited; a severe overreaction to the destructive finale of Man of Steel.Gone is the “realism” (as much as could be expected at least) present in Batman and Superman’s fight and other action scenes. Instead, we have characters like Wonder Woman launching themselves across the battlefield (it’s hard to tell how far when everything is on fire…) in what looks like a video game… or a half-assed scene tacked on an otherwise polished movie.

One of the scene’s biggest crimes? Not giving Batman anything to do but distract Doomsday and run, unlike the Avengers films which give even mortals like Hawkeye and Black Widow something to contribute. Sure, there’s the obligatory final moment when all three heroes must work in unison to kill Doomsday, not unlike the first Fantastic Four film (a comparison you do not want). Wonder Woman on the lasso, Superman with the Kryptonite Spear, and Batman’s last Kryptonite Gas bomb! VICTORY (Sort of…)

Awful final fight. Really ruins an otherwise decent film.

I can write about Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice for days. And I just might do so!

Until Next Time…

Batffleck Soars and Visuals Are King In Uneven BATMAN V SUPERMAN

Posted on March 25, 2016April 6, 2016 by Nick Doll in Batman, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC, Movies, Reviews

Note: This is a Spoiler Free! Review of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. If it wasn’t in the trailer (a disappointingly large amount was) or the 1st act, I won’t reference anything too directly. There are so many universe building moments and DC Easter Eggs for a Geek to pour over that I will likely cover in a follow up discussion full of spoilers in the coming days.

How many reviews have you read for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice that were written by someone who has seen it twice? How many reviewers are self proclaimed amateur Batman Scholars? And yet, not so blindly obsessed with the Caped Crusader that he proclaims a ridiculous “20 out of 10! Best Movie Ever!” Well, soon you will have read one such review!

Batman V Superman is not the best superhero movie ever made, in fact, it doesn’t come close, not even cracking my top 10… or likely even top 20 Comic Book based films. Yet, it’s also far from the worse. Neither should be a surprise in today’s world where we have received 2-6 Superhero Films a year since 2002’s Spider-Man.

BvS is both better than I expected, yet still a bit of a visually beautiful mess. After all, Zack Snyder is at the helm; the controversial Director behind a horrible film (Sucker Punch), a fan favorite I hate (300), an incredibly average comic book film (Man of Steel), and another beautiful mess that I have a soft spot for (Watchman). Snyder continues to showcase the same weaknesses (plot, story pacing) and strengths (incredibly rich CGI visuals that truly brings comics to life). Luckily, Snyder has help from writer Chris Terrio who has written Academy Award nominated films like The Town, saving BvS from being the complete train-wreck it could have been.

The opening credits scene is a perfect sampling/representation of the film as a whole.

The movie opens with Martha and Thomas Wayne’s funeral (yes, we’ve seen this before), which flashes back to the Wayne Murder in Crime Alley (something we’ve more than any other Comic Book scene). I went to Batman V Superman with my best friend, a self proclaimed Superman fan, who has watched everything Batman with me from The Dark Knight films, to animated features like Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns, and even TV’s Gotham, in addition to having read countless comics. More than most, this friend has a hatred for the Wayne Murder that pops up in all these stories, especially the once artistically genius choice to showcase Martha’s pearls crashing to the ground; that by this point has become just as repetitive a image as as young Bruce Wayne screaming under the spotlight of a street lamp.When we saw the funeral, and then the flashback to a family walking out of a Zorro film, yet again, we both sighed. Then something amazing happened… Zach Snyder actually presented the scene in a way we’ve never seen it before with an very creative and bold choice. Instead of Joe Chill (the man who murder’s Bruce Wayne’s parents) ripping the necklace off Martha’s neck, he slips his gun against her throat so that the gun’s hammer holds the necklace tight between her neck and the gun. When the gun fires, the hammer recoils, splitting the pearl necklace and dropping the pearls in a very visual pleasing, surprising, and brutal way.

The film as a whole (with one giant exception) offers great visual takes on heroes and action set pieces we’ve seen before (in one case, literally, but that in a later…), much like his Watchman film flawlessly captured what looked like actual panels from a comic book. It’s not just perfect CGI, it’s great choices including a visual tone that doesn’t just feel richer than Man of Steel‘s faded look, but also more true to a comic than Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy (visuals and a certain actor being the ONLY way the film tops the now sacred trilogy). The characters, costumes, settings, and action look fantastic from this new take on the “Pearl Scene” to the rained out battle between Superman with a fantastic rendering of the Batman “Battle” suit that’s even better than how Frank Miller was drew it in The Dark Knight Returns.Visually, things do fall apart in the grand finale, where you have a boring flaming backdrop (EVERYTHING is on fire!) and messily animated Heroes literally lunging/flying at each other over football stadium length for epic punches, even when said characters are not known for flying.

Back to the opening scene: though presented in a brand new brilliance, we’ve seen it all before… many, many times. So follows the rest of Batman V Superman; though we’ve never watched Batman fight Superman in live action, we’ve seen all the pieces before. Superman’s scenes don’t feel fresh, which isn’t a terrible crime as this film is direct sequel to Man of Steel. Though he’s never looked so good, we’ve seen Batman in a ridiculous amount of movies. Marvel has already stolen the magic of bringing multiple titans to the same battlefield, and the destruction of the finale may be over red burning ground instead of Man of Steel‘s grey rubble, but really, what’s the difference (besides the not subtle at all lines about how everywhere anyone fights in Gotham or Metropolis is “uninhabited”)?

The 2nd scene, though one of the best in the film (if not the best), is not just a repeated image like the death of the Waynes and the ever present Pearls, but a literal repeat of the Battle of Metropolis from Man of Steel, this time from Bruce Wayne’s (Ben Affleck) perspective. The scene is visceral and real with painful yet effective 9/11 imagery, from Bruce’s race to the Wayne Fiances skyscraper to the building’s collapse and the remaining, living victims. The destruction is more real and seems to be on an even larger scale when we are watching the laser vision of Zod and Superman (Henry Cavill) rip Wayne Fiances to pieces from a far, with the two “Gods” (really Aliens) just specks in a sky flying around giant ships exploding, destroying nearly everything.

It’s not just the visuals that make this stand-out scene so emotional, for the film’s other greatest strength is also essential in saving what could have been boring Batman/Bruce Wayne scenes in any other Batman actor’s hands. I’m of course referring to Ben Affleck, who is indeed the Batman AND Bruce Wayne we have always deserved (no actor has pulled off both sides of the coin so evenly). His brooding and anger are the only real thing in this film (because all those visuals I’ve been praising were manufactured in a computer).Quick props to Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Jeremy Irons as the latest Alfred Pennyworth for both not playing their roles conventionally, yet still delivering satisfying versions (especially Jesse Eisenberg!).

Back to the opening of the film: it’s a dream! And this film has an overabundance of dreams/possible visions, from Bruce’s apocalyptic “Knightmare” (get it?) of a world run by a heartless Superman, to Clark Kent seeing Pa Kent (Kevin Costner) in the mountains. These kind of scenes drive the story forward (and even begin to set up the greater universe including the Justice League) in a movie that feels surprisingly slow with so many characters packed in.

A great fear of mine going in was that, not unlike Watchmen (which also had soooo many characters and events to cover) or overstuffed semi-messes like Spider-Man or even Avengers: Age of Ultron, this film would feel rushed, trying to get to the big battle referenced in the title as quickly as possible with little thought and space given to the connective plot tissue.Quite the opposite is true, in fact. The movie is almost too slow, allowing the themes of what it means to be just a man in a God’s world and absolute power corrupting to breath for the 1st two acts. That is, before any theme or reason from earlier in the film is quickly forgotten in favor of “Smashy, Smashy, Punch Time” in the 3rd act.

Are there plot holes? God, yes, but I don’t want to go in so far as to spoil any plot points, nor am I trying to be “Honest Trailers” or “How It Should Have Ended.” Some plot holes and choices do make more sense as a comic fan as they are less of a stretch for someone who has read variations of these stories in the comics. Others are just dumbfounding, but even the Marvel films are guilty of that sin.

One thing The Avengers did pull off that BvS fails at, is giving Batman something to do when fighting a villain meant for the likes of the more powerful Superman and Wonder Woman. While armies of aliens or robots in the two Avengers films gave heroes with no powers (Hawkeye and Black Widow) or limited ones (Captain America) something to fight, Batman runs and stands around more than he fights in the grand finale, waiting for Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot, who is okay, but doesn’t shine) and Superman to do all the real fighting.

So, there you go! A review written by someone who had the chance to put the thoughts generated by not one, but two viewings of Batman V Superman down on (digital) paper.

Is this a Batman V Superman that rivals The Avengers? No. Is it a watchable film that actually makes you excited for the prospect of Justice League: Part One? Absolutely!

The old, classic, Zack Snyder mixed bag.