Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Spoilers abound for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice below the picture

In an effort not to be accused of burying the lead on this one lets get this out of the way right at the very top of this review: I hated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Completely hated it.

Now lets take a step back and try to explain exactly where my dislike grew from.

Let’s start with Ben Affleck’s caped crusader. Everything about the character felt wrong. Zach Snyder had clearly decided that he wanted to try and make a Batman worthy of continuing the legacy of the Nolan movies (which were famously darker than what had come before). However: because Snyder isn’t half the film maker Nolan is, he lacks the subtlety to make this dark and gritty Bat feel real, and instead we just get shots of Affleck staring off into the distance with a brooding look. This is the darkness. Or he’s holding in a fart. I can’t be sure. It just becomes unrelenting

He also isn’t afraid to break the One Rule which Batman has lived by, killing pretty much without regard. This isn’t Batman as we know him, but instead it feels like a sadistic monster who happens to be wearing the suit. This shouldn't perhaps be shocking, given that Snyder also totally sold out the Superman mythos for Man of Steel, so the fact he does the same here isn’t surprising, even if its disappointing. 

Also: Don’t even start me on the voice, which sounds like what might happen if Siri tried to do Christian Bale’ Batman voice. Its just awful. Bale’s was never exactly great, but it looks like the work of a great thespian in comparison.

Then there’s the plot of the thing, which is both clustered and yet empty all at once. DC clearly realised they needed to catch up to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, fast tracking the build to Justice League. In doing so they end up with a single film here that is trying to do the job of 4 or 5, building this universe’s Batman, Wonder Woman, and continuing the build of Superman which Man of Steel began (while also offering a tantalising view of Cyborg, Aquaman, and Flash which it doesn't have time to really capitalise on). They also of course offer the first view of Lex Luthor, who one would assume we will see again as the franchise moves forward.

The problem is that they seem to have missed the point. The reason the MCU works is precisely because each character has had a very defined build up, they each have their place in the story, and their own personal goals and character traits are fully presented, so that by the time Avengers Assemble came around they could really get right into the film.

Here DC has instead gone the “Just throw everything at a wall and see what sticks” route, and it just comes off as an incoherent mess. You can’t become invested in any of the storylines, because they never have time to fully establish themselves. 

There are several threads of what could be good movies - the political fall out for Superman after the battle of Metropolis, an already established Batman years into his vigilantism, LexCorp’s goals to create a Kryptonite weapon, just to name a few - but before you can try and care we have moved on to something else. 

And because you can’t get invested instead you just get bored fast. There’s not enough action to keep you involved though either because its trying to get these conceptual moments talked out, so it ends up rather awfully stuck in a limbo in which it just doesn't work.

I don’t know how a movie involving 3 of the most important superheroes, and very probably the most important super villain (except maybe Joker) of all time, all sharing the screen, could be called boring, but Snyder has managed it. The 2 and a half hours feel like ten, its so interminably slow, and by the time the final credits roll you’re elated just to be able to get out of the cinema and away from this out and out disappointment of a film.

This movie should be getting you excited for what is to come with the Justice League, and instead we are now two films into the franchise and both have been rubbish. Its not looking promising.

Finally lets talk about the last few minutes of the movie, and why they make an already bad situation worse. Everyone, and I mean everyone, knows going into this film that it is a prelude to the Justice League, and that there is no way they’re going to do a Justice League movie without Superman. Yet still Snyder decides its a good idea to kill Cal El off in the films final act to try and bring about some emotion in what is an otherwise just mind numbing experience. Except that because we know he has to come back for Justice League, it doesn't work. There’s not one person in the audience that truly believes he is dead and gone. So why should we care? The film itself even realises this, and its very final second cops out the 15 minutes which has come before.

Its impossible to feel the empathy the film wants you to when you just know its not real, and its even more difficult when even the film doesn't believe in it enough to go with its own conclusions. 

Put simply, it is time to get Zach Snyder away from the DC Cinematic Universe. The man has always been more about flash and style than he has substance (see 300, Sucker Punch, and the aforementioned Man of Steel for examples of this), but with such an important franchise we cannot afford for someone who cannot tell a story to continue raking the universe over the coals. I hate seeing superheroes I love like this. 

The film is just awful. Overlong, with way too much going on, and without nearly the character development needed to make you care about any of these people. I’ll say it again: I hated this film. Completely utterly hated it. 

Review: The Dark Knight Rises

First I must be clear: what follows is a review which will hold no punches back spoilers wise. If you have yet to see the end of the Dark Knight trilogy, and do not want to read anything before you go into Dark Knight Rises, then stop reading right now. You have been warned.

It was always going to be a difficult third act for Christopher Nolan to create. With a near perfect first two installments to Nolan’s Batman trilogy, he had a lot to live up to. My oh my did he deliver on that and so much more.

Starting out eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne has turned recluse, hanging up the cape and mask for good, while Commissioner Gordon has managed to clean up the streets of Gotham in Harvey Dent’s name.

Before long though the mysterious Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway presenting a near definitive version of the character) informs Bruce - and the audience watching - that “there’s a storm coming”.

That storm comes in the form of the frankly terrifying Bane. Introduced here as an agent of Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Shadows, its nice to see the trilogy tie up the loose ends that we’ve seen come through from the first film, while moving the story forward as Bane makes good on the Leagues promises, and we see the fall of Gotham and particularly of Bruce Wayne himself.

There are sequences in the film which probably struggle to stay below the 12A rating, as the audience is forced to come to terms with the mortality and vulnerability of their hero, outmatched physically and mentally by a man even he must accept is his superior in every way.

The film’s emotional heart though is found through Michael Caine’s Alfred. Always an important part of the trilogy in a comedic sense, it feels like Nolan really moved the character forward here. It is him who gets many of the most poignant lines as he begs Bruce to simply give in, telling him simply that he “won’t bury you.” and that “he has already buried too many members of the Wayne family”. Your heart breaks as he speaks, and you literally feel yourself getting angry with Bruce as he ignores his oldest friend.

On Bane himself, there had been alot of talk before the release of the film about Bane's voice - especially following the prologue to the film which was shown in cinemas last year. Thankfully the vocal track has been completely redubbed since then, meaning thankfully that the voice was completely understandable (if a little raspy) throughout. Thomas Hardy's huge dominating figure is something audiences will come away talking about having seen the film, and while he is not as big as the character in the comics (like everything in the Nolan universe he is at least to some extent grounded in reality) he still towers over his fellow screen presences, and you truly feel a sense of dread whenever he is on screen.

The action sequences have all been ramped up from the previous installments too. Following the terrific lorry chase in The Dark Knight, there are several superb scenes in this - most notably a sequence in which about 100 police cars chase the caped crusader on the batbike (who in turn is chaisng Bane and his cronies), as they race across the streets of Gotham.

It feels like Nolan looked back at everything which had worked in the previous installments - a villain worthy of a superhero movie from the maniacal point of view, while still being firmly grounded in reality, a witty and fast moving script, and a concentration on the true angst and suffering of the hero. This Batman (and it has been alluded to in the previous films) is only a man, and you truly find yourself believing he could die at any moment - especially as this is the final act of the trilogy.

The supporting cast are great, as ever - from the appearance of Cillian Murphy’s psychotic Dr Crane as a judge in the kangaroo court Bane has setup to be judge jury and executioner, to the ever watchable Morgan Freeman’s Lucius Fox, everyone is superb.

New comer to the franchise Marion Cotillard too does a fantastic job as Talia Al Ghul. While perhaps not the best kept secret - indeed I think just about everyone who announced her casting the movie originally attributed the role to her - the twist ending surrounding Cotillard’s true identity in the film was remarkably well handled, coming at a moment of true power in the film, and to say there was audible gasps in the cinema I was in when the revelation finally came through would not be an exaggeration

The film is as close to perfect as anyone could honestly hope for, making good on the promises of the franchise, and improving across the board to produce that most wonderful of things: a trilogy ender that is not just as good but better than what came before. I cannot wait to see it again, as I know there will be things I missed the first time around, but to be clear, this is the best movie this year to date. Not the best superhero movie, not the best blockbuster, THE BEST MOVIE. PERIOD.






Footnote: It was awesome to see Nottingham's Wollaton Hall double as the newly rebuilt Wayne Manor. Seeing my town on the big screen like that was mental :D