Zack Snyder does the impossible and creates another magnificent film.
April 11, 2016, at 11:50 p.m.
Warning: This review will contain major spoilers. If you don’t want to know the ending do not read this review.
Batman v Superman combines two of the most well-known graphic novels ever made, specifically Batman vs. Superman and Death of Superman. While remaining faithful to both the aforementioned graphic novels, Snyder and writer David S. Goyer create something unique and individual. True to the novel, Batman does defeat Superman in the battle; however, he does not require the assistance of Green Arrow, as he did in the graphic novel.
However, excluding the addition of Wonder Woman, the Death of Superman storyline is spot on. One area I think they could have explained better was the evolution of Doomsday, and how he evolves a new strength from everything that kills him. They did the best they could without detracting from the action, but they’re still could have done more I think in this area. The biggest spoiler of the entire movie was at the end, as Lois Lane stands over his grave you can hear his heartbeat. I thought this was a great Easter egg for fans of the book.
Fans of the book will know that Superman never actually died. KeL El goes into a deep sort of hibernation if you will. And it takes him many many days simply to get his heartbeat back. In the movie this is faithfully redone. I think they even went too far with this when they added the extra effect of the soil rising of Clark Kent’s grave. They didn’t need to do this. They could have left it alone with just the simple and well-placed heartbeat. Masked deep within the Hans Zimmer score, only a few people would have noticed that.
Speaking of Hans Zimmer, that brings me to the one issue that I really had with this film. The score from Man of Steel was omnipresent throughout the entire picture. Whereas Hans Zimmer’s score from the Batman Begins trilogy was absent. I really would have liked to have heard the combination of both scores. Zimmer’s score from Man of Steel, also known as the “deal of Hope” is a very powerful piece. Equally so, is The Dark Knight‘s theme.
I wonder why they had to recreate the image of Batman but not Superman. That is where my biggest critique of the film lies. Not only was Batman Begins a very strong franchise, if not stronger than the original Man of Steel. It’s like a girlfriend moving into an apartment that’s already yours instead of finding a new domicile where you both equally call it home. A re-imagined Batman was interjected into Metropolis. Superman wasn’t taken to Gotham City. Not that there was anything wrong with Jeremy Irons as Alfred. I think he was fantastic as Bruce Wayne’s sidekick, and he even got a laugh when he comments on Bruce Wayne not leaving a legacy behind.
I was very impressed with Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer. Once again they have risen to the occasion to create a film which I honestly did not think was going to be as good as it was. The huge reveal of Doomsday and Wonder Woman in the trailer foreshadowed what I believed would be a mediocre film. It is a testament to Snyder and Goyer that they were able to pull this off. I also think perhaps studio executives wisely kept their hands off his project. You can slightly see where executives may have left their imprint. Notably leaving the foreshadowing of the meta humans in the film. These scenes seem to only be in there for commercial purposes and selling future franchise pieces at the box offices. While we all know that Aquaman and the Flash are overdue for their day in the box office sun, (and are already in production), it felt unnecessary and gratuitous to show the clips in Batman vs. Superman.
Let’s talk about Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) for a moment. She was awesome! Retreating to my man cave, I honestly did not want to see a chick get in the way of Batman and Superman fighting, but she was played so well and written so strongly it really added to the overall experience. She was not a damsel in distress by any means, but quite the opposite. An Amazonian Kick-Ass Warrior that was every bit Bruce Wayne’s equal outside of the costume and makeup. Oh, and she’s super hot too.
The last question I have is, how long can Zack Snyder and David Goyer continue their winning streak? I would be very interested to see if Snyder or Goyer would tackle one of the other Meta Human films. It seems like you can only gamble with fate for so long. After back-to-back impossible feats of creating good Superman movies, will he know when to stop while he’s ahead?
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