At a time when every month brings a new superhero film to cinemas, a common thread has emerged — other than the characters’ gallantry, heightened abilities and need to help humanity, that is. Whether hailing from Marvel or DC, and whether focused on teams fighting intergalactic foes, wealthy individuals amassing technology and power or preternaturally enhanced figures, the genre has become obsessed with the very definition of a superhero. As more movies pop up, so do more questions about the nature of their protagonists. Wondering about a superhero’s role, how they should use their talents, the cost of their world-saving endeavours, and if there’s a line even these brave folks shouldn’t cross has become part of the viewing experience.
These contemplations arise again in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, rather appropriately for a feature that pits two crusading comic book icons against each other. Indeed, the Zack Snyder (Sucker Punch)-directed follow-up to his 2013 effort Man of Steel is tailor-made for superhero navel-gazing. In case the movie’s adversarial moniker doesn’t make that clear, the Chris Terrio (Argo) and David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight Rises)-written script not only casts its titular twosome as enemies and builds towards their inevitable showdown, but surrounds their antagonistic relationship with finger pointing string pulling. Batman (Ben Affleck, Gone Girl) and Superman (Henry Cavill, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) aren’t simply waging war against each other — their confrontation is calculated to challenge the divide between hero and threat, mortal and alien, optimist and realist, and saviour and vigilante.
Superman may have thwarted Metropolis’ destruction at Man of Steel‘s climax, earning praise and admiration in the process; however his actions weren’t without consequences. The devastation that resulted from his deeds, both in buildings reduced to rubble and in the lives of innocent bystanders lost, also sparked a raft of tensions, with Gotham mogul Bruce Wayne among those driven to act. Eighteen months later, cue a battle of alter egos as well as superheroes, as encouraged by billionaire entrepreneur Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg, The End of the Tour). The world-weary Wayne brandishes his secret Batman persona around town and attempts to orchestrate his nemesis’ downfall, while Clark Kent — aka Superman’s journalist guise — probes his counterpart’s behaviour while weathering increased government and public scrutiny.
To say that the duelling duo are forced to inhabit a murky middle ground between the extremes of right and wrong is to state the obvious, as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice frequently does. There’s little that’s unfamiliar or subtle about the film’s superhero musings, or the way in which they’re presented. Snyder ponders the usual topics, showcases his penchant for slow motion and shaky images punctuated by CGI-heavy action scenes, and asks his cast to remain serious rather than spirited. And yet, while the debate around Batman and Superman’s purpose is packaged as the main event — and stretched out over subplots involving an under-utilised Lois Lane (Amy Adams, Big Eyes) and teasingly introduced Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot, Triple 9), as well as hallucinations and premonitions — it proves little more than filler.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice messily offers up more of the same, toeing the brooding genre line the likes of Guardians of the Galaxy and Deadpool have started to rally against, catapulting its director’s usual stylistic excesses to the fore, and vacuuming every trace of charisma from its stars to amplify its mood; however that’s not where the smackdown-centric feature struggles. They’re the markers of an average but hardly uncommon film that tests patience with its prolonged antics and agonising, wastes talent in alternatingly bland and overblown characterisations as well as thinly sketched bit parts and cameos, and tries to distract through visually disorienting scenes of spectacle — but they’re also emblematic of the movie’s status as a piece of a bigger puzzle.
With the unveiling of Wonder Woman its key success, and inciting excitement about her future screen outings one of its main aims, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice doesn’t hide its need to pave the way for further parts to come. The film may not purport to be an origin story — with the evolution of Wayne into Batman glimpsed briefly at the feature’s beginning, and Kent’s decision to don the tights and cape covered in its predecessor — but the entire movie functions as setup for the forthcoming DC universe. In comic book franchises, the idea of stand-alone servings has become as out-dated as heroes without existential issues, though that doesn’t make efforts designed as episodes of a larger story fulfilling in their own right. As primed and enthused as the film may leave audiences for the instalments that will follow, it also keeps them wanting more — not only from chapters yet to be seen, but from this one.
Accordingly, it feels fitting that the lead figures are played like pawns, complete with a lack of personality, a pre-defined path to chart, and the sense of predictability that accompanies both. As Luthor works to bring the two together, and the narrative uses their conflict to sustain interest, that’s what they are: moving pieces strategically manoeuvred into place and left waiting for the next onslaught. Ultimately, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice keeps the screen warm for its successor by ticking genre boxes in as cursory a fashion as possible. It also inspires questions not just about the purpose of superhero characters, but about the nature of their increasingly frequent and interlinked big screen appearances, even if that’s an unintended consequence.
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Director: Zack Snyder
USA, 2016, 153 mins
Release date: March 24
Distributor: Roadshow
Rated: M
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