Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice

[slickstu]

I encountered my first first superhero smackdown in 1991 in the graphic novel Judgement on Gotham, a story which pitted Judge Dredd against Batman. Judge Dredd is a hard-line law enforcing thug and Batman is a righteous vigilante - it was easy to see why the pair would not get along. It was a hero versus anti-hero scenario.

With Batman versus Superman, however, it's not quite so easy to see the conflict as they are both clearly on the "hero" side of the equation. But director, Zack Snyder, does a reasonable job of pulling this together by tapping into a problem which many viewers had with his prior film, Man of Steel.

Batman, like many of us, heavily resents the heavy public toll resulting from Superman's urban clash with General Zod. This is understandable but when Batman determines to kill Superman in response, whoah, that's a whole different level again and Snyder never quite convinces why two honourable superheroes would wish to assassinate each other. Not even a zero tolerant Megacity judge with a penchant for police brutality went there!

In contrast with popular opinion, it seems, I quite like what Snyder is attempting with the Superman tale. It's a fascinating prospect to put this extra terrestrial man of steel into a contemporary setting and look at how, in all likelihood, the public would react to an alien with almost limitless power. In messianic fashion, some would surely revere this figure, but the bulk would treat him with suspicion and fear of what he could do to us were he to turn "rogue".

This is very close to the line Christopher Nolan took with his Batman films, of course, (and it's notable that Nolan is a producer of Snyder's Superman films) but Snyder is not the storyteller that Nolan is and the result is a Superman film which is grubbier than even Nolan's Batman. Indeed, Snyder's rendering of the Batfleck is just plain nasty and psychotic as he steamrolls through Gotham, branding criminals with his hot iron knuckle batdusters. Snyder has taken Nolan's balanced grubbiness - and Watchmen-ified it. Substitute Superman for Mr Manhattan and Batman for Rorschach and you pretty much have it.

But while this tone may be passable in Gotham, it sits a little less comfortably with Metropolis. Superman is a messiah figure and dragging him through a Gotham-like quagmire of corruption and dishonour besmirches his brand to its detriment. It's an uneasy and uncomfortable mix for our Kryptonian white knight and Snyder only narrowly gets away with it.

On the whole, I quite like Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, (I even saw it twice) but I like it more for the ideas that Snyder is attempting to relate rather than his success in reaching that goal.

7 out of 10

[fandtm666]

i only have one word for the movie


PATHETIC

[admin]

The title on its own is enough to show that Hollywood simply ran out of ideas years ago.

What next ? Aquaman verses Wonderwoman ?

[fandtm666]

i am right into the comic book movies ( call me a nerd )

and all of them stretch the word reality and possibility
but this movie only shows how much the movie makers
think the general public has no brain and plays on their gullibility
and nostalgia .

the reviews are so bad on this movie and every one i know who has watched
it all have the same to say and that it is not even worth downloading.
I actually walked out after about 40 mins