Arts in ReviewBatman V Superman does nothing with either Batman or Superman

Batman V Superman does nothing with either Batman or Superman

This article was published on March 31, 2016 and may be out of date. To maintain our historical record, The Cascade does not update or remove outdated articles.
Reading time: 2 mins

By Martin Castro (The Cascade) – Email

 

Screen Shot 2016-03-31 at 4.42.41 PM

 

Christopher Nolan, through hard work, determination, and good writing, did what even Hollywood golden-boy George Clooney couldn’t do: he resuscitated Batman and made him cool again. More importantly, the film stressed the fact that Batman is very much a human being. Sure, he’s got a lot of money and works out a lot, but still, he’s a person, with mortal limitations. That was the entire point of Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.

All of that gets thrown out the window before the main plot of Batman V Superman even starts. Batman, in this incarnation, is more or less a weaker version of Superman, without the laser eyes or flight.

Besides the two main actors, the supporting cast doesn’t do much. Lawrence Fishbourne as Perry White, the Daily Planet’s editor-in-chief, literally talks in news article headlines. In one scene, he looks up to an assistant and says, “Jen, headline: End of love affair with man in sky, question mark.” And then he walks out of the room.

Jesse Eisenberg, is, well, Jesse Eisenberg. His portrayal of Lex Luthor as a misunderstood genius gone off the deep end would be refreshing if Eisenberg hadn’t already done the same thing in just about every movie he’s been in.

The film treats its subject matter with all the seriousness of films like There Will Be Blood. Which leads to its main problem. We’re shown two characters, both of whom we’ve come to adore and idolize as heroes, engaged in a fight orchestrated by Lex Luthor, yet neither of them has the clarity of mind to say, “Hold on a second, why are we fighting? What’s going on?” It seems as if the entire premise and plot of the movie can be summed up in a line Ben Affleck, as Batman, delivers at the end of the film: “We fight, we kill, we betray one another. But we can do better. We have to.”

The only reason Batman and Superman fight to the extent that they do is as a direct result of both characters completely misunderstanding that they’re being manipulated. And then Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) shows up and further muddies the waters.

Apart from the plot inconsistencies, the most interesting aspect to discuss is Superman. Superman dies. This is good.

However, Superman doesn’t die as a result of fighting Batman. He doesn’t die as an adversary, but rather as a teammate, killed while fighting a huge monster called “Doomsday” who’s threatening the city.

And then, after a somber funeral scene, we’re shown a close-up of his grave. Dirt trembles and levitates, and the screen cuts to black. So obviously Superman’s not dead. He can’t be, there are sequels to be made.

Nobody learns any lessons. Nobody actually dies. There’s no finality to the film.

All Batman V Superman does is show us two guys have a pissing contest, then smarten up and join together to fight evil. Things get set on fire and blow up, a lot of bad guys get the crap kicked out of them, and dialogue is interspersed with fighting because none of it means anything anyway; we’re just here to see a glorified boxing match that, in the end, results in a draw.

But then again, there’s the promise of multiple sequels on the horizon.

Maybe Aquaman will get it right.

Other articles
RELATED ARTICLES

Upcoming Events

About text goes here