It's messy and long, but you'll not be bored.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Grade: B-
Director: Zach Snyder (300)
Screenplay: Chris Terrio (Argo), David S. Goyer (Man of Steel)
Cast: Ben Affleck (Argo), Henry Cavil (The Man from U.N.C.L.E)
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 151 min.
by John DeSando
“Black and blue. Fight night. The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world. God versus man. Day versus night! Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham!” Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg)
Lex Luthor’s description of the battle in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is just about right: Way too much is expected thematically when director Zach Snyder and buddies lard this super-hero opera with special effects and colorful characters too many to do any one of them justice. The best of Lex’s phrases is “God versus Man” because more than once do writers Chris Terrio and David Goyer interject ideas about the notions of infallibility and accountability for whatever god we worship, mostly represented by Superman.
Maybe I’m missing the point. Maybe this super clash is really about the villain, best represented by Lex. In that case, the story is a hot mess of colliding motives, paramount of which is the boyish fun of making things go wrong, much like an adolescent version of Iago, who ruined Othello because he could (or like Bill Clinton who played like a boy in the infamous White House tryst because he “could.”) At any rate, I prefer a Zod (Michael Shannon), whose sole purpose was to protect Krypton.
However, B v S has some nice moments, mostly when Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) is around, as when the titular heroes ask each other if she was with him. When she tells Bruce Wayne, “I don't think you've ever known a woman like me,” I was convinced she was right, and I could look forward to her own Justice League segment to come.
Those quips remind me of the singular DC Comics characteristic that disappoints me—no sustained sense of humor. While Lex Luthor is assuredly meant to supply it, Jess Eisenberg delivers his lines like a petulant boy pushing impotent jokes (Just think of Gene Hackman’s classic sneer and irony-dripping lines). Even when Eisenberg says, “The Red Capes are coming! The Red Capes are coming!” it’s so lightly tossed off amid much louder noise that its wit is lost.
In other words, I’m a Deadpool fan, lusting after the acidic asides that capture the fantasy of this whole comic-book hero concept. When Lex says, “Boys! Mmm! Bruce Wayne meets Clark Kent. Ha! I love it! I love bringing people together! How are we?” I am reminded about how much I love the asides that smartly capture theme. I’m hoping DC will lighten up like Marvel for the next 10 installments through 2017—I may be inflating the number, but I’m into hyperbole as much as the next fan boy.
“You know, it's true what they say about little boys: born with no natural inclination to share.” (Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman) I’m relaxing now that Wonder Woman is here to get to the skinny of comic book devotion: Boy-men just having fun in their dreams.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
