I finally went to see Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice last night. There was some cool stuff in this movie, and some really dumb stuff. The dumb stuff came mostly from having things happen that didn’t make sense, was stupid, both, or both plus was just a bunch of shit.
A few things I like.
I like that these characters, plus Wonder Woman, are treated as the mythic characters they really are. I like the scale of the movie — that is is BIG. If it has Superman, the scale needs to be big, or what’s the point. I like it that when faced with the new reality of a cosmic scale of events and beings, Batman realized that putting a few crooks behind bars isn’t that big a thing. I liked Wonder Woman. Even though she see’s just a bit of action, it is cool. I liked seeing her catch Doomsday in her magic lasso. I liked Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman. He pulled it off, especially the very “Dark Knight Returns” version of the character this movie involves. I like the Batman fighting scenes. I thought Henry Caville was a good Superman. I liked Man of Steel. Finally, I like the vision this film has of how the world might react to the sudden existence of Superman, a being who is close to all-powerful.
Things I didn’t like.
The story was kind of half-assed. There’s just a lot that makes no sense. Why was Wonder Woman in Metropolis? The reason given really doesn’t seem to be very strong. Clark Kent, a journalist, seriously doesn’t recognize Bruce Wayne? I could go on and on. Batman deciding to lure Doomsday BACK to Metropolis to kill him.
Seriously, what drunk wrote this screenplay? I’ve made better story decisions on-the-fly when reffing a D&D or GURPS game.
The final big battle was so full of explosions and CGI and whatnot that it is very hard to tell what’s going on. You can tell that the characters are doing cool stuff, but damn it’s hard to discern much beyond that. Having watched Daredevil Season 2 recently, I feel like you can showcase a superhero’s abilities in a way that leaves the audience amazed, excited, and wanting to see more, rather than mostly confused.
So yeah, the script. The screenplay, or whatever it is called. It was quite looney.
Now, I’m not saying I’m a good writer, but I think I’ve gotten better over the years. My friend Mike Moore told me once, when I asked him about writing funny stuff, that he like to write the simple version of his idea, make it sound, and then go back and add in the funny stuff. I think the same should be done with these movies. Replace “funny” with “cool”. Write a movie that first and foremost makes some kind of sense. Every character actually has a reason for being there. Their actions are not those of an insane person (unless they are in fact insane). Hammer that stuff out. THEN go back and add in the other cool stuff in a way that doesn’t blast the internal logic of the story into more shards than poor exploded Krypton.
If you like superhero movies, then yes go see it. No doubt. I’m just saying the story could have been more logical without spending another dime.