Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice may look like another ordinary superhero film but it’s not. Produced by Chris Nolan and directed by Zack Snyder,
Zack Snyder’s new superhero film makes you wonder why it was made.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice may look like another ordinary superhero film but it’s not. Produced by Chris Nolan and directed by Zack Snyder, the film is supposed to serve as the launching pad for several DC comics’ characters as they make a transition to the big screen. This is essentially an effort imitating the Marvel universe which consists of the multiple-superhero driven films like The Avengers as well as standalone films like Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. All this means only one thing: Batman vs Superman had a lot riding on its shoulders. But if top critics are to be believed (and we echo the thought), the film is an absolute disaster.
Since its release, the film has generated a meek 28 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes website, which curates reviews from several respectable sources. Christopher Orr, writing for The Atlantic says the film suffers from Snyder’s “trademark tone, which alternates between angry and maudlin with little in between. Almost the entire film seems to be set at night, as if it were taking place in Mordor, or perhaps Anchorage in December.”
Since the film has an all-star cast, you expect a script that is sharp enough to utilize this very cast. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen. Zach Snyder, known for films like 300, Watchmen and Man of Steel prefers violence and loud overtones but knows not what to do with his cast. Consequently, their onscreen personas cause annoyance.
Despite an all-star cast featuring the likes of Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Jesse Eisenberg, Zack Snyder’s latest superhero venture is long, excessively violent and makes you think of Mordor.
Bob Mondello, writing for NPR, notes: “Jesse Eisenberg mostly manages to make Lex Luthor an annoying villain, rather than an alarming one. But Ben Affleck’s graying Batman owns the alarm concession anyway — growling, prowling, literally branding bad guys. Henry Cavill’s Superman is comparatively subdued, floating down majestically from on high, lips curled with what looks like indigestion.”
To us, the film feels like a masala potboiler straight out of Bollywood. Like many Bollywood films, it uses its lead female star to essentially go unexplained while dressing in superhero attire that feels deliberately skimpy. As Christopher Orr points out in his piece for The Atlantic: “When it comes to Diana Prince (a.k.a., Wonder Woman, and played by Gal Gadot), over the course of two and a half hours we learn precisely nothing about her other than she fought in World War I, became disillusioned with mankind’s senseless cruelty, and has now reappeared 100 years later with a taste for high-end couture that displays large, strategically selected expanses of bare skin. (She reserves her famous red-and-blue one-piece for the final act.)” Wonder Woman, in all gorgeous sexiness, is your quintessential item girl.
Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor sounds like a Shah Rukh Khan spinoff, especially from Khan’s Darr, Anjaam and Baazigar days. The two protagonists, Batman and Superman are no less than the Karan Arjun duo. Also, the length of the film is 2 hours and 31 minutes. Yup, Bollywood again.
What this means for DC’s hope for a multiple superhero cinematic world, only time will tell. For now, India should be happy that it has inspired superhero films internationally even if all of Bollywood’s own efforts at superheroes have failed.
