My Poor Friend Me

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We collectively gave it a 5.5 (arguably a 6) out of 10.

Let’s get this out of the way. The movie has its flaws. The biggest being the inter-stitched sequences that make you feel like you fell asleep and came back at a random scene in the movie. We have a theory about one of these sequences that we can’t get in to without some major spoilers. For a hint, go check out Injustice: Gods Among Us.

Gods and Men

The characterizations of Superman and Batman feel pretty solid. For decades, very smart people have written lengthy think pieces about Batman and Superman. Snyder approaches these themes, which gives the movie a more serious tone than the last few superhero movies we’ve gotten. But that’s not a bad thing. Not every movie has to be packed with jokes and punching and Michael Peña monologues. Batman and Superman are the most popular fictional characters on the planet, and it’s gotten tricky to explore them without tackling some big philosophical ideas about God(s) and humanity.

Superman

Superman is a person trying to do the right thing, struggling with his status as a god and what that means for him and the world. It’s poorly developed and poorly explored, but it’s there. There’s a lot of talk online about what Superman means to people and why Snyder’s Superman is “wrong”. But you have to remember, this is only his second year of being Superman. Going through a sudden life change from guy-who-helps-sometimes to all-out-living-deity isn’t an easy transition. Snyder clearly wants to explore these themes, but does so clumsily.

The Batman

On the other side of the bay (yes, Gotham and Metropolis are separated by a bay small enough to make them part of the same city, but whatever), Batman is a not-at-all retired hero who has been active for 20+ years, but still remains a mystery of sorts, which feels pretty grounded. Batman’s arc is a little muddied, but his focus seems to be on stopping Superman because people get hurt in his battles, and maybe one day he might turn on humanity. Bruce Wayne’s vengeful concern is never explored and we’re expected to just accept it at face value. To be fair, this isn’t a Batman movie. This is a Superman movie with a Batman in it. But this is also lost in the mix, as the focus shuffles around between Batman, Superman, Lois, Luthor, and a weird political plot that we often lose track of and sporadically return to with little explanation. It’s like your friend that asks for the aux chord and skips to the next song every minute or so.

Lex Luthor

This isn’t a spoiler, but Lex Luthor isn’t Lex Luthor. He’s actually Alexander Luthor Jr. Using a relatively unknown character allows Snyder to give us a character we don’t recognize as Lex Luthor. I just don’t understand why. He feels more Joker-y at times, but less insane. His motivations are largely understood and seemingly inherited from his father… who wasn’t alive when a living God was around, so this all kind of falls apart.

Originally posted by gif-007

The Big Fight

As you’ve probably read, the fight takes a while to get to. It’s an okay ride as we build up to it and it’s a great fight sequence. The motivation for the fight is somewhat weak, but I’ll buy it I guess. The plot to get to the fight is an attempt at making better use of Lois Lane’s character and Batman’s detective skills and gadgets. However, by the time we make it to the fight, it gets somewhat convoluted. Ultimately, one key component leading to the fight is never explained at all. You can make some logical leaps to fill the gap, but I can already tell you that most audience members won’t.

Originally posted by jakesheadwarning

Fans of The Dark Knight Returns will recognize a lot of the fight, as well as be frustrated by the stuff that’s missing, like Batman’s “I beat you” speech, and his line about his weapons costing a fortune and years of development and how “I had both”. Maybe there’s an extended cut in the works. Ultimately, the fight comes to a climax and a weak plot point shifts the heroes’ concerns away from each other. But it does dovetail in to an excellent fight sequence that feels lifted right out of the Arkham Knight video game. It’s great seeing Batman fight. He’s fast and brutal.

The final act haphazardly throws a LOT out at once in a grand push to the end. It’s a weird jumble of comic sources and plot holes. TDKR, Doomsday, and lots of fighting.

Originally posted by trapstrblog

I can’t say this enough. Wonder Woman is fantastic. Utterly fantastic. I hope there’s more of her fighting in the extended cut that I’ve decided surely exists.

The movie’s finale obviously sets up the next films (prepare to cheer a bunch), as well as leaves some questions to be answered. “Leave them wanting more”, sure. But it’s too much. Oh well. We’ve got a whole franchise ahead of us.

Overall, it’s not a bad movie. It’s hardly “trash”, but rather an assembly of components that are never fully explained or explored. Snyder is banking HARD that audiences will take some leaps of faith and accept everything as is. But this all falls apart when you come away feeling frustrated with how little the movie gave and how much you’re left to guess at or infer on your own.

It’s worth the price of admission. If you’re a fan of either character, you’ll mostly enjoy it. If you can see it in IMAX, the IMAX-shot scenes are worth the extra money.