Review: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (12A)

USA 2016 151 mins Dir: Zack Snyder Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, Jeremy Irons

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice promised to be so many things, the introduction of Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight and the all-important next step in the expanding DC movie universe, to name but two. How odd that director Zack Snyder’s comic book opus turns out to be an eyeball-assaulting, brain-pulverising but emotionally dull extravaganza, one that falls into the trap of his earlier Man of Steel by ladling on the spectacle without ever getting us to invest in what’s happening.

But then glossy and vapid spectacle is very much in Snyder’s wheelhouse: pretty much all of his movies from 300 to Watchmen have emphasised visuals above all else, and let’s not get started on Sucker Punch, one of the most fatuous and idiotic releases of recent years. Even so, when it was announced that the opening of Batman v Superman was being designed as a reaction to the extensive collateral damage of Man of Steel’s climax, we could be forgiven for getting our hopes up.

Said sequence is possibly the best thing in Batman v Superman, switching the emphasis from the airbourne fight between Henry Cavill’s Superman and Michael Shannon’s General Zod to Affleck’s Bruce Wayne on the ground, as he scrambles to rescue survivors amidst the carnage. Gazing up to the skies in rage, the seeds of the brewing superhero conflict are sown, the ageing Batman fearful of the son of Krypton who has the potential to wipe out the Earth in its entirety. It’s a moderately gripping opener, but sadly one that’s never lived up to.

One of the reasons why is that Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer’s script can never decide where to settle: is this a stand-alone adventure or one more concerned with manoeuvring the franchise machinery into place? By attempting to be all things to all people, both laymen and hardcore fans, it succeeds at neither. With Supes’ role coming increasingly under fire from an Earth scared of his god-like powers, we also spiral off into the Machiavellian Lex Luthor’s (Jesse Eisenberg) schemes to weaponise Kryptonite, journalist Lois Lane’s (Any Adams) own sprawling investigation into said skulduggery, and Diana Prince’s (Gal Gadot) slinky society women who is eventually revealed as… Does it really need to be spelled out?

Put simply, there’s way too much going on and it’s not helped by Snyder’s relentlessly over-produced visuals, from the excessively saturated cinematography to the onslaught of CGI in the action sequences. For all of the movie’s pontificating about the nature of man v god and good v evil, there is actually very little going on; it’s the illusion of depth rather depth itself. This is a movie that harbours pretensions of existential darkness but is really more concerned about the gravity-defying, titular bout. That wouldn’t be a problem were the sequence entertaining, but it takes so long to get there that interest is lost. And the whole meta-humans sub-plot that’s crowbarred in to tease the eventual likes of Aquaman and The Flash coming down the pipeline is woefully integrated into the main plot.

The character arcs are also very much wanting. Affleck is a physically imposing successor to Christian Bale and occupies the role of a far-more savage Batman efficiently (this one branding his enemies), but his hatred of Superman never really makes sense, a complex emotional trajectory whittled down to little more than a couple of brief exchanges with Jeremy Irons’ sorely underused manservant Alfred. Cavill for his part is reduced to little more than concerned frowning in his dual role as Clark Kent and Superman, a monolith lacking the joyous charm of Christopher Reeve. And Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor? It’s as if he found the Oxford Book of Diabolical Villainy lying around on set and used it as a basis for his tic-driven performance, although it could be argued the hamminess is a reaction to the dullness of the writing.

It’s left to Gadot to steal (in a relative sense) what is left: graceful and mysterious when flirting with Wayne as Diana Prince, her eventual appearance as Wonder Woman does threaten to liven things up a bit, although it happens far too late and isn’t well served by the somewhat dated electric guitar refrains on Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL’s relentlessly bombastic soundtrack. Indeed, outside of a few scenes (one moment of emotional manipulation between Supes and Luthor strikes a chilling, if brief, chord), Snyder’s movie is the very embodiment of sound and fury signifying absolutely nothing. Fingers crossed the future DC movies will lighten up a bit – after all, having a bit of fun isn’t a crime, is it?