Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: A Dream Come True

The holy trinity of superheroes in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Photo courtesy of http://www.i.ytimg.com

In the pantheon of comic book superheroes, no two characters are as iconic and well known as Superman and Batman. Superman is of course the world's first superhero, introduced to the public just shy of 78 years ago in Action Comics #1, released in June, 1938. Batman, the legendary nocturnal crime fighter, made his stunning debut about a year later in Detective comics. Since then the two have been the pillars of the DC Comics universe, creating the spectrum for just about every other superhero that followed. In the decades that followed their creation, we've seen them meet on countless occasions, first as unlikely partners in World's Finest and later Justice League and even more famously as foes in Frank Miller's classic The Dark Knight Returns. Despite their many comic book meetings, super fans like myself have never seen them meet on the big screen and began to think we never would. Well, thanks to Zack Snyder's epic film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, released March 25th, fans can now say that they've seen these two titans meet on the silver screen...and the result was exactly the stuff that comic book dreams are made of.
I was one of the lucky people who got to see the film in IMAX 3D at a special Thursday night screening. The excitement I radiated going into it was like none I've ever experienced for a film (or just about anything else for that matter). Being such a fan of Zack Snyder's Superman reboot, Man of Steel, the thought of Henry Cavill's Superman meeting the Dark Knight of Gotham City was almost too much to take in. Add onto that the first big screen appearance of Wonder Woman, arguably the third most iconic DC hero and certainly the greatest female superhero, and my head was ready to explode. I came out of the epic film shaking, adrenaline coursing through my veins. So intense was the film, I couldn't really talk about what I'd seen for a few days. Now that the dust has mostly settled, I knew I had no choice but to discuss how Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, while having some unexpected surprises, is the epic comic book showdown that fans have been dreaming of since they were kids.
The film takes place about two years after Superman's cataclysmic battle with Zod, in which he saved the entire human race from extinction by hesitantly breaking Zod's neck. We find out that Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), an older, more seasoned version than we're used to, was in Metropolis during the battle trying to get his employees out of the Wayne Enterprises building as Superman and Zod battled inside. As buildings collapse around him and people are buried under rubble, Bruce watches the aerial battle with a look of intense anger on his face. When we cut to eighteen months later, we find the world still struggling with the ramifications of having an alien with god like powers in their midst. Half the world seems to view him as a savior and the other half with fear and mistrust. One of these people is Bruce Wayne, who's seen the worst evil humanity has to offer in his twenty year career as Batman. He's about to hang up the cape when Superman shows up and his arrival slowly compels Bruce to once more don the cowl to determine whether this "Superman" can be trusted. Since Batman's origins have been so thoroughly explored on film, BVS just gives us the highlights in the opening credits. This Batman is one who's been through the ringer and is understandably worn out and deeply cynical. Affleck does a great job of conveying Bruce's world weariness and the fact that he's still living in the shadow of the Bat.
Meanwhile Clark Kent/Superman, now working at the Daily Planet and living with Lois Lane, is trying his best to prove to a suspicious world that he's really here to help. We can assume he's been doing everything he can to save people and make up for the loss of life his battle with Zod caused. The film continues the grounded, real world tone established in Man of Steel, by showing the media debating the Superman question and the issues raised by his existence. Meanwhile, over in Gotham City, Metropolis's sister city which lies across the river, reports of the Batman terrorizing and torturing criminals gets Clark determined to expose this brutal vigilante who thinks he's outside the law through investigative journalism. Lawrence Fishburne returns as Perry White and does a great job of establishing White as the tough but fair Editor-in-Chief, often to comic effect as he tells Clark that people just aren't interested in "Clark Kent taking on the Batman.

The heroes finally face off

Another person who's threatened by the Superman question is none other than Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg). This is not the older, real-estate obsessed Luthor of previous films, but rather a young, self made dot com billionaire akin to Mark Zuckerberg, although infinitely more sinister. Many diehard fans might not like Eisenberg's Luthor and the film didn't get the chance to delve to deeply into what really makes him tick, but I felt he had a good mix of creepy sociopath narcissism and intellect and felt closer to the comic book Lex than previous Luthor's, with the exception of Smallville's Lex. Whereas Batman sees Superman as a potential threat that must be addressed, Lex sees Superman as a dire threat to his own sense of power and influence, one that must be destroyed at any cost. This is where Kryptonite comes in, the glowing green remnants of Krypton which are found imbedded within the wreckage of the World Engine from Man of Steel. Both Lex and Batman want the Kryptonite to use against Superman when the time comes. Eisenberg does a good job of showing how truly psychotic and narcissistic Lex is even while masquerading as a defender of mankind.
At times the film seems like it takes a while for things to get moving, but this is really just because fans like myself couldn't wait to see Bats and Supes finally face off and once they do, it's mind meltingly epic. The film takes it time artfully setting up a few different subplots which come together in the end. It's clear that Zack Snyder is himself a fanboy and therefore this film is really a love letter to the fans, filled to the brim with DC Easter eggs and references to the larger universe (and multi-verse) that only eagle eyed and hardcore fans will pick up on, chief among them being a chilling nightmare sequence in which we see Batman in a dystopian future world ruled by a despotic Superman. For this reason, your average moviegoer will probably come away from the film thinking it was confusing and boring, but if you're familiar with the universe, odds are you'll be giddy as a schoolgirl seeing all these foreshadowing hints. When Batman and Superman finally face off for the first time, it's like something ripped right from the comics (especially The Dark Knight Returns) and brought to glorious life with stunning action and adrenaline pumping fight scenes. I haven't seen enough of Batfleck to say I like him better than Bale (and the Dark Knight Trilogy will always be a masterpiece), but as far as fighting goes, I have to say Batfleck has even Bale beat. Even in his advanced age, he's faster, stronger and more agile, making for some epic fight scenes. With the help of Kryptonite and his brilliant mind for strategy, Batman brings Superman down to earth in a brutal fight scene which is a fanboy's dream.
Of course, fans knew that Batman and Superman would eventually team up to face a bigger threat and eventually form the Justice League, with a gargantuan push from Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman, played wonderfully by relatively unknown beauty Gal Gadot, is in many ways the highlight of a film teeming with highlights. It takes her a while to show up as the Wonder Woman we all love, but when she finally does, the audience feels like they earned it, hence the slow build up. When earth is threatened by an unstoppable killing machine created by Lex Luthor, the three heroes combine their abilities to take it down. Seeing the holy trinity of superheroes standing together on screen is something we've waited our entire lives to see and the audience applauded wildly when it happened. Wonder Woman was everything we hoped she'd be: fierce and fearless, strong but elegant and a battle tested warrior not afraid to jump right into battle. The film does an excellent job of teasing the future members of the Justice League, including quick but awesome cameos by Flash, Aquaman and the lesser known Cyborg. Given the herculean task of introducing these characters into the world in a natural way, the film does a great job of making them feel like they're already part of the world. Watching the three titans battle together felt like being in a war; you're that engrossed in the action.
Despite the film's many revealing trailers, it's still filled with several surprises and turns, some of which took even me a while to process and figure out, but once I did it made me love the film even more. This is not the kind of film you watch once for easy entertainment and then forget; this is a film you savor and dwell on for a while, especially if you have no life like me. It's important to remember that this film is something of a jumping off point, a transition into exploring the larger DC Universe and the myriad heroes and villains who occupy it. Therefore, the film has several lingering aspects which will no doubt be explored more deeply in future films. The film does a great job of setting the stage for all these wonderful things to come. In many ways, the film is still really a Superman story, showing him continuing to struggle with how he fits into the world and whether or not he should bother helping people given that people will always find something to blame him for. His presence in our world acts as a beacon, drawings other with abilities out of hiding. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, while not flawless, does a great job of establishing Superman and Batman's different world views while also getting them to put aside their differences for the greater good. With Wonder Woman jumping in and the other superheroes ready to be revealed, we super fans have taken our first giant leap into seeing the DC cinematic universe that we've been picturing since we were five. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a gargantuan step into a much larger world.