Who? Batman and Superman. What? A fight between the two. Where? Metropolis and Gotham. When? Present day. Why? No idea. If you see this movie, you’ll spend the whole time being as confused as I was.
The braintrust of DC Comics (and director Zack Snyder) had a great idea with “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” but a lack of exposition gave way to two and a half hours of confusion and left me wondering if I missed the prequel (I checked. I didn’t.)
A reason for the two heroes to hate each other like they do is never given. There’s just no motivation. Superman finally gets a real reason to hate Batman about an hour and forty-five minutes into the movie, but only after plenty of suspicion and hatred beforehand. So the audience watches them fistfight like angry boys the whole time, lost and confused.
The ostensible plot is this: We begin with a reminder of Batman’s back story, then cut to an intense fight between aliens and Superman in Metropolis that is never explained. One of Bruce Wayne’s workers loses his legs as a result of a Bruce Wayne building collapsing in the fight. This worker inspires a movement to control the power of super heroes because their efforts to stop villains keep resulting in the loss of civilian life. Bruce Wayne doesn’t trust Superman because of this, and Clark Kent doesn’t trust Batman. Lex Luthor strengthens this divide as he pits Superman and Batman against each other. Lois Lane’s only part is to be saved by Superman, and Wonder Woman is hardly in the movie till the end. Which is unfortunate as she was the best part of the movie. Explained like this, the plot almost makes sense, but believe me, it doesn’t in the movie.
Because we’re all hoping for more Batman movies, fans came to the film also to see if Ben Affleck portrays a good Batman. He’s fantastic. Affleck masterfully balances the quiet seriousness of Batman with the intelligence and eccentricity of Bruce Wayne, creating a fun and intriguing character to watch.
But talented actors don’t make up for weak plots. If all you’re looking for in a movie is action and intense stares, this is the movie for you. If you appreciate a bit more explanation and plot in your movie, you might want to go elsewhere. Finally, don’t be like me and most of the audience and wait till after the credits to see if there’s a teaser of the next movie, it’s not a Marvel movie, there isn’t one.
