Skip to main content

Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice review

Batman V. Superman goes all-in on brooding heroes in the worst way

It wasn’t long ago that superheroes didn’t need much of a reason to brawl with each other in the pages of comic books. As time went on, however, readers demanded more from their superhero stories, and good writers responded by crafting more complicated reasons for good guys to trade punches in stories that didn’t talk down to fans or insult their intelligence.

Sadly, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice shows no such respect to its audience.

The sequel to 2013’s wildly polarizing Man of Steel, director Zack Snyder’s Batman V. Superman pits the two, titular DC Comics heroes against each other before ultimately — as is the tradition in such stories — having them team up to fight a powerful common enemy. The film brings back Man of Steel star Henry Cavill as the tortured, eternally angsty Superman, whose degree of inner turmoil is only matched by that of newcomer Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne, the brutal, brooding Batman. They’re joined by Fast & Furious franchise actress Gal Gadot in a too-brief supporting role as Wonder Woman, Amy Adams as plucky Daily Planet journalist Lois Lane, and Jesse Eisenberg as a twitchy, diabolical Lex Luthor.

Remarkably sparse on character development and world-building, Batman V. Superman even falls short in the action department

It doesn’t spoil anything to reveal that the two comic-book icons do indeed get over their differences and turn their two-hero fight club into a team-up, because in this and so many other ways, Batman V. Superman is a movie that lives and dies by comic-book tropes — with a particular emphasis on the whole “dying” thing.

Critics of Snyder’s Man of Steel often take issue with the film’s climactic finale, in which [SPOILER ALERT] Superman decides to kill the movie’s primary antagonist after a prolonged battle through both his Kansas hometown and the skyscrapers of Metropolis that turns thousands of lives into collateral damage. Superman’s apparent lack of interest in saving people caught in the crossfire of his brawl earned Snyder and screenwriter David S. Goyer no small amount of bad blood from both casual and longtime fans of the character, but defenders of the film — including Snyder himself — have long suggested that Batman V. Superman would address that very issue in one way or another.

To their credit, Snyder and the Batman V. Superman team do indeed address the concerns over the Man of Steel’s disregard for human life in the new film, but in a way few people probably expected. Rather than have Superman take responsibility for his actions in Man of Steel and mature as a hero, Batman V. Superman simply doubles-down on the body count and seems to counter critics’ concerns by taking every opportunity to have Batman kill a lot of people, too.

It’s a bold gamble, for sure, and only time will tell if going all-in on turning both Batman and Superman into “ends justify the means” killers pays off for the studio.

And unfortunately, that’s also about as cerebral as Batman V. Superman gets, despite its 151-minute running time.

Given how long it asks its audience to spend in the theater, it seems reasonable to expect more from the film than what it actually offers. Remarkably sparse on character development and world-building, Batman V. Superman even falls short of expectations in the action department — something that should be an easy win for Snyder, the man who gave the world 300 and Sucker Punch, and turned Alan Moore’s critically acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen into a bona fide action movie. Even the match-up alluded to in the title is a brief affair, with nearly 90 minutes of build-up leading to a relatively short brawl between Batman and Superman. In the end, the pair’s tussle feels more obligatory than exciting, and has more in common with the pacing of a professional wrestling bout than the dramatic turns of a successful blockbuster movie.

If there’s a positive to be found in Batman V. Superman, it’s the lone bright spot in an otherwise forgettable cast: Gadot’s Wonder Woman.

Like its predecessor, Batman V. Superman also suffers from some pretty significant storytelling problems over the course of its unnecessarily long running time. Dream sequences, flashbacks, and other story elements outside the main arc of the film have a nasty habit of making unannounced, jarring entrances to the story and end up feeling overly forced. The plot points intended to establish the wider cinematic universe for DC’s characters feel crammed into the script, and lack the organic feel that Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox have been able to achieve with their “expanded universe” elements.

If there’s a positive to be found in Batman V. Superman, it’s the lone bright spot in an otherwise forgettable cast: Gadot’s Wonder Woman. While Batman and Superman spend the majority of the movie trying to out-mope each other, Gadot makes the best of her brief screen time by exuding the sort of confidence and poise that makes Wonder Woman seem like the only true superhero in the film. One particular scene has her character getting knocked across the field of battle, only to show her getting back up with an ever-so-slight smile on her face as she re-enters the fray. It’s a scene that stands out for being both pitch-perfect to the character and offering little of the soul-searching angst that permeates almost every other frame of the film.

Unfortunately, that ever-present, grim and gritty tone of Batman V. Superman also makes it difficult to get a good read on Affleck in his debut as Bruce Wayne. Traditionally, Batman owns the “brooding hero” angle in any story, but DC Comics’ live-action movie universe is proving to be a very different environment for its heroes. In fact, very little separates the temperaments of Superman and Batman in Dawn of Justice, and both Cavill and Affleck’s performances tend to feel like a single, tortured perspective on the events of the film.

Still, despite everything Batman V. Superman does wrong, the worst thing about the film might not be that it’s a bad movie. Given how long it took Batman V. Superman to find its way to the screen, its worst offense might actually be in vindicating the decisions that kept two of comics’ greatest characters from appearing on the same screen for the last two decades — and in doing so, hurting their chances of getting the shared movie they rightfully deserve.

Editors' Recommendations

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
Excited for Superman: Legacy? Then read these 5 Lois Lane comics
Lois Lane looks at the camera in a DC comic book.

The sunny disposition of the Big Blue Boy Scout is often the image we see in our mind's eye when envisioning DC's fictional urban sprawl of Metropolis being looked after by its Kryptonian hero. Clark Kent, or Kal-El as he was named on his home world of Krypton, might be Superman -- a hero who is known for being ultra strong, nearly indestructible, and faster than a speeding bullet -- but it's ultimately his world within Metropolis that defines him. In fact, a long-time love interest and fierce journalist colleague at the Daily Planet, Lois Lane, is one side of the Superman coin.

Now that the upcoming film Superman: Legacy cast David Corenswet (Pearl, Look Both Ways) as the Man of Steel and Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, House of Cards) as Lois Lane, interest in the characters is sure to peak once again among the masses. In recent decades, Lois Lane has become established as a crusader for justice in her own capacity as an investigative journalist. She isn't simply a helpless dame for Superman to fawn over and save periodically as she once was in the Golden Age of comics. Lois is tough-as-nails and often fights her own battles using the tools at her disposal. In fact, in many popular storylines, she does plenty of legwork for the DC heroes before they even jump into the fray. With the massive talent of Brosnahan behind the role, the character will undoubtedly be a standout in the upcoming film. In the meantime, prepare yourself with some of the best Lois Lane stories DC has to offer.
The Man of Steel

Read more
The 10 best opening scenes in superhero movies, ranked
The Joker standing on a street corner in "The Dark Knight."

Superhero movies often excel at making a grand entrance, hooking the audience within the first few minutes. They do so with some spectacular action scenes or just some thrilling or emotional moments that get viewers interested in seeing what's in store for them.

From the first Guardians of the Galaxy's giddy dance number to the brutal assassination of The Comedian in Watchmen, here's a list of the 10 best opening scenes in superhero movies.
10. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice - Opening Scene (2016)
Zack Snyder's crossover epic begins with Bruce Wayne recounting a dream he had about the death of his parents. This sequence juxtaposes Thomas and Martha's murders with Bruce's fall into a bat-filled cave, symbolizing his descent into grief following this tragedy. Each frame of this beautiful scene looks like a panel from an actual comic book, and the somber song that plays in this scene captures the loss of Bruce's innocence at the hands of a random criminal.
And with the swarm of bats carrying him into the light, audiences see his rise out of that darkness as Batman. But this proves to be a brief glimmer of hope, as the film later shows how far the Dark Knight has fallen after facing so much tragedy and heartbreak in the pursuit of this "beautiful lie."

Read more
5 actors who should be the next Flash
Barry Allen runs through the Speed Force in The Flash.

The Flash actor Ezra Miller has been at the center of many shocking controversies in the past few years. Even though they have spent the last year seeking treatment for their mental health issues, many fans are still pushing for someone else to play the Fastest Man Alive going forward.

Given that James Gunn is going to reboot the DC Universe following The Flash, now seems like the perfect time to seamlessly introduce a new actor as the Scarlet Speedster. If the studio does decide to let Miller go, these five actors should be considered to play the new Flash.
George MacKay

Read more