This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
thegingerdemon’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
They've been a major part of pop culture for nearly a century. Everyone knows them or at least has a basic idea of what these characters stand for. They've become modern day myths that we hold near and dear to us. Precious tales that can be adjusted slightly here and there to add some nuance depending on the person telling the story, but changing too much is a cardinal sin. Apparently.
"But...Batman doesn't kill people!"
Okay. Sure. I'm with you. As someone that has been living and breathing Batman since I was a wee lad that dreamt of living in Bruce Manor, I am with you. However, my response to seeing my beloved Bruce Wayne commit seemingly heartless acts of violence on screen made me more intrigued than upset.
"Why? Why now? What has driven Batman to break the rule that kept him from being just another thug?"
We're given a rare glimpse into a Bruce Wayne that has reached the end of his rope. The Joker has killed Robin. Twenty years in Gotham and it's still a pit of crime. Now an all-powerful alien comes to Earth with seemingly no regard for human life. Bruce Wayne has lost control. It makes sense that in order to regain some semblance of order, the alien has to go.
Speaking of the alien. I quite enjoy Henry Cavill's take on the Man of Steel. The struggle between Superman being this 'saviour' figure and Clark Kent being essentially unable to accomplish anything of any meaning is rather interesting. The frustration Clark deals with combined with the enormous weight of every action made by Superman takes its toll, and I got that from Henry Cavill.
The enormous weight is intensified in this Superman tale even more because of the direct comparisons made to God. An aspect of the Superman mythos I've always been drawn to. I do have to give Zach Snyder props for barrelling into the somewhat murky subject matter head-on. Even if the questions asked by the first half of the film do take a back seat to the action driven third act.
I don't mind this though. I'd rather have a movie ask a question and leave it unanswered than not ask one at all. Leaving the theatre with something to discuss beyond "Wow. That was cool." is a major plus for me.
The pacing of the film alsoreally worked for me. We're thrown into this story already on the go. Lex Luthor's plot is underway from the first shot and it doesn't let up until the bitter end. You can feel the looming presence of something coming the entire film. It's an epic tale delivered in an epic manner. Could this be perceived as a movie lacking heart? Sure. I thought the immense scale felt right for a film whose stakes are so ridiculously high. Yes, this movie is an intense ride, but the softer scenes where we get to see our heroes be real people are some of the moments that have stuck with me the most. Which is definitely thanks to the talent that Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Holly Hunter and Jeremy Irons possess. The four of them don't let any line go to waste and bring a surprising amount of heart to some fairly lofty dialogue. Particularly in a scene involving a ghost/vision throwing rocks onto a pile of other rocks while talking about dead horses and cake. This shouldn't have been good. Kevin Costner somehow made it work.
Gal Godot is 100% having the most fun in this movie. Which isn't surprising. Superman is dealing with potentially being Jesus and Batman is questioning whether or not his life has been a waste. So Wonder Woman is a breath of fresh air in the landscape of this film and I'm very excited to see the direction her character goes in the future.
Jesse Eisenberg. Now. Hmmm. I'm going to be honest. I've hated everything he's done. It's always the same. It's always over the top. Yet for some reason it worked for me this time. I got the sense that Lex is a severely self-conscious man that is driven by his ego to the point of near-insanity. Every thing that comes out of his mouth is overcompensating for some fault he sees in himself. Now whether or not that was a choice or Jesse Eisenberg really is just over compensating, I can't say. But I will say I didn't hate him for the first time ever. But I would totally understand if you did.
Ben Affleck as Batman brought a clarity to the character that I didn't even realize had been missing. I was fully there for the whole journey Batman went on. From witnessing the destruction of The Wayne Financial Building in Metropolis to attending Clark's funeral, I understood every change of heart Batman had. He seemed more human than he has in a long time. And thank the lord they fixed the issue of Christian Bale's 'Batman Voice'.
Overall, I loved this movie. Yes it has flaws. I can't deny that. I'm not going to bother talking about them though. It's been done enough. But in a sea of formulaic comic book movies that have little to no consequence on the audience members watching them or even to the characters in them, I applaud a film that took a risk.
So love it or hate it. That's fine by me. That's what makes movies fun. I'm just glad a comic book movie is making people talk.