Review: BATMAN V SUPERMAN

BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
(ACTION/FANTASY)
1.5 out 4 stars 
Directed by Zack Snyder
Starring: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Gal Gadot, Scott McNairy, Tao Okamoto
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action throughout, and some sensuality.
151 minutes
Verdict: A two-and-a-half hours long funeral dirge punctuated by cheap "kewl" moments and chaotic CGI action, BATMAN V SUPERMAN suggests a burnt-out "cinematic universe" only in its second film.
YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE IF YOU LIKED:
MAN OF STEEL  (2013)
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2  (2014)
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES  (2012)
WATCHMEN  (2009)
SUCKER PUNCH  (2011)
There's a corporate cynicism to BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE from the get-go, a sequel to 2013's much invested-in Superman reboot MAN OF STEEL, but actually a Batman movie.  The divisive superhero origin story wasn't a flop by any means, grossing $668 million worldwide, but with a hefty budget of $225 million plus an extensive advertising campaign, it was considered under expectations.  So they bring in Batman, Warner Brothers' most valuable property outside of Harry Potter, rather than just doing Superman better, and while rival Marvel Studios established the financial/cinematic viability of their characters in four separate series before tying them together in the Avengers "super-franchise", Warner/DC has opted to leap into Justice League movies as fast as they can, before they've even proven to have clear handle on their key character, Superman.
BATMAN V SUPERMAN makes quite clear director Zack Snyder's primary character interest from the opening scene where young Bruce Wayne's parents are murdered in an alleyway mugging, the fourth iteration of this same scene rendered on the big screen.  Burton did it, Schumacher did it, Nolan did it, and now Snyder.  Flash forward to a street-level perspective of the climactic action (and insane destruction) of MAN OF STEEL, where a middle-aged Wayne (Ben Affleck) runs through the wreckage in an effort to help evacuate the people from his office building in Metropolis, only to see Superman's battle with General Zod bring the skyscraper crashing down.  Action-wise, this is the most interesting scene in a movie that is full of mostly run-of-the-mill CG fisticuffs and wanton destruction, with Snyder still showing a disregard for the human casualties of his superhero war zones even when they're supposed to be a major plot point.  The monotonous destruction of MAN OF STEEL takes on an interesting twist from the vulnerable ground level, finally delivering a human cost to its bizarrely calloused predecessor, and sets up a personal motivation for Batman (Wayne's crime-fighting alter ego, you know) to declare war on Superman, but the movie never makes a point of it all beyond that.

18 months later, Superman is an understandably controversial figure, acting as a rogue combatant across the world and causing extensive collateral damage while answering to no one.  As his alter-ego Clark Kent, reporter for Metropolis' newspaper, the Daily Planet, he takes an interest in putting an end to the activities of the Batman vigilante in neighboring Gotham City, in addition to his other seemingly arbitrary Supermanning across the globe.  Batman, with the help of his butler Alfred (Jeremy Irons), taking on a Q-type role developing the gadgets, is in the midst of taking down a weapons and human trafficking ring, which he's traced to tech mogul Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) in Metropolis.  Lex Luthor, meanwhile, has set his sights on destroying Superman, pretty much just because.
As already showcased in the advertising, Luthor creates a weird-ass Kryptonian mutant called "Doomsday" using General Zod's remains, which is like a hybrid of the cave troll from THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING with Abomination from THE INCREDIBLE HULK and Marshmallow from FROZEN, turning the action wildly chaotic with more rampant destruction, lighting and nuclear explosions, and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) super-powered alter-ego of antiques dealer Diana Prince) shows up on the scene, too, to help fight the screeching, generic CGI monstrosity.

For about the first two hours, for as much happens, really not much happens, dragging along at a tedious pace with a pervasive doom & gloom atmosphere while characters monologue on the nature of gods and men with pretentious and hollow pondering.  There's very little plot or character development for this huge section of the movie, just dull and repetitive pontificating and setup.  Batman is angry, Superman is angry, and Lex Luthor is annoying.  Jesse Eisenberg has been great in dramatic roles like THE SOCIAL NETWORK and in comedic roles like ZOMBIELAND, but goodness knows what he's doing here.  I suppose it could be argued as a bold misfire, but there's never a sense of the menace or real wit that traditionally make up the character, and instead he's a shrill, mugging brat.  Snyder and writer David S. Goyer have only half-heartedly learned from the missteps of MAN OF STEEL, taking the time to point out that the island where the climactic action takes place is inexplicably uninhabited but still full of buildings to turn into debris, while both Batman and Superman are more than a little murdery.  Didn't like that Batman killed people left and right in BATMAN RETURNS?  Brace yourself.  Superman still does little saving, except in the selfish cases of his girlfriend and fellow journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and his mother, Martha (Diane Lane).  It's hard to ignore the absence of heroic traits in this "superhero" movie, especially with the recent revelation of Snyder's intentions to adapt The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand's novel espousing the merits of "rational self-interest" in opposition to arguments for the "greater good".  Regardless of your personal philosophy, this one doesn't play particularly well in  mainstream superhero movie, especially a Superman movie.  Then again, now that he has Batman to play with, Snyder only occasionally even bothers showing an interest in Supes, delving into Batman as a seasoned crime fighter with a real nasty streak, who keeps the vandalized uniform of his dead partner Robin in a display case.  Ben Affleck is well suited to the role, an older The Dark Knight Returns-style take on Batman with an appealing bulked-up Arkham Asylum look, but his nastiness and unclear code make him less sympathetic than he needs to be, and his reasoning for ultimately teaming up with Superman is unintentionally funny.  The Batmobile, blending elements of its predecessors in a more sleek variation on the Dark Knight trilogy's "the Tumbler", is cool and plays a part in some of the movie's better action, and as small a moment as it was, the scene of Batman returning to the Batcave in the Batmobile (how about all that labeling?) is pretty cool.  But there are a lot of "kewl" moments that don't add up to anything, and if this is supposed to be DC's response to THE AVENGERS, nerdgasm points go to Marvel.  Zack Snyder has proven time and again that no matter his shortcomings at crafting drama or nuanced storytelling, he's no slouch as a visual stylist, so while BATMAN V SUPERMAN has some nice images, it's surprisingly how ugly most of the movie is.
The script is an improvement from MAN OF STEEL, likely thanks to ARGO screenwriter Chris Terrio whose dialogue is a lot punchier than Goyer's, but actual story is in short supply over an ungodly, truly unconscionable 150 minutes of gloom and doom with a lame lead-in to future Justice League movies.  I honestly cannot fathom this run time.
I admit that I wasn't expecting good things from BATMAN V SUPERMAN, but it's disheartening to find it so far off-base anyway.  After all, this is meant to be the leaping-off point for several superhero film franchises, including a two-part Justice League movie, but none of that feels justified right now.