I don’t want to say I told you so but…

I told you so.

About a year ago, I wrote an article titled Preemptive Strike: “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (read HERE). Essentially, I spent about 1,000 words eviscerating this then-upcoming film, based on a singular 2 minute trailer. I made claims of DC copying Marvel. I attacked the name of the film. I attacked Ben Affleck’s Superman fighting Batsuit. I went after Jesse Eisenberg and Zack Snyder, and the size of the film itself.

I’ll admit, I may have been a bit immature, and showed a bit of a bias in there, but that doesn’t mean I was wrong.

The basis of my original argument, more or less, held true. And, contrary to what some believe, I do wish for the DC Expanded Universe to be good. Batman is my favorite hero, Marvel or DC, and as a fan I appreciate the cinematic history here, and I really, truly hoped I would be wrong. I really, truly hoped this movie would be good.

But it wasn’t. (Some spoilers from here on out, although the trailers basically showed the whole movie).

One of “Batman v Superman”‘s largest problems lies in the plot, or lack thereof. After the, rather unnecessary, five minute opening sequence again showing the murder of the Wayne parents, we join Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne in Metropolis in the middle of “Man of Steel”‘s third act battle between Superman (Henry Cavill) and Zod (Michael Shannon). A Wayne Enterprises building becomes a part of the wreckage, and some people who worked for Wayne were killed, mainly because they didn’t evacuate the building until Wayne gave them the OK, even though they could clearly see the city being destroyed around them.

Thus begins Bruce Wayne’s vendetta against Superman. And thus ends the only true plot point in the film. From here out Bruce Wayne indulges in some pretty mediocre sleuthing for the world’s greatest detective, which involves stealing some files from Lex Luthor without discretion, leading to Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) coming out of no where and stealing Wayne’s stolen file.

Yeah..

While all this is going on, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) is around, and he hates Superman. Why you ask? No idea. That answer is never made clear. Lex spends his time either trying to frame Superman for crimes (such as blowing up the Capitol building), or trying to kill him (by pitting him against Batman).

Yes, the titular battle, hyped for over two years between Gotham’s Dark Knight and an alien from a destroyed planet, was orchestrated by Lex Luthor. How you ask? Well it’s simple. Luthor kidnapped Martha Kent (Diane Lane) and basically said to Superman “Go kill Batman, or I’ll kill your mother.”

A battle Batman is fully prepared for, as he stole a big slab of Kryptonite from Luthor, killing people along the way. Yes, Ben Affleck’s Batman kills people, a practice that goes against everything Batman has stood for throughout the character’s history.

And that’s basically it. Without spoiling the last few details, the fight only last for about 7 of the film’s 151 minutes, and ends on an incredibly bland note. After that, Doomsday (created by Luthor using Zod’s body) shows up, Wonder Woman suits up (again, out of no where), and the movie ends. Thrilling.

While the plot, more or less, made very little sense, Batman v Superman‘s biggest problem is that it had too much going on at once. You’re dealing with introducing Batman (and his origin story, which had been said to not be included), you’re introducing Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, Alfred. You’re fitting in forced and unsubtle cameos for Aquaman (Jason Mamoa), the Flash (Ezra Miller), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher). You have Batman trying to kill Superman, Lex Luthor trying to kill Superman. Oh and don’t forget Superman going out of his way to save Lois Lane, and remain apathetic to the devastation his actions cause around him.

Now, the sheer number of characters alone should have been alarming enough – it was for me. I’m all for DC Comics and Warner Brothers developing a film universe of their own. It’s great for comic fans! To have both Marvel’s Avengers and DC’s Justice League comic lines adapted on screen is fantastic. The issue, however, is that DC is trying to play catch up to Marvel in this one film. Marvel has developed their cinematic universe over the course of eight years. In those same eight years, DC has only produced 1 comic book movie toward a universe of their own (before “BvS”). I applaud DC for taking a different route with their films, opting to go for the team-up ensemble and then splitting into solo films, but introducing 5 heroes in one film (3 were cameos, but still) is a little sloppy.

And this all leads back to Zack Snyder. Say what you will, but he is a mediocre director. “300” was OK, “Watchmen” should have been much better, “Man of Steel” was no good, and “Batman v Superman” was only better because of Ben Affleck. Snyder is a very good visual director (and even then the CGI in this movie was shoddy), but when it comes to meaningful content and storytelling, he is severely flawed, and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” suffers because of it.

A couple more things…

• Jesse Eisenberg underwhelms as Superman big bad Lex Luthor. Eisenberg plays the role too jovial, hokey, and a bit cheesy and is just annoying.
  • SIDE NOTE: Eisenberg originally auditioned for the role of Jimmy Olsen, a part that had just 2 minutes of screen time. So instead, Zack Snyder gave him the role of the big bad villain.
• Wonder Woman had massive potential for this film, is she was utilized correctly. She came out of no where to be a thorn in Bruce Wayne’s side, without any story or introduction.
• Ben Affleck was the one redeeming quality in the film. Once he is able to step away from Zack Snyder’s (mis)direction, he’s going to be a very good Batman/Bruce Wayne.

Grade: 4 of 10

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” is in theaters now.

Featured Image: Batman-news.com