Zack Snyder
pissed me off with his outrageous fight scene between Superman and General Zod
in Man of Steel. In that movie, Superman allows General Zod to
wreak havoc on Metropolis; thousands die because of Superman’s self-imposed do not kill rule. I’m usually a big fan of these kind of rules
in fiction, whether it be D'Artagnan’s
honor, MacGyver’s no gun code, or Dennis
Hopper’s 50 mph policy… these all
present challenges which make the stories more interesting. But in Superman’s case, his unwillingness to
kill General Zod makes him a hypocrite at best, and quite possibly an accessory
to mass genocide.
Bruce Wayne is pissed too. Therein
lies the motivation behind Batman V
Superman, it doesn’t matter who you are; you don’t want to piss of Bruce
Wayne or (spoiler alert!) you’ll have Batman to contend with. The opening scenes of Batman V Superman show Bruce Wayne helplessly witnessing the
destruction that is being rained down on Metropolis by Superman and General
Zod, from that point on it becomes his mission to eliminate Superman. On the other hand, as we spend time with
Superman it becomes clear that he is offended by Batman’s vigilante brand of
justice. Superman’s holier-than-thou
attitude is our first indication that Zack Snyder has chosen sides. This is an interesting premise; two men with contradicting
philosophies cannot be good neighbors, there’s only room for one hero in the
Twin Cities of Metropolis and Gotham.
Had Zack Snyder tightened his focus, this could have been a great movie; but
for better or worse Lex Luthor is added to the mix – he’s either the catalyst
or the third wheel, depending on your point of view. I personally found Jesse Eisenberg’s
performance as Luthor to be distracting and unnecessary. While his character fit into the plot as an
instigator, someone who was stirring up the feud between Batman and Superman,
his motivation for doing this was never satisfactorily explained. Additionally, Eisenberg’s performance was
heavily reminiscent of Heath Ledger as the Joker; his psychotic behavior seemed
out of place. I realize that all of
these characters and plot lines are being pulled from a variety of source
material. If you try to make everyone
happy, you’re bound to fail. But I would
contend that making a great film, telling a good story, and presenting
convincing characters will always trump trying to make fan-boys happy. I wish someone would tell that to Zack
Snyder.
Overall I found this to be a much better movie that Man of Steel, and I can sum it up with two sentences:
Batman hated the end of Man of
Steel just as much as I did.
Man of
Steel lowered my expectations so low that Snyder’s next film had to be better.
1 comment:
I just saw this film. It was boring. I wanted Kevin Spacey back (not really, but it was that bad). You are spot on with Jesse Eisenberg. His character was confusing to say the least. But I think Stephen put it best when he said the slow motion scenes should have been sped up and the sped up scenes should have been slowed down. Really, I just can't figure out why I was so drawn to this film. I knew it wouldn't be good, I knew it would be boring, I knew I would come out disappointed. But, (spoiler!) I must say that I was offended by the film acting as though it was possible that Zack Snyder had been given the green light to really kill Superman. Like, I'm supposed to believe the studio execs at Warner Brothers sat down with Snyder and said, "You know what, we care more about great storytelling than money, and in the end, the Justice League (which everyone knows is coming next) really doesn't need Superman. Yeah, go ahead and kill him. Tell the story of true sacrifice, of laying down your life for others, and we promise we will never make another Superman film." Seriously, the last twenty-five minutes I was supposed to think that Superman wouldn't be coming back? Its as if the movie was only made for people who have never read a comic, never seen another Superman film, and didn't see any of the film's previews! So, in the end I was rather disappointed, but I think just mostly at myself for thinking it might be something it could never be. Guess I'll go get in line with all the other zombies for Suicide Squad!
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