By Brianna Ciniglio – Staff Writer
Despite popular opinion, I didn’t think that “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” was a horrible movie. If you take into consideration all of the poorly-made superhero movies over the years, this film definitely does not take the cake as the worst.
There were strong moments most of which were related to the future formation of the Justice League and its upcoming film. Particularly the scene in which Bruce Wayne views the file of information and videos about the different superheroes, which included the Flash, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Aquaman, helped to entice me into wanting to see the future films.
I also loved the scene when Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are shown standing together in combat. I thought the shot perfectly captured their unity then and for the future.
The music, by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL, was actually one of my favorite elements of the film. It helped to set the tone for many of the scenes.
Now, that being said, “Batman v. Superman” had plenty of flaws.
To begin, Batman and Superman did not work well at all as enemies. Obviously the two aren’t destined to hate each other but I would have liked to feel that the two were adversaries.
Batman’s reason to fight Superman felt somewhat flimsy and childish. Bruce essentially says, “Hey, there’s a chance that this guy might cause trouble because he’s not human. Let me do everything I can to stop him just in case.”
Obviously Batman, who is older in this film than other portrayals, has come across many forces of evil in his years as a vigilante but I think he needed a little more motivation than that to fight Superman.
Which brings me to one flaw of the film that I’ve heard people comment on frequently: the quick transition of Batman’s hatred for Superman into their friendship.
This transition was brought about by Superman’s mention of his mother Martha, which also happens to be the name of Batman’s mother.
I agree; this mommy-Martha moment was ridiculous. Batman was beating the life out of Superman when suddenly the one mention of a name changes everything. Batman does a complete turnaround and wants to do everything in his power to help his new best friend, Superman.
By the end of the film, Bruce acts as if the two have been friends all their lives. Come on, writers; that was too easy.
Another aspect of the film that I did not enjoy was how often Lois Lane needed to be saved. I understand that the whole “damsel in distress” theme is common in superhero movies, but this was just pushing it. If we compare Lois Lane in the movie to her role in the comics, she is not a weak female character; quite the opposite, she is portrayed as a strong, driven journalist who was clearly trying to help.
Throughout the film I was just sick of seeing Superman rushing to save her and wished she could have been doing something else instead of taking Superman away from his battle.
In contrast, I liked Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and thought the character had some empowering moments, although she clearly was not the focus of the film.
As a whole, I felt that the film dragged on in certain instances while also rushing over some major plot points. I think that the script could have used some better organization to move the story along in a more convincing way.
While “Batman v. Superman” had a handful of prevailing moments, it fell flat in many other instances. Was it the worst superhero film of all time? Not by any means. But it also wasn’t the kind of movie that blew me away or left me eager for more.