UP TO SCRATCH

Pretty much everything about Batman in this film is phenomenal! Ben Affleck, Batmobile, Iron Armor, Batsuit, Knightmare, Batcave, Batwing, reformation trainings, you name it! Everything except for one: his ethical dilemma against weapons & assassinations. This very identity of The Caped Crusader is completely thrown out to the dirt, for reasons that only make sense to the director & screenwriters.

Secondly, Hans Zimmer & Junkie XL killed it! One can definitely say that the soundtrack's starker than the superheroes in this movie. Thirdly, Zack Snyder's visual sense is mind-boggling! The actions however, fall into a mixed bag. While Batman-Superman clash, 'Level 2' ambush & the epic combative climax with Doomsday had moments, Batmobile chase & the dystopian criminals fight do not get the same glory. Granny's Peach Tea & similarity in the names Martha are selling plot points! The phantasm approaches to the scenes are cool in some, but takes away the seriousness in most, like young Bruce Wayne levitating in the pit hole.

Characters wise, most of the cast members did good jobs. Henry Cavill as Superman & Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor fair across. Gal Gadot as the bold Amazonian princess Wonder Woman & Jeremy Irons as the trusted confidant Alfred Pennyworth are surprises! Doomsday's okay. Screenwriters tried hard to make Lois Lane a useful character while not knowingly placed her on a damsel in distress position every single time. Performances by the background extras are loathsome.

It's ballsy that the comic issue 'The Death of Superman' was carried out with no tolerances. It's saddening, tragic & clearly the pinnacle of dramatic heft in this film. It digs a hole in your heart. Superman healing on space after the nuclear trajectory explosion is to watch out for!

So now, where does the bug in this film lie? In the script & the screenplay. The basic premise (as described in the title) is about the rivalry between Batman & Superman. All the makers had to do is to lay out the foundation, build scenes & character developments on top of it, in order to have a perfect movie. But, the screenwriters who do not share the same concern, sidetracked to disposable subplots & crammed expositions for the future of DC's Extended Universe in this one movie, while diluting the focus of the current main story in hand!

Since the cynosure is gone, the next to rot is the screenplay & character motivations. It becomes a choppy, uneven, incoherent & condensed pile of rigmarole! Here's the breakdown of the biggest drawbacks:

  • Imagine sitting in your office, seeing through the window a giant alien ship blasting Earth's grounds while destroying the buildings around. Would you wait till your boss asks you to leave or would you have already fucked-off? Exactly. Wayne Enterprises collapsing to set up Batman's thrive to get rid of Superman is weak. Being the everyday men's hero, due to the casualties caused in Metropolis is itself an already fine justification to kick Son of Krypton's ass. Why the stupid long route, one wonders.

  • What're the purposes of Bruce Wayne's dream sequences? To show off the exquisite Knightmare costume? The same goes to Flash's time-travel & Jonathan Kent's appearance. What do these scenes do to make the movie any relevant, let alone better?

  • Meta Human Folder consisting profiles of super humans with their potential logos tagged on them? If the makers intention's to do justice to the second half of the film's title, this is the laziest shoehorning ever.

  • Kidnapping mother or girlfriend. Is that the best these villains could do?

  • Didn't Alexander already have the corpse of Zod that's tested with the Kryptonite stone? Why would he need to request it from the governmental bureau again?

  • How is Lex's 'master' plans cover Batman's as well, including the time & day of each incidences that are about to happen?

  • So, Superman's task is only to save Lois Lane? How could Superman only recognize Lois' call for help?

  • Kryptonian ship manipulation & Zod's metamorphosis is performed by an Earth-being Lex Luthor? Why did he needed the fingerprints when General Zod's dead body is already with him?

  • Live news on a commercial airplane?

If only the filmmakers have their goal figured out for this motion picture by making it an enthralling cat-and-mouse countenances between Batman & Superman, this would have been the next gold on market! If this's the case, Knightmare would have easily featured as a real attempt of Batman to retrieve the Kryptonian rock instead of winding up as a clichéd dream sequence with no impacts or whatsoever. A terrible result as such is what you get for not knowing how to tell your story simple, straight & right. It's high time DC Comics & the producers find a talented storyteller to replace Snyder for the longevity of this franchise.

"Devils don't come from the hell beneath us. No, they come from the sky."

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