Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a 2016 superhero film featuring the DC Comics characters Batman and Superman. Directed by Zack Snyder, written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the follow-up to Man of Steel and the second installment in the DC Extended Universe. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice premiered at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City on March 19, 2016, and was released in the United States on March 25, 2016, in 2D, 3D, premium large formats, and 70 mm prints. A follow-up, Justice League, was released in November 2017.
Plot[]
It's been nearly two years since Superman's colossal battle with Zod devastated the city of Metropolis. The loss of life and collateral damage left many feeling angry and helpless, including crime-fighting billionaire Bruce Wayne. Convinced that Superman is now a threat to humanity, Batman embarks on a personal vendetta to end his reign on Earth, while the conniving Lex Luthor launches his own crusade against the Man of Steel.
Why It's Great[]
- It's the first ever live action film to have Batman and Superman sharing the screen, along with the first live action film incarnation of Wonder Woman.
- The opening scene of the destruction of Metropolis shown from Bruce Wayne's point of view is excellent.
- Great performances from Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.
- Spectacular visuals, despite the overly dark scene settings.
- Incredible soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL.
- Jesse Eisenberg's upbeat performance as Lex Luthor makes him an entertaining antagonist, and he still manages to be a menacing threat despite his façade of being a harmless weirdo throughout the movie. His machiavelic machinations are the premise for the entire film, and his master scheme to get Batman and Superman to kill each other would've actually worked had Batman not come to his senses. Even then, Lex still gets what he wants when Superman dies defeating Doomsday, meaning that he succeeded in his goal to have Superman killed either way, at least until Justice League.
- Batman's arc and overall transition from a cynical, brutal vigilante who inflicts fear into and even brands criminals to a more optimistic person who starts to believe in the age of heroes in the wake of Superman's sacrifice is great character development.
- It addresses the controversial moments in Man of Steel not because of the outcry of the audience, but rather something set up from the very beginning, making said outcry mixed with the context of the film a well-timed strategy from Zack Snyder.
- This movie does a great job of not alienating either fanbase belonging to Batman or Superman, at least in relation to each other. Both characters have just reasons to behave the way they do throughout the movie; Batman is paranoid of Superman going rogue and cautious that he's deceiving humanity, while Superman is making amends for killing Zod in Man of Steel, trying to make the world a better place, and sees Batman's harsh way of dealing with criminals as a reckless player in his ambition for justice.
- The film realistically portrays how society would react to a superhuman alien living on Earth, and the public's fear of Superman potentially being a threat to the planet.
- Despite its bleak tone, it isn't without humor and levity, most of which comes from Lex Luthor's over-the-top performance and the chemistry between Batman and Alfred.
- The scene with Robin's defaced costume spray-painted with the taunts of the Joker adds a lot of context to the emotional turmoil Bruce has endured, and highlights how he never got over his failures.
- Batman's nightmare sequence about Superman becoming a ruthless dictator is chilling and a great reference to the Injustice series. It also foreshadows Darkseid really well, as we see a giant Omega symbol burned onto the plain as Batman watches the horizon.
- Like its predecessor, this film makes unsubtle comparisons between Superman and Jesus with beautiful symbolism, even to the point where his death scene pulled imagery from Jesus' death: he's wrapped up in his red cape and handed down to Lois, akin to how Mary received her Son's body.
- Batman's iconic line "Do you bleed? You will." which even got a call-back in Justice League.
- The entire fight between Batman and Superman is epic, powerful and completely awesome. It all culminates to the moment where Batman has Superman dead to rights, only for Superman to urge him to "save Martha", making Batman finally realize that Superman is fundamentally an innocent, selfless man begging for the life of his mother instead of a monstrous alien threat.
- The warehouse fight scene is also incredible.
- Awesome final battle between Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Doomsday.
- The death of Superman is the most emotionally powerful moment in the DCEU to date, on account of how he willingly sacrifices his life to save a city that rejected and hated him.
- Lex Luthor's chilling monologue near the end, "But the bell's already been rung. And they've heard it. Out in the dark, among the stars...ding dong, the god is dead. But a bell cannot be un-rung! He's hungry. He's found us. And he's coming!"
Bad Qualities[]
- This version of Lex Luthor isn't too different from Gene Hackman's and Kevin Spacey's takes on the character. Like them, he lacks the comics Lex's skill as a scientific genius and inventor and merely hijacks Kryptonian technology rather than come up with his own. They just don't seem as extensive as they are in the comics.
- A common complaint about the movie is that it is too similar to the previous movie in tone, if not darker due to the abundance of night settings.
- Superman's death and the apparent confirmation he'll be resurrected happened far too soon, with the DCEU barely being set up yet.
- Even after Doomsday is defeated, the film goes on for another ten minutes before the credits start rolling.
- Superman, despite being a titular character, is unfairly sidelined in focus of Batman and Wonder Woman, and only has forty-three lines of dialogue in the entire movie.
- Jimmy Olsen only appears for a minute or two before being executed by Knyazev. Zack Sydner admitted he did it because it'd be fun to shock the audience by so casually killing off an iconic character who he felt had no place in his film, despite making him a CIA spook who could have had a different and more interesting relation with Clark.
- Mercy Graves is killed off quite nonchalantly by Lex, even though there could have been many potential plotlines involving her.
- False advertising: The trailers made it seem as if Superman would be put in trial over the destruction of Metropolis, but in the movie itself the reason Superman is put in trial is because they think he killed a terrorist using bullets.
Reception[]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 28% based on 415 reviews, with an average rating of 4.94/10.
Box Office[]
The film opened up at #1 on its opening weekend with a domestic gross of $166,007,347. The total domestic gross was $330,360,194. In foreign countries, the film grossed $543,274,725. Overall, the film made a worldwide gross of $873,634,919 against its $250-300 million budget. Despite grossing a large amount of money, the film was a box office disappointment, as Warner Bros. had predicted that the film would make at least a billion dollars at the box office.
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