skip this paragraph if you don’t care about my childhood.
growing up without cable or internet, some of the most entertaining events in my childhood were my family’s weekly visits to the video store. The store we went to had like a 3 for $5 special, which means my parents got a movie or two, and the kids got a movie. Often, when there was nothing appealing in the kids section, I’d just re-rent favorites. One of those tapes that I got over and over was the Batman/Superman movie, a crossover of my then-favorite show, the Batman/Superman Adventures. That was an hour of television where they aired an episode of Batman TAS and Superman. The two, however, didn’t cross over until that movie (which was pretty much just an extended episode titled “Worlds Finest.” It was mind blowing to see them interact, to see them on a mission together, and to this day, if you ever watch that movie, it’s a beautiful clash of egos. You’ve probably seen that GIF of Superman saying “Thanks for helping me save Lois. i couldn’t have done it without you” and then Batman casually responding ”i’m aware of that.” I couldn’t get enough of it, but even with the success of Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight Trilogy,” i never imagined there’d be a real life Batman/Superman movie.
CUT TO: ComicCon 2013…
The Announcement
Coming off of the success and controversy of “Man of Steel” director Zach Snyder comes onstage, thanks everyone, and announces that there’s another Superman movie coming (you can watch the video here and skip this paragraph if you want). He then makes one of the astonishing announcements in cinema history. It’s HOW he announces it, however, that gives me chills to this day. He brings out an actor to read a quote. He says “some of you will recognize it, and we’re not adapting this thing, but it is the thing that will help tell that story” the actor then recites the words:
“i want you to remember, Clark.
in all the years to come, in all your most private moments.
i want you to remember my hand on your throat.
i want you to remember the one man who beat you.”
Right after,the room went dark. On the screen behind the stage, a superman logo appears. Then? The batman logo. This is it. After being in existence for 75 years, these characters are going to meet on the big screen. (that quote btw? that’s from Frank Miller’s “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.” more on that later)
The Batfleck
i remember exactly where i was when it happened. There have been a handful of events in my life where the internet broke with monumental news- The Death of Michael Jackson, The Killing of Bin Laden, The Casting of Ben Affleck As Batman. i celebrated it right from the start. i love Affleck, thanks in part, to Kevin Smith. Smith was one of a handful of people who defended, who vouched for the Batfleck (if you’re not in love with Ben, if you’re not convinced he’s the PERFECT guy for Batman, listen to minutes 3:36-28:40 of this episode of Smith’s podcast which is all about Batman). People talked so much shit, people vehemently opposed the casting, people condemned the flick before even a single frame of it was shot. When the costume was revealed, a lot of those naysayers ate their words. When the trailer was revealed, not a negative thing about Affleck was said. By the time the movie started screening, the phrases “best Batman ever” and “definitive Batman” started being mentioned, and last week, when the reviews for BVS began to come in, one of the things people like most is Affleck as Batman.
The Response
the night of the fan screening (which was like, Tuesday the 22nd), fans left the screening in bliss, tweeting about how incredible it was. But when the press screened it after, they didn’t take too kindly to it. I’ve read/watched reviews where people talk about lack of character motivation, about the movie needing editing, all sorts of flaws. So fans seem to love it, critics don’t, how will this mixed response affect the opening box office? we’ll see.
My Response?
if you read the first paragraph, you know that this is a movie i’ve been waiting my whole life for. I am, however, too broke to watch it at the moment, so i decided i’ll wait til like, Tuesday morning, when i can save a buck or two. I was at one of my friends house Friday night,and though she and i had planned to hangout for a few more hours, i got a text from my other friend (and co-host of my podcast), Diego. He had an extra ticket to BvS and asked if i wanted to go. i responded something along the lines of “fuck yeah!” apologized to my friend for cutting the visit short, then i rode my bike like, 4 miles to the movie theater, with only 15 minutes before our screening was to begin. i got there on time, and we watched the movie.
Without spoiling it, i’ll say this- it takes a lot for me to be moved, physically OR emotionally, and this movie did both. i don’t go to the movie theater (i only watched one movie in theaters last year, and before that one, i hadn’t gone since 2013) yet this one was one i felt i HAD to watch in theaters. i’m so glad i did. The guy in the seat next to me was crying, i was crying, i didn’t look over to see if Diego was crying, but he told me afterwards that he loved it. He was a little confused in some parts, which is what i was afraid of. Casual viewers might have some trouble keeping up. But if you’re a fan of this stuff, if these characters are your religion, you’ll LOVE it. There are moments taken directly from Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns” which is literally one of the most important novels of the 20th century. The fight between bats and supes, the costume, the bat symbol, this movie borrows so much from TDKReturns, that there’s even a line which brought me to tears because it meant so much to me. That’s not the only moment where i cried, there were several parts where i was just overcome by the performances, by the situations, by the gravity of it all… it’s so good. Superman goes through SO MUCH in this movie, WonderWoman, and the rest of the incoming DC Universe, are introduced in such brilliant ways. The only downside? fucking Michael Cera as Lex Luthor- i hated his performance. Oh, and there were a bit too many dream sequences, but each one is pretty important, since it assists in our understanding of each character’s psychology.
anyway, if you read this shit, you clearly don’t mind long stories about fictional characters, so you really should watch it.
