Batman vs Superman
I glared intently at my compatriot, my eyes eager and brimming with anticipation. A flame-haired giant shrouded in the dim light of screen 4 cast a thoughtful gaze over the emptying audience.
With but a modicum of regret he softly uttered three words. A sentence so concise, so subtle, I could not help but emit a light chuckle.
‘Good not great’ he remarked, a wily grin slowly creeping across his face.
It’s the first full review for BvS I have had the pleasure to encounter and I appreciated the thought D. Alexander had put into not only its content, but also its delivery.
For those of you not in the know, that three word statement was a reference. For those of you in the know, have 10 points, a gold star and a thumbs up (there’s a conversion chart at the back).
As credits rolled in tandem with late night cigarettes for the car park, I felt a sense of satisfaction. I think I wanted to enjoy this film so much that no matter what trash had just consumed 2 and a half hours of my life, I would have proclaimed my enjoyment.
The truth is that this movie is not trash. In fact if you’ll humour me for but a moment I will make every effort to convince you of this (without giving away any major plot details).
Let me begin by saying that I did not enjoy Man of Steel so my expectations for a sequel were tempered before the first trailer even hit the net. When they did however my already low expectations took a further fall, the literal appearance of Doomsday the main consideration. And finally when I saw endless tirades of how terrible the film was by every cat with a computer and his dog, I could bide it no longer. I bit the bullet and bought the ticket.
Honestly I don’t get the hate. I have made a conscious effort not to read reviews as I prefer my opinions undiluted by those of others and despite my best intentions, I would undoubtedly pick up one or two that were not originally my own.
Some may rant about the amount of CGI, others may (wrongly) compare it to Nolan’s three and there are those who will, and I’m sorry to say because I thought he got it spot on, criticise Affleck as ‘wooden’ or ‘drab’. I could go on a rant of my own on the mischaracterisation of comic book characters by the media masses but that’s a post for another day.
I think it’s important to remember context. This is a Zack Snyder film so we can reasonably assume there will be gratuitous amounts of CGI. Where would 300, Suckerpunch or (perhaps most poignantly) Legend of the Guardians be without it? It’s not got writing like the Dark Knight trilogy. This is partly down to talent but more down to the fact that this is a big studio film, the start of the DCCU if you will. They’re not going to gamble on physchological intrigue or Nolan-esque ambiguity. This is simpler film for simpler times and a big DC family get-together more than anything else.
The action is big, the fight scenes are cool, the characters are not as richly developed as one might hope (despite this being our Man of Steel’s second outing) but if you’re willing to view it for what it is (a straight-up, grit-filled superhero fight show) then I see no reason why you can’t enjoy it.
Jesse Eisenberg is also top-notch by the way.
So while the critics and your arthouse friends throw shade at our caped crusaders simply for doing what superheroes should (kick butt in case you still weren’t sure), stand up for what you believe in, look them in the eye and say:
‘Look this film is far from perfect. It’s languishing somewhere between the new Fantastic Four and Spiderman 1 (the one with Tobey Maguire not the new crapper ones). It’s not the best film in the world. It’s simply
Good not great’.
Thanks for reading, Mark.
