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BATMAN V SUPERMAN: The People v The Critics

I had the pleasure of seeing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice twice now and I really enjoyed it. The one thing I noticed was the huge disparity between movie critics reviews of the film and fans reactions. The fans got to see the film at an IMAX event earlier this week and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Everyone talked about how this is one of their favorite superhero films ever, and how Zack Snyder is a visionary. The next day the media embargo lifted and news sites released their reviews of the film. The difference of opinion was shocking. Some critics said it was the worst superhero film in years; other said that it was crowded and had major pacing issues. After my first viewing I was in between these two opinions. On one hand I thought they did some truly amazing things, and on the other it seemed to be a discombobulated mess. After my second viewing and giving this some serious thought, I think I might have figured out why there was such a huge disparity in critic and fan reaction. We are going to get into spoilers so you’ve been warned.

 

What The Critics Saw
The critics went in to this movie expecting to see this dark dreary film with the ending in the title (Dawn of Justice). This is exactly what they got. We have a film that bites off a little more then it can chew. The movie struggles to handle so many moving parts. We are introduced to a new Batman, Wonder Woman (a character we’ve never seen on the big screen), a weird take on Lex Luthor, and a Superman some of us didn’t even like in the first place. Not to mention the Justice League set up, nightmare sequences, and that shocking ending. Looking at this from a film perspective we can see that this movie does have a ton of stuff crammed into it. Wonder Woman feels a bit out of place, the nightmare scene doesn’t quite belong, and the editing doesn’t do the film any favors. At times it moves too fast, but it also drags a bit. We have a Batman that is more brutal than he’s ever been, and Lex Luthor is a twitchy villain that had a ton of (wasted) potential.
 
Seeing this play out the way that it did; it’s not really surprising that critics didn’t like the film. The out of nowhere death scene felt forced. Plus they negate this at the very last second anyway. Batman wanting to rally the troops felt out of place (out of character) as well. The reason they stopped fighting also fell flat. We don’t get enough emotion from this scene to really feel any attachment to it. Plus the religion symbolism has no place in a big blockbuster. The fight between Batman and Superman wasn’t fair and it didn’t have the stakes we needed it to have. It also felt very drab and lifeless. It took itself too seriously and didn’t know how to have fun. In the end it was just set up for later sequels, and doesn’t have enough of a story to work as a standalone movie.

 

What The Fans Saw
The fans have wanted to see this movie most of their lives, and have been eagerly waiting for this ever since it was announced back in 2013. After three long years of build up the film they always wanted was finally here! We were treated to the Batman we always wanted. He’s the world’s greatest detective, the master vigilante and the dark knight. He’s based on one of the most famous Batman stories ever written (The Dark Knight Returns). We also got to see Wonder Woman grace the silver screen for the very first time, and she is amazing! The way she fights, the chemistry between her and Batman, not to mention Gal Gadot proved (and Ben Affleck) proved all of the naysayers wrong. We see three great stories mashed into one epic event (Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, The Dark Knight Returns, and The Death of Superman). They even set up the Injustice: Gods Among Us storyline.
The way Snyder pays homage to these stories are incredible. It’s like these scene were copied and pasted onto the screen. The cinematography, the costumes, the dialog and the way he handled the cameos couldn’t have been done better. I love how they didn’t give us all of the answers. We’ll find out what the nightmare scene was about later on (maybe Darkseid?), and we’ll see what else Wonder Woman can do. I also loved the progression of Superman’s character from Man of Steel. This film is is a great start to the DC Extended Universe, and I can’t wait to see more.

So What Happened?
One group of people saw the movie and didn’t care for it, and the other loved it. So what happened? I think both sides are right. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was everything most fans wanted. It was a comic brought to life. Every moment between Bruce and Alfred felt like an episode of Batman: The Animated Series. They got to see the fight from The Dark Knight Returns in live-action! With the Trinity fighting Doomsday and that dramatic scene from The Death of Superman, how can anyone hate this movie? Well, the critics probably haven’t read The Dark Knight Returns, or watched Batman: The Animated Series. They’re taking it exactly how it was presented to them.

Every fan and critic I talked to agreed that the editing in this film was a weak point. The difference is how they dealt with this issue.

The fans were able to use their comic book knowledge to fill in the gaps without a second thought. This is actually is a real thing. Dr. Lars Muckli, from the University’s Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology said: “We are continuously anticipating what we will see, hear or feel next. If parts of an image are obstructed we still have precise expectation of what the whole object will look like.” “The brain still predicts what is likely to be present behind the object by using some of the other inputs to come up with best guesses.” (for more on this click here)

What if fans just filled in the gaps? It definitely seems plausible. I mean, they never said Robin was actually dead, but we all assume he is because of the burned Robin suit. We’re able to make this assumption because we read (or watched) the Under the Hood/Death in The Family stories. They never actually say anything close to the Boy Wonder dying. Maybe our nerdy minds did fill in the gaps, I’ll give an example of this.

“They randomly nuked Superman and he’s healing this quickly after almost being dead? Why?” -Critic
“This scene is straight from The Dark Knight Returns! I love how the sun restores Superman’s power just like the comics.” -Fan

 

You see? While critics might struggle to grasp why the Flash was in this weird dream sequence; but fans automatically knew that he was from a possible future or even another earth. They also knew that Batman was dark because he lost Robin. It didn’t have to be explained to them. Once we saw “Hahaha Jokes on you Batman!” on the suit we just knew Joker killed Robin.
Neither side was wrong, they just saw things completely different. So let’s end the discussion of smear campaigns and Marvel bias. Batman v Superman seems to be made by a fan for the fans. If they took a little time to explain some of the things that were happening I honestly believe things would have gone differently.

Warner Bros. needs to make movies that please fans and critics alike. If you just make it for the hardcore DC fans you’ll lose a huge chunk of your audience, but if you make it Oscar-bait you’ll lose the people who made you famous in the first place. This is something 20th Century FOX, Marvel Studios and even Star Wars: The Force Awakens do so well. They found the perfect balance of comic book craziness and (somewhat) easy to follow storytelling that pleases everyone. Regardless of what you think of the X-Men films or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you can’t deny that they’ve (mostly) been universally loved. Once DC and Warner Bros. find that balance, look out; because they have amazing talent behind and in front of the camera.


Now not all fans liked Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and not all critics disliked it. This film has a lot of things that work and a lot of things that don’t. Only you can decide if the good outweighs the bad. It’s all a matter of opinion.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is in theaters now.
Michael Thomas
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