After
Superman’s (Henry Cavill) battle against General Zod (Michael Shannon) destroys
part of Metropolis, several wonder if Kal-El should be considered friend or
foe. The skeptics include a senator (Holly Hunter) holding hearings as well as
Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), an industrialist who lost employees during the
event. Meanwhile, fellow mogul Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) gets his hands on
some kryptonite found at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, conceivably to use it
as a defense against future Kryptonian attacks. He draws the suspicion not only
of Wayne but also of Diana Prince (Gal Godot), a mysterious antiquities dealer.
Thanks to Luthor’s secret machinations, it isn’t long before the tide of public
opinion is turned against Superman and he is brought into conflict with Wayne’s
alter-ego, the vigilante Batman.
Despite
producing a superlative Batman trilogy (Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight films)
and failing at nearly everything else (The
Green Lantern and Jonah Hex)
during the past decade, DC cannot be faulted for wanting to create its own
cinematic universe. Nor can it be faulted for turning to director Zak Snyder to
serve as its Joss Whedon equivalent. For as dark and divisive as Snyder’s films
are, they show a fair amount of reverence for source material, and the grim
tone helps distinguish DC’s universe from Marvel’s. No, what DC can and should
be faulted for is expecting the thrill of seeing beloved characters brought to
screen to outweigh lackluster writing and incoherent plotting. That may have
worked when superhero films were a novelty act, but it’s a losing strategy in
today’s cinematic climate.
To put it
simply, Dawn of Justice is a bit of a
mess. Though it achieves its goal of setting up a Justice League film, it bites
off a lot more than it can chew. Plot threads (for example, the need to save
Lois Lane to prevent an apocalyptic future) are introduced and dropped with no
explanation, important characters are shunted into thankless cameos (blink and
you’ll miss Jimmy Olsen), and character motivations are left unclear.
Presumably, the yet-to-be-released extended cut will remedy some of these
flaws, but in its present form, Dawn of Justice sacrifices coherence for enough
explosion-heavy action to make Michael Bay blush. Add to that a lack of
memorable dialogue and the whole thing adds up to one very sloppy effort.
And yet,
in spite of that, there are the trappings of a much better film waiting to be
let out. For the most part, the performances do the characters justice. Cavill
has evolved from reluctant/uncertain to more unambiguously heroic while Amy
Adams brings the “intrepid” to intrepid reporter Lois Lane without sacrificing
her credibility. While the casting of the newcomers produced a fair amount of
backlash, Affleck excels as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. As the former, he
convincingly pulls off grim and jaded; as the latter, he is a criminal’s worst
nightmare. The character’s willingness to use firearms (and a fairly ridiculous
appearance in a nightmare sequence) may rub fans the wrong way, but the brutal fighting
style is reminiscent of the popular Arkham games while the armor he dons for
the big confrontation evokes Frank Miller’s classic The Dark Knight Returns. Assisting him in this is Jeremy Irons as a
pitch-perfect (if a bit more tech-savvy than usual) Alfred Pennyworth. Gadot
doesn’t have a lot of screen time, but she makes the most of it, projecting
mystique in her civilian identity and utter fearlessness in combat. If there is
one performance that is off-key, it is Eisenberg’s Luthor. This is meant to be
a younger version of the character, so his ebullience is explicable if somewhat
off-putting. And while he does prove himself to be an effective manipulator,
the rationale for his anti-Superman vendetta is underbaked.
In
addition, while the finale remains overblown, the film does offer plenty of
nicely choreographed action sequences. Beyond the titular fight (which does not
disappoint), we’re treated to Batmobile chases and a character – Doomsday –
that pushes Superman to his physical limits. The visuals get a nice accompaniment
from Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL’s score, with Wonder Woman’s motif a particular
standout. Snyder may be a style over substance director, but he at least makes
sure to get the style right.
Speaking
of substance, this film tries for some semblance of meaning. It poses the
question, as much to its audience as to its characters, of whether
super-powered beings should be admired or feared. Unfortunately, rather than
truly giving this questions its due, the film reverts to unambiguous
hero-worship the minute a bigger threat shows up. That, coupled with the
tendency of non-powered characters to stand around uselessly in the face of
disaster, undermines whatever introspection was at play here.
The Dark Knight, still the apogee of superhero
cinema, famously closed by having commissioner Gordon tell us that Batman was
the hero that Gotham deserves but not the one it needs right now. Well, in the
case of Dawn of Justice, the inverse is true. After years of build-up, we
deserve a better film. But if this does pave the way for bigger – and hopefully
better – DC Extended Universe offerings, then it is the film that we need right
now.
7.25/10
No comments:
Post a Comment