Batman v Superman vs. self-importance

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I can testify that Batman v Superman is not as dark as its trailers made it look. If anything, it’s darker than that, a comic book film apparently opposed to the fun in its source material. It’s the kind of movie that’ll end one scene with a Renaissance painting of angels fighting demons, and segue to a mourner carrying flowers to a mausoleum. Self-important to the point of self-parody, Batman v Superman turns an intriguing pop culture conflict into a joyless slog that’s only fitfully engaging.

After a reprise of Batman’s tragic childhood origins, the film catches up with what adult Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) was doing during Man of Steel’s cataclysmic attack on Metropolis. Turns out he was rushing into the devastation, saving people like a 9/11 First Responder. Snyder was soundly criticized for the way Man of Steel’s finale showed wanton destruction without acknowledging the cost in human lives. Batman v Superman tries to correct the record, while doubling down on the downbeat, violent sensibility that spawned it.

The film jumps ahead 18 months to find the heroes enmeshed in convoluted storylines. Batman tries to trace a loathsome smuggling ring to a well-connected source, while Superman (Henry Cavill) gets discredited when his rescue of Lois Lane (Amy Adams) from African terrorists takes a mortal turn. Clues point to the machinations of Alexander Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), a hyperactive, amoral tech zillionaire who resents Superman’s apparent omnipotence. More snarky than sinister, Alexander spells out the movie’s thematic ambitions as incessant quips, but at least Eisenberg tries to inject some personality into the spectacle.

When people debates Superman’s role as a self-appointed guardian of the Earth, we hear speeches from Holly Hunter’s fictional U.S. Senator and real-life public figures like Neal DeGrasse Tyson. But what does Superman think? Honestly, it’s hard to say. The film offers lots of quasi-religious imagery of him doing good deeds: after a rescue at a Mexican Day of the Dead festival, bystanders in skeleton costumes reach out to him like he’s Jesus. But the character scarcely speaks for himself. The script short-changes Cavill, who seems to barely change his expression throughout. And though sometime between the two films he and Lois started shacking up, we see precious little of their relationship.

We do learn that, in his guise as Clark Kent, he disapproves of Batman’s violent vigilantism. And he has a point: Batman v Superman presents an unusually brutal version of the Caped Crusader, who literally brands criminals with the bat logo and deploys Batmobile-mounted machine-guns with impunity. Affleck gives the role a broody resolve that’s preferable to Cavill’s impassivity, even though the character proves both sadistic and easily manipulated.
embed-1 The script by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer struggles to incorporate too many plot threads while laying the groundwork for future films, including cameos from potential Justice Leaguers and a dream scene that may be a vision of the future. But at heart, Snyder simply doesn’t seem to get his protagonists at a basic level, which is ironic since he’s spent most his career adapting comic books for the big screen. He crafts elaborate set-pieces with more visual coherence and less vulgarity than Michael Bay, but that’s a low bar to hurdle.

If you’re willing to wait a full two hours, the title bout doesn’t short-change the audience, and the film gets almost stolen away by Gal Gadot as a certain Amazonian mystery woman. But too many other elements feel derivative, with a truck chase resembling a second-generation copy of a similar scene from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight from 2008.

You can see why they’d want to echo The Dark Knight, the last DC feature that was an unalloyed creative success, and possibly the best superhero film to date at playing heavy themes against pulpy characters. Batman v Superman makes a similar attempt at depth, but so clumsily that instead of elevating the material, it barely leaves the ground. It leaves you asking the Joker’s trademark question: “Why so serious?”

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. 2 stars. Directed by Zack Snyder. Stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill. Rated PG-13. Opens March 25. At area theaters.