First let's talk about some of the positives of BVS in regards of the trailer
Addressing the issues of Man of Steel
One of the biggest criticisms that Man of Steel received was the excessive amount of damage caused by Zod and his crew along with Superman and not just that, the fact that all of that mayhem was caused and it wasn't really addressed. Superman made out with Lois in a giant crater in the city, and then he goes and works with the Daily Planet and everything is all happy and upbeat with all that destruction seemingly swept under the rug. The trailer to Batman vs Superman builds upon the wreckage of Metropolis and people everywhere are split on whether Superman is actually just this guy here to save everyone or this guy that's the reason for things being as messed up as they are. I'm glad that the movie is going with this approach as it was only logical to tackle this issue and I hope it's done well.
The most comic accurate Batman to date
Batman has had seven live action films over the years and despite that, no movie has completely captured every aspect of who Batman is: Batman is a detective, he's a master of various martial arts, a master of stealth and using fear and intimidation, a man with a lot of Bat Themed gadgets, and most importantly, he wears gray spandex, not black armor. Despite not being ANYONE'S first choice and having a lot of detractors, I believe Ben Affleck will be the definitive movie Batman. Both he and Zack Snyder are both fans of the character (Although Snyder is a big fanboy of The Dark Knight returns...more on that later); and everything showing Batman in this movie reflects that: We're FINALLY seeing a movie batsuit that's spandex (or in this case. very padded rubber), the trailer showed Batman doing a bit of Detective work, The few seconds of Ben as Bruce Wayne screams Bruce Wayne and when he's in the suit, I believe he's Batman. The movie is also steering away from what Christopher Nolan did in his Dark Knight Trilogy where we get the actual Batmobile and Batwing and to add a cherry on top, we're actually getting the mech suit Batman wore in the Dark Knight returns when he faced off against Superman. There's no doubt in my mind that Ben Affleck will kill it as Batman.
Now that I've said my peace about what I think the trailer (and hopefully the movie as well) does right. Let's talk about some of the issues I have with the trailer and will no doubt have in the actual movie: first up:
The BLATANT symbolism
One of my biggest issues with Man of Steel was the movie's comparison of Superman and Jesus. It wasn't necessarily the fact that the movie did it, but it was the fact that it was done in such Over-the-top matters both with the scenery and in the dialogue of the movie. That issue CLEARLY hasn't been fixed for BVS. In the trailer, we get not only the picture displayed above, but we get a shot of a group of people reaching out to Superman like he was their lord and savior, and there's another shot of these military soldiers kneeling before Kal and wearing his symbol on their shoulders as if they worshipped him. Zack Snyder, WE GET IT! We got it after the first five times you did it in Man of Steel, and we don't need you to beat the audience over the head with this obvious metaphor. Zack Snyder is as subtle as a kick in the crotch. I'm pretty sure if he was slapped in the face with a book titled "The Idiot's Guide to Subtlety" he wouldn't learn a single thing about it! I'm fully aware that this will be one of the conflicts Superman goes through where he doesn't want to be seen as a God, but you just need one scene and a couple of lines to do that. Not three scenes where you're practically screaming to the audience: "GET IT GUYS? DO YOU GET IT?! I'M SO CLEVER!!!"-Zack Snyder, 2016.
The overall tone of the movie
I am not a fan of just how dark and bleak this movie is. I know that with the inclusion of Batman in the movie, things had to be darker and edgier, and more serious. But Dear God, did I just roll my eyes at some of the imagery and dialogue from that teaser trailer. This is a movie about a guy who dresses up as a bat fighting a guy in a skin tight blue costume and red cape and then they'll probably team up later to fight other bad guys and it is taking itself FAR too seriously. This isn't me saying that Superhero movies shouldn't ever have serious stories. The prime example of this is in the Daredevil Netflix series. But the difference is that Daredevil didn't need gray filter and big pretentious speeches to show how dark and serious it was, instead it showed you with the issues presented in Hell's Kitchen and by diving into who the characters were and showed the situations they were placed in and how those situations changed them into the people they became by the end of the series. Daredevil was an innovator in that sense and showed what being a dark and serious superhero was all about. Whereas Batman vs Superman is using the whole dark and gritty thing as a gimmick, that the movie's being all serious for the sake of being serious and because "WE HAVE TO BE DIFFERENT FROM MARVEL GUYS!! Lighthearted and comedic doesn't work for us, Green Lantern proved that!!"-the suits at Warner Bros. 2013-2020. I really hope that after Batman vs. Superman, the DC Cinematic universe as a whole learns to lighten up. You're Superheroes, you're the idols of kids everywhere. There's nothing wrong with being a little lighthearted and fun here and there.
It's why I created and rep this meme til the end of time.
The third issue I have with this movie is the story that it's largely taking inspiration from
As I stated earlier, Zack Snyder is a huge fanboy of The Dark Knight Returns and I can't really blame him. After all, it's one of the most well-known and iconic Batman stories ever written. But the problem is that this isn't the story you'd use to start off a cinematic universe. The novelty of The Dark Knight Returns was that the Justice League had already existed and were a team at one point. When the story started they had disbanded and Bats putting the suit on again was painted as sort of a last hurrah for the caped crusader. By drawing inspiration from TDKR and saying that Batman already existed before Superman did except he was long retired, it brings up the question of what the hell was Batman doing in Metropolis and why didn't he help Supes? The trailer already shows that he has the Batwing and even if he was retired, does anyone honestly believe that Batman would just sit around, do nothing, and entrust the fate of the world to this alien no one had ever seen or heard of from this other alien and his giant planet destroying death machine? Not only that, but in my opinion it kind of kills a lot of potential for future stories if they did want to do another Batman movie (and we ALL KNOW WB can't resist milking the cash cow that is Batman). Does anyone really want to see Old Man Batman vs Old Man Joker? Okay, that honestly sounds pretty cool, but on the other hand, we've already seen Batman vs Joker done twice in movies and even LONGER in other forms of media. Not to mention all of his other villains are probably as old as he is, or even older; and I highly doubt you could do a two and a half hour movie of him taking on the Mutants like in TDKR as that itself couldn't carry a movie alone.
My final issue of the movie itself is:
The reason why Batman and Superman are fighting
As I stated in my previous point, The novelty of TDKR was that a lot of these characters and their relationships already existed at the start: this rings no truer than with the concept of Batman and Superman fighting each other. The reason for their iconic fight was because they were partners at one point and that they were best friends and their fight really boiled down to a clash of ideals and Superman being forced into it. Clark didn't want to fight Bruce, he only did because Bruce was going against the government's laws by being Batman again and Clark had no choice but to nip the situation in the bud. Thus creating this situation where two former best friends were placed in this situation where there was no other choice but to fight each other. Here in BVS, the reason they're fighting, to me, pretty much boils down to a paranoid Bruce Wayne being all like:
If you get this reference, you are awesome.
Which to me, takes the sting and the impact of one of the most iconic face offs in Comic Book history away.
Make the Movie about Batman and Superman
This is Fan Art: Some really sweet ass fan art.
Some of you readers may be looking at this point and be saying: well of course it's about Batman and Superman, have you read the title? To which I say yes, but have you read the WHOLE title? This movie is called Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. The Dawn of Justice part stems from the fact that everyone in the entire DC Universe is in this movie. This movie is meant to introduce a brand new Batman along with Lex Luthor, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and maybe The Flash. With this many Superheroes in the movie, it's very easy for Batman and Superman to get lost in the shuffle; and it's been proven before that having a crap ton of characters in a single superhero movie has resulted in a critically panned movie. This was the problem for movies such as Iron Man 2, Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and it's one of the concerns I'm having for Captain America 3: Civil War. I just hope that with all these elements, the movie manages to keep the focus on Bats and Supes.
And finally:
Don't make this movie Batman Featuring Superman.
I don't care what anyone says or believes, Batman vs Superman WAS ORIGINALLY Man of Steel 2. Zack Snyder had his own plans for what the sequel to Man of Steel should be and what happened? Man of Steel was critically split down the middle and didn't make a billion dollars so the suits at Warner Bros. said: 'Throw Batman in the movie, he'll make us money!' And I hate that mindset. Batman is DC's equivalent of Duck Tape. Not glue, Duck Tape, because when things go wrong and are seemingly broken, instead of trying to get someone or something to fix it, they just throw in Batman in a piss poor attempt to keep everything together, but they end up making things look uglier than before. This also plays a part in why The Dark Knight Returns is not the ideal adaptation for this movie, because while it's a great and iconic story, it was written by a writer that has a clear bias against Superman and has him a little out of character in said story. That's my big fear for BVS and DC's cinematic universe as a whole.
Despite what some may believe, the Marvel Cinematic universe isn't about Iron Man. He may be the poster boy and his movie was the one that started the universe off, but the universe doesn't revolve around him. It's Captain America: Captain America's first movie was the one that directly led into the Avengers, it was HIS sequel, The Winter Soldier, that completely changed the MCU by destroying SHIELD as we then knew it; and it's going to be HIS third movie, Civil War, that changes the MCU once again.
Batman is DC's most popular character, He is their poster boy, he is the one that brings home the money which is why he's allowed twenty different comics. There is also a long history of DC stories that make all the other DC heroes look like complete imbeciles while catering to how awesome Batman is. I am hoping, no praying, that Batman vs Superman, along with the whole DC Cinematic Universe, is not just two and a half hours of this:
Video taken from How it Should Have Ended
At the end of the day, I hope Batman vs Superman is a success, not just financially (Because let's face it, we ALL know it will make money), but also critically. These were heroes I watched as a kid via the Justice League cartoon, LONG before I knew even FIVE Marvel characters. I don't think there is ANY fan that wants to see Warner Brothers and DC fail, but what we've seen so far hasn't filled a lot of people with hope (which is pretty ironic considering what Man of Steel was TRYING to be all about...). Here's to BVS being a slam dunk for fans everywhere.
Til next time folks, I'm the Shaman of Animation, and I am...STILL...waiting for a Static Shock movie...
One day...One day...
Take Care...
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