“Batman Vs.Superman: Dawn of Justice” promises an epic battle between a nightly superhero and a superhuman demigod but turns out to be a monolithic film without substance and depth despite the labrynthine plot. The story tries to bring the Kryptonian origins of Superman with the farmer background of Batman’s foster father and how the two fight each other because of a third party villainy of Lou Laser. The plot then loses its way in clarity because of laborious subplots.
The Cast is something that must be the coup of the century – with Ben Affleck, Jermey Irons, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner and Leslie Eisenberg – but halfway the director Zack Snyder loses the grip on story-telling and then gropes in the dark with attempts to retrieve the story with silly subplots and the same existential debates about Superman and his role in the world. Wonder why the Superman is seen rescuing a solitary being but is seen as Savior of America from the aliens. It must be a desperate attempt for the Studios and DC Comics to resuscitate the falling craze for a Superman vis-a-vis Batman – the wolf whistles have it all in favor of the stylish Batman with suave black rexine wear and armoury that reminds you of Hindu Mythological Gods. If there is a tally of the best superheroes, definitely the scales are tipping away in favor of multi-dimensional heroes like Spider-Man, Batman, Ironman and the film’s ending (Shhhh….) could be a curtain-raiser of things to expect from this genre. You have to pit one against the other for building excitement and recovering franchise costs.
The only paisa vasool scenes in the film are when the two superheroes fight and then collaborate to polish off the villains. Zack must be a fan of Bollywood films – the villain Jesse Eisenberg shows his volatile acting with shades of a Shah Rukh Khan who stutters with a KKKKiran accent. The climax is the same as in Deewar where one Superhero says to another in equivalent English, “Mere Paas Martha Maa hai.” You expect better than that in a multi-starrer film where two iconic comic heroes meet in a Day by Night format. What redeems the film is the magical score by Hans Zimmer and his collaborator – it transports you into a Fabled world. The soul is missing, the music of John Williams is absent to elevate the Superman rising but it must be a deliberate attempt to elevate the legend of Batman at the cost of the Kryptonian boy. In truth, the depth of Batman eats away the characterisation of Superman and Ben Affleck steals the thunder from Henry Cavil. In 183 minutes, you could have created a standalone hero plot with a discernible story but the director and the studio squander it all away in an improbable epic clash and an incomprehensible plot. Eminently missable.
Rating: 2/5
