When superheroes fight
Every time I see my Uncle Brad, he asks me the same question: Who is better — Batman or Superman? From age 5 to present day, Uncle Brad asks and I give him the same answer. Batman. Batman is better than Superman. All day, every day.
Uncle Brad disagrees. He rambles on about the Man of Steel’s various superhuman powers, and I explain to him how the Dark Knight is a more complicated and interesting character.
Obviously, my Uncle Brad and I don’t have much to talk about.
The new movie, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” could be the ultimate decider of this age-old question, although I’m not convinced DC Comics and Warner Bros. care about the answer. The film’s mere existence is the result of the spectacularly lucrative Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney and Marvel have a dozen movies shared within a single universe. Warner and DC have a few decent Batman movies, and those aren’t even connected to this new film.
My skepticism of “Batman v Superman” starts with that insufferable and awkward subtitle, “Dawn of Justice.” Apparently a movie about Batman and Superman fighting each other isn’t enough drama for one movie. This film is also trying to establish the Justice League (or to laymen, the DC equivalent of the Avengers).
As great as it is to finally see Wonder Woman on the big screen, the character deserves a proper showcase rather than just a few minutes of a Batman-Superman movie. Wonder Woman will have a solo film out in 2017, at least, followed by solo adventures of other prominent Justice League members, assuming DC and Warner Bros. don’t change the plan again.
My other major hesitation rests at the feet of director Zack Snyder and his past history with Superman. His “Man of Steel” movie from 2013 was a dour, overstuffed slog of a film and pretty much the opposite of how I want to see Superman on the big screen. While “Batman v Superman” appears to address some of the major criticisms from “Man of Steel,” chiefly how the film’s climax callously destroyed the city of Metropolis, I still don’t see enough of a shift in tone or character.
Even though I’m a devout member of Team Batman, I care about how Superman is portrayed onscreen, as the character was one of my first entry points into the world of comics. I was one of many kids swept into the frenzy of “The Death of Superman” story and its aftermath. Thanks to Videonics on Best Avenue and the bulk comic packs available at the Spokane Costco, I anxiously followed Supe’s battle with Doomsday and scratched my head through all the clone nonsense that followed it.
While I abandoned comics for many years, I returned to them as an adult after reading the collected “Dark Knight Returns” arc from Frank Miller. In it, Batman and Superman squash major ideological differences with fisticuffs. That story, alongside Alan Moore’s “Watchmen” convinced me that comics weren’t just stories for kids.
Both “The Dark Knight Returns” and the character of Doomsday factor into the story told in Snyder’s “Batman vs. Superman” film. Iconic material to be sure, but I worry the film is needlessly cramming fan favorite content into an already overstuffed story.
The Justice League deserves a big screen adventure, especially now as we’ve maybe already seen too much of “The Avengers” and Marvel’s varied heroes. A movie universe where Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Aquaman (!) join forces is an exciting idea, but it still needs to be believably curated. Having a divisive filmmaker smash everything together in a single movie just doesn’t seem like the way to go.
The reviews aren’t encouraging either. The film’s rating on Rotten Tomatoes is only just above 30 percent, and the Metacritic score sits in the 40s.
Whether general audiences disagree will be determined this weekend. And Uncle Brad and I will have much to discuss the next time we see each other.
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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.