Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice - Renegade Cut

Batman V Superman dawn of Justice is a 2016 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder in the aftermath of the battle between Superman and General Zod that left much of Metropolis in ruins Batman becomes more and more concerned that the Man of Steel is too great a threat to live he searches for kryptonite to use as a weapon against him Batman's motivations are poorly justified with bad mathematics but we will tackle this incarnation of the Dark Knight later Lex Luthor also wants to kill Superman his reasons are even more vague and tend to change upon his mood Luthor manipulates a fight to the death between Batman and Superman Batman basically wins but spare Superman's life Luthor creates doomsday as a back-up plan Superman Batman and Wonder Woman fight doomsday and Superman sacrifices himself to save the world there is a lot more going on in this needlessly long film two and a half hours in the theatrical cut and three hours in the director's cut but those are the basics Batman V Superman is a dreary morose ugly film with questionable morality and even more questionable writing the Throwdown between Batman and Superman makes no sense except to watch two superheroes punch each other an aspiration that can be attained by any child with two action figures the acting ranges from bland to wildly hammy and inappropriate Jesse Eisenberg is horribly miscast as Lex Luthor by way of the Joker it is uncomfortable to watch creating second hand embarrassment worse than any intentional cringe comedy though in fairness few could have made this material makes sense hello it likes it as a pledge out Wow that is a good grip you should not pick a fight with this person about halfway through the film a senator discovers that there is a jar full of Lex Luthor's urine next to her microphone I have so many questions about this pee first how did it get there did Luthor slip it there himself and if so how did nobody notice him where was he keeping it a anny pack did mercy his assistant put it there and if so did she get hazard pay why could nobody smell it urine smells bad most important question who in their right mind thought this would be a good idea for a Superman movie towards the end of the film Wonder Woman is given a flash drive full of cameos someone has not only discovered the flash Aquaman and Cyborg but also decided what their names and symbols should be the movie stops in this scene it is if the film took a commercial break and the audience must watch trailers for the next five years worth of DC Comics movies this is not exposition this is a press kit for years superhero movies have been advertising their next movie in post credit sequences or cameos or supporting roles that seem natural but to actually do so in the middle of the film in such a clunky way is vulgar and humiliating Batman V Superman is unevenly paced cramming at half a dozen plot lines and studio mandated cameos and size stories to build a DC movie universe the aforementioned director's cut called The Ultimate Edition fixes some of the editing problems in the theatrical cut however in its place we now have 30 more minutes of bad movie to sit through these are all just gripes with individual performances and scenes let's get to the heart of this if Batman V Superman has a central theme or maybe just topic it is humankind's relationship with God it stumbles through philosophy broaches subjects but never resolves them asks questions with no intention of answering and references wiser individuals with no interest or ability to meet their standards since Man of Steel Zack Snyder's Superman has been an obvious Christ figure a fictional character meant to embody the qualities or personal history of Jesus Christ in Batman V Superman this is continued but the direct allegory is complicated by Lex Luthor sometimes referring to him as God but also a devil admittedly this ties in reasonably well with films assertion that angels and demons may be difficult to differentiate but it does more to muddy the water than reveal any greater truth in this scene a character wonders why Superman saves some people but not others a reference to an age-old question about God's divine plan and why some are saved and some are not Luther's frequent damning comments about his own father tie into his mistrust of God father of mankind Luther's mistrust or perhaps disbelief in God is brought up again when he references Prometheus Luther's actual theistic beliefs are surprisingly vague for a character in a film that name drops God every five minutes is Luthor and atheist a mouthiest this would be a very important question to answer but the film does not bother Batman nearly murder Superman with a spear a reference to the spear of destiny an artifact that allegedly pierced the site of Christ to see if he was still alive I suppose Batman stabbing him with a sharpened crucifix would be too on-the-nose superman eventually sacrifices himself practically a prerequisite for movie Christ figures piercing the site of doomsday with the very same spear making himself both Jesus and longan us at the same time the ending of the film also suggests he will rise from the dead the film makes historical references as well it is difficult to see here because it is so dark but the graffiti on the wall reads quis custodiet Ipsos custodes that is the latin phrase often translated as who guards the guardsmen or who watches the Watchmen this is both a reference to the theme of mistrust of powerful authority figures in the film but also Snyder's adaptation of Watchmen when Superman dies we see a scrawled phrase if you seek his monument look around this is a translation of a famous Latin phrase see monument 'm requiem spis is a dedication to Sir Christopher Wren the architect of st. Paul's Cathedral he was entombed inside it the phrase in modern use is commonly meant to suggest that what we leave behind best represents who we were in life in the comics and other iterations Bruce's parents are murdered outside a screening of Zorro and influence for the character but in Batman V Superman the movie is Excalibur instead maybe that's fitting because Zorro is a masked hero much like how Batman is often portrayed whereas King Arthur believes himself to have far greater authority like the Batman of Snyder's film the ending of Batman V Superman parallels Excalibur mortared stabs Arthur with a spear but the mythical King further impales himself to get close enough to kill Mordred roughly the same thing happens with Superman and doomsday Batman V Superman has so many religious literary and historical allusions that it threatens to be interesting but somehow is not the first reason that the spiritual aspect of the film does not elevate Batman V Superman Beyond it's low quality is that most of the references are just that references not themes Lex Luthor says if God is Allgood then he is not all-powerful and if God is all-powerful then he is not all good Luthor attempts to expose Superman by having him fight and possibly kill Batman as one of his various mixed confusing motivations Luthor's quote is the primary argument against omni-benevolent something brought up in philosophical circles when discussing the problem of evil trying to answer if God exists why do bad things happen among theologians and religious scholars the attempt to discover why God allows evil is called theodicy I just defined this over the past few sentences but that is more than the film does and it has three hours Batman V Superman references important theological topics but is not actually engaging them this happens multiple times in the film but this is the clearest example the second reason that the spiritual aspect of the film does not work is that it is not woven neatly into the narrative to give some contrast in the classic film Alcazar Balthasar the theological subtext of the film is gently presented through the plot itself not through sermons in Batman V Superman everything just stops whenever the film decides it's time to put on his big-boy pants and talk about God the most overtly religious scenes in the film happened as a series of newscasts in which talking heads rather bluntly tell the audience that maybe Superman is the Messiah who knew it is reminiscent of the Matrix sequels action scene action scene stop all action heroes sit down to listen to a new computer characters personal philosophy literally sit there and listen to his lecture just like the audience Batman V Superman rather than explore its themes deeply or use a light touch instead attempts another alternative having Neil deGrasse Tyson explain what we the audience are supposed to think about all of this the third reason the spiritual aspect of Batman V Superman does not work has nothing to do with the religious content at all and more to do with everything that surrounds it years ago I used to think that the best way to utilize the Christ figure or any other illusion is to make it subtle the word subtlety ends up being a big part of a film critics vocabulary that was my go-to trying to explain what does and does not work to make a good allegory or message film had to do with the S word and while I still believe that can be important I have come to an alternate conclusion recently and it's because of all things Man of Steel and Batman V Superman when people talk about Superman as a Christ figure in Man of Steel and Batman V Superman they harp on how blatant and obvious it is as if that's the film's greatest crime heck I took issue with this as well we don't accept Superman as the Christ figure in Man of Steel and Batman V Superman nor do we accept the latter's deluge of other spiritual references and we cite the lack of subtlety as the primary cause it's a problem but certainly not the only one ashes and diamonds a classic film in which the central figure is given certain Christ's qualities is not always subtle an upside-down crucifix waves in front of the camera but ashes and diamonds is considered a great film and it definitely is but what is the difference Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood Still takes the human surname carpenter and comes from the sky to save humanity it is not remotely subtle that he is a Christ figure but people love this aspect of the film as well as the film in general subtlety can be an integral part of the message of your film it absolutely can there is something almost magical about the point of your movie so finely inserted into the narrative that it appears in your mind and allows you to participate in the narrative but if a complete lack of subtlety does not hinder the Christ figure aspect of these films ashes and diamonds and The Day the Earth Stood Still and so many others then why does it feel so awful and awkward when zack snyder portrays superman as a Christ figure I'm starting to think that the Christ figure working or not working for the audience does not always have to do with the Christ figure himself and more to do with the rest of the film if the rest of the film is good then we can accept the Christ figure as part of it if the rest of the film is an atrocious tedious depressing mess then we can't this is not arbitrary and it is not a case of hating a movie and then deciding this one aspect is also bad rather it's a case of earning the Christ figure see when a movie is bad but pontificates on philosophical themes and throws in Jesus for good measure then we begin to feel that this film has not earned the Christ figure people sometimes miss use the word pretentious as meaning fancy pants or highbrow but pretentious really means effecting greater importance to something that is not in other words for our purposes a dumb film trying and failing to be smart is by definition pretentious a good clever movie with good clever ideas is not pretentious no matter how fancy it may seem because it has achieved its importance that's what the word means a pretentious piece of art in this case a film is something that is of poor quality that the artist clearly believes is more significant than it is the Christ figure and other spiritual references do not work in Snyder's two Superman films but not only because they lack subtlety I mean those films do lack subtlety but that's not the only reason people make fun of them the Christ figure in Batman V Superman does not work because the rest of the movie around it is pretty bad and because of that it feels unearned it is genuinely pretentious a movie with a good message needs to be a good movie first The Happening has an important message about how we need to be better custodians of our environment but the movie sucks it's laughable and its message however right it maybe becomes laughable to wall-e has the same environmental message and it is delivered with the same soap box style preaching but the movie around wall-e is so good that the message feels earned and we can allow it to enhance the film subtlety is not everything Mad Max fury road is a great film and it literally writes the core messages and themes of the film on walls Batman V Superman invokes God less like a professor and more like everyone's obnoxious friend who loves to name-drop the one celebrity they know in real life invoking the name of God might be the most grandiose literary device one can add to their story but God cannot be a crutch to help a movie stand up historically speaking in order for the Christ figure to work he must be part of a larger grander design I mean why would Jesus want to show up in a bad movie those among us who dismissed Batman V Superman as both overblown and conversely overtly simple point to the scene at the tail end of the titular battle between the two main characters Batman clearly has one but immediately before the Dark Knight buries a kryptonite spear into the heart of someone who has never done him any wrong Superman exclaims that he needs to protect Martha in this instant Superman is referring to his mother but it catches Batman off-guard because that was also his mother's name people do not generally refer to their parents by their first names but this plot is not going to contrived itself and it's enough to make Batman second-guess his obviously wrong murder Bruce and Clark both have mothers named Martha this was established of the comics last century it's not an invention of the film it is simply the film that decided that this coincidence should be the climax of its much advertised spandex fistfight critics have called this ridiculous and maybe it is but I actually do not think this is terrible in and of itself Batman does not stop premeditated murder because of this minor bit of happenstance he stops because at this moment he realizes Superman as a person no better or worse than himself and therefore worthy of respect the whole Martha thing is not the biggest problem not in the slightest this could have been the moment in which Batman V Superman redeemed itself at least in a very small way unfortunately only minutes after Batman had his epiphany about the sanctity of life he murders a group of criminals who he instantly deems as being unworthy of being alive Batman stabs and shoots several men to death this is certainly not the first time in Batman film history in which the Dark Knight employed potentially lethal force against his enemies and we need to at least acknowledge that however the ease in which Batman kills only minutes after seemingly going through his character arc is dissonant in tone to what transpired between himself and Superman it negates the big emotional moment of the film over the course of the narrative we see Batman struggle with how much power he should exercise in his extra legal assault on the criminal element of Gotham City Alfred warns him that he may go too far and should that happen he will become as cruel as those he condemns the climax of the battle between himself and Superman appears to be the apex of his character arc but it is undone shortly thereafter the problem with Batman murdering so many people here is that the film never portrays it as questionable a Man of Steel Superman killing Zod was questionable Superman was noticeably upset by this haiti's Man of Steel of all things as a positive example of anything but there it is in Batman V Superman The Dark Knight is just a killer and by framing him as a hero in these scenes one who is now allegedly more enlightened than he was at the beginning of the film the audience is meant to believe that he is in the right and that says a lot about the worldview of Zack Snyder you know what else says a lot about the worldview of Zack Snyder Zack Snyder quote everyone says that about Batman Begins Batman's dark I'm like okay no Batman's cool he gets to go to a Tibetan monastery and be trained by ninjas okay I want to do that but he doesn't like get raped in prison that could happen in my movie if you want to talk about dark that's how that would go unquote Snyder's view of superheroes explains a lot about why Batman V Superman is so objectionable I say all this in full knowledge that someone will inevitably defend the film by saying all these critics are taking this too seriously no no no and no we can debate the merits of the film and that's fine but critics taking this too seriously is not an excuse for everything in the film because the film itself takes itself seriously it is choked to bursting with religious references international politics and lots and lots of murder the film took itself seriously - seriously and it is more than appropriate to respond in kind the filmmakers opened the door we just walked through it art does not owe anyone a positive message I acknowledge that but I also think it is not unreasonable to suggest that it could do better than Batman V Superman even divorced from its frightening implications this film merely as a piece of entertainment is not all that entertaining it is a dry bleak meandering self-important waste of an idea the screenplay is a mess spending so much time on a myriad of different ideas characters and subplots as a starting point to its larger movie universe that we are left with a form of narrative whiplash crashing from one dry set piece to another culminating in a noisy epic confrontation that lasts about 10 minutes plot threads dangle and questions go unanswered either by mistake or purposefully because the writers and director could not think of anything satisfying to their ponderous philosophy 101 musings Superman's concern about Batman's twisted brand of justice is never resolved it is Superman's primary moral objection to his tactics but in the end he does nothing about it and the whole thing is simply forgotten so that the audience can cheer Batman's gun foo rampage Luthor's protestations against Superman at later Batman are never resolved either nothing is resolved nothing makes sense and the genuine pretentiousness of its subject matter is more insulting than it is thoughtful I admire ambition I really do but screenwriters David s Goyer and Chris Terrio and director Zack Snyder are completely out of their depths and I'm sorry if s mean-spirited but that is the world that this film envisions isn't it a mean unpleasant gross nightmare in which murder is the best choice for dealing with complete strangers I can't speak for anyone else only myself but I don't like Zack Snyder's Prison Rape version of reality this disgusting false edginess that permeates throughout his entire oeuvre Batman V Superman is an ugly film but it is also an empty film an abyss with nothing at the bottom but darkness you

Channel: Renegade Cut

Views: 172,544

Keywords: superman, batman, batman v superman, batman v superman dawn of justice, dawn of justice, zack snyder, ben affleck, jesse eisenberg, henry cavill, amy adams, laurence fishburne, diane lane, gal gadot, alfred pennyworth, clark kent, bruce wayne, lex luthor, lois lane, doomsday, god, jesus, christ, christianity, theodicy, problem of evil, movies, film, superhero, superheroes, dc comics, david s goyer, chris terrio, aquaman, wonder woman, cyborg, the flash, man of steel

Id: O5DAQlmJ4q0

Length: 21min 40sec (1300 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 07 2016