Movie Review: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice/Warner Bros./Rated PG-13/Dir. by Zack Snyder

In the beginning (a.k.a. the 70's and 80's), quality superhero films meant DC/Warner Bros.  There was Superman and Batman and everyone else.  Richard Donner's Superman films were revolutionary in how seriously and respectfully they treated material that had previously been quite literally considered kid's stuff.  Tim Burton's two-film take on Batman almost completely erased the image of Adam West punning it up in tights with colorful text cards letting us know that the correct sounds of someone getting hit were "Pow!" and "Bang!"  For Marvel, these were the dark years.  When Captain America was played by the guy from the classic MST3K episode Space Mutiny and Howard the Duck was the biggest Marvel feature-length movie.

Of course, a couple decades later, things were different.  Superman fought Richard Pryor and nuclear war and ended up killing his own franchise, while Batman met his doom with Joel Schumacher replacing grit and character with kitsch and those infamous nipple-enhanced armor plates.

However, in the mid-2000's both of the rival comic companies seemed to be getting the idea of how to make great movies.  Marvel, who had sold the movie rights to their biggest properties, watched as Sony very wisely handed the keys of the Spider-Man franchise to Sam Raimi, a man who loved the comic, but who had spent his early career working in character-driven independent horror and drama films, guaranteeing that both the spectacle and the grounding emotive elements would be in place.  Warner Bros.  followed Sony's lead by hiring Christopher Nolan to take over Batman and Bryan Singer (who had previously brought the X-Men to screen with great success) to handle Superman.  The resulting films, Batman Begins and Superman Returns respectively, were equally well-received financially and critically.  Unfortunately, WB wanted a lot more success from Superman because they had previously spent a lot of money on an aborted Superman movie and wanted to recoup their loses, so they let Nolan continue with Batman, but put the hold on more Supes movies.  Of course, during this time, Marvel began their own cinematic universe with the properties they still owned, brilliantly taking their time to build character by perfectly matching director with material.  Even as Marvel introduced new characters to the MCU, they made each film feel like an extension of the previous films.  It was a level of inter-connectivity that had never been tried before in film.  It was wildly successful, but at the time was a huge risk.  After The Avengers, though, all bets were off and DC knew it needed to get into the "cinematic universe" game.

I give this little history recap because these events are integrally related to the quality of the DC/Warner Bros. film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Just look at that title.  Whereas the first mention of The Avengers was in a post-credits stinger scene snuck into Iron Man, everything about this film, starting with the title, screams "DC HAS A SUPERGROUP TOO!!!!  AND IT'S GOING TO BE AMAZING!!!  AND MAGICAL!!!!  WITH COOLER POWERS!!!  TAKE THAT MARVEL!!!!!"   This movie was obviously rushed into production in order to catch up with the runaway freight train that is the MCU and it reeks of that desperation.  It's not a bad movie, it's just a frantic, haphazard, and somewhat soulless place holder for the eventual Justice League mega-movie-event.

One of the smartest things director Zack Snyder did was connect BvS with his controversial ending act of Man of Steel.  Well, either smart or extremely arrogant, as he has long defended that ending, which jettisoned everything that Superman the character and Superman the comic ever stood for in favor of Transformers-style chaotic city-wide mayhem and destruction.  However, in making those events the catalyst for Bruce Wayne's (appropriately dourly played by Ben Affleck) homicidal obsession with the Kryptonian Kid, he retroactively makes the events seem integrally important to the development of his story.

The plot involves Lex Luthor (played with gleeful psychopathy by Jesse Eisenberg) mining for kryptonite, a tough-talking, hard-nosed senator (the always welcomed, Holly Hunter) holding hearings about dealing with aliens with god-like powers, and a mysterious woman played by Gal Gadot (whose mystery is severely undercut by the ridiculously spoilery ad campaign for the film) who is always skulking around the same parties as Mr. Wayne.

The cast does what they can with a plot that alternates between interesting and ridiculous and dialogue that alternates between inspired and insipid.  Henry Cavill, who has always been a pretty great Superman, is the least well-served by the screenplay, but if Man of Steel showed us anything, it's that Zack Snyder doesn't really get Superman.  His gritty, style-over-substance, film-making M.O. is far better suited to the Bat than Superman and it's in the Gotham focused scenes that BvS soars most highly.

As for the titular smackdown, it's quite short-lived and, in all honesty, one of the weaker scenes in the movie.  Again, character is tossed out the window as Superman says all he wants to do is talk and then proceeds to pummel the dark knight as hard as he can.  The dialogue that ends the fight is meant to be character based, but it's pretty thin that that short conversation would completely negate the bad blood that the entire movie has been building towards.  However, once we get passed the BvS and move on to the "Dawn of Justice", the movie kicks it back into gear with a finale that is at once thrilling and exhausting.

Among the best elements of the film is a terrific Hans Zimmer score that expertly combines the roughly rhythmic style from his own Dark Knight scores with the exhilarating theme from Man of Steel.  Another high point is the wonderful performance by Gal Gadot.  Her scenes are short and fleeting, but the promise of greatness to come surrounds her throughout the film.

So, long story short, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is not a bad film, but it is an inconsistent one.  It's not a boring film, but it is roughly hewn.  It's not a disaster, but it's not a triumph either.  It's not the DC Cinematic Universe-building movie we wanted, but it'll do for now.

Rating: B-

Movie Review: Zootopia

Zootopia/Disney Animation Studio/Dir. by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, and Jared Bush/Rated PG

Anthropomorphic animals have been a regular fixture in animation since Gertie the Dinosaur stunned audiences in the 1910's.  They've talked, they've sung, and they've fallen in love.  They've become kung fu masters and gourmet French chefs.  Animals are so entrenched in the world of animation that yet another movie about yet another group of animals acting like people seems beyond indifferent.

When I first heard the premise of Zootopia, my expectations were low and my apathy was palpable.  "A metropolitan city inhabited by animals instead of people!  What?  There are cops and gangsters and the movie is a tribute to movies like The Godfather?!?  That has literally never been done before!"  Except, of course, by Shark Tale, which was an hour-and-a-half of fish puns held together flimsily by lazy references to movies that no kid in the audience would know.  Also, Cars tried a similar "it's just like our world, except with (fill-in-the-black) instead of people" strategy as well, with stronger, but not fantastic, results.

So, yes, it's fair to say that I was not sold on Zootopia from the beginning.  The trailers didn't help.  Even the popular 2nd trailer involving an admittedly hilarious sloth working at the DMV still seemed like too little too late.  Well, I'm here to say that the reviews are right and the hype is justified.  Zootopia is a marvel.  It's endlessly inventive, consistently hilarious, surprisingly thoughtful,  and contains one of the most important and timely messages in animation history.  Seriously.

Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) is a small-town rabbit with big-time dreams.   Since she was a small bunny, she was determined to become a police officer, in spite of the fact that no rabbit had ever been one.  After working through the police academy, she gets assigned to the police force in Zootopia, a metropolis in which predator and prey have been living side by side in harmony for eons.  Viewing Zootopia as a place where "anybody can be anything", Judy approaches her assignment with unbridled enthusiasm, even as her parents (Bonnie Hunt and Don Lake) worry about their little baby moving to the big city.

In her first day on duty, she meets a fast-talking con artist fox named Nick (perfectly voiced by Jason Bateman).  Eventually, the two end up working together on a missing persons case which, of course, goes deeper than it initially seems.  Also, not surprisingly, they become unlikely friends who learn to see each other's strengths in spite of their own bigoted views of the other's species.

For having a basic premise that seems, in all honesty, pretty "by the animation book", Zootopia displays a dazzling amount of ingenuity and imagination.  Unlike other similarly themed films, which made their cities look just like human cities with ridiculous car or fish related puns taking the place of genuine humor, the city of Zootopia is uniquely, delightfully animal based.  There are different boroughs with unique climates for a variety of species.  The buildings have beautifully organic designs that make many areas of the city resemble jungles.  There are even mini-neighborhoods for the rodents.  Every frame contains another 10 or 20 reasons to smile at the extreme amount of thought put into backgrounds that fly by with colorful glee.

Beyond the frequently surprising humor and the visual splendor to be found in this, one of the very best films from the John Lasseter-era of Disney animation, there are several messages that could not have been more timely.  If motivated by kindness and determination, we can make a difference.  Judging a group of people by the actions of a few is ignorant and dangerous.  It's better to get to know people than it is to simply believe rumors that we've heard about "their kind."  Most people are capable of surprising you with their depth and decency.  What hopeful and empowering messages for children and adults alike.

For parents considering this as a family outing, the only misgivings you may have involve a visit to a nudist yoga facility (of course, non-anatomically correct, but a few jokes about yoga positions au natural are still a bit on the crude side for a Disney film) and two instances of taking the Lord's name in vain, an increasing trend in family films, but still disappointing to those of us who are devout Christians.  Also, the plot involves some darker bits involving some animals "going savage" which may frighten very young children.  It's not the most "adult" of the Disney animated films, but it is more grown-up than anything they've done for a while.

However, these issues do not change the fact that this is an outstanding film and an early front-runner in the Best Animated Feature Oscar category.  The animation is uniformly stunning, the vocal performances filled with energy and warmth, the writing brilliantly nuanced, the music (by the terrific Michael Giacchino) alternatively gonzo and poetic, and the messages are head and shoulders above typical animated fare.  The directors, the minds beyond the terrific Wreck-It Ralph and Tangled have taken a premise that could have just been a rehash of the worst instincts in animation over the past two decades and created a complex, funny, and poignant reminder of the best of what it means to be human, even if it is a talking rabbit and fox that teach us about our own humanity.

Grade: A