BATMAN v SUPERMAN : DAWN OF JUSTICE - TUESDAY 22nd March 2016

I was lucky enough to see the Australian Premier of 'BATMAN v SUPERMAN : DAWN OF JUSTICE' at a local Multiplex two days ahead of its official Australian release date on Tuesday last week. This much hyped, long awaited, eagerly anticipated and initially controversial next instalment in the DC Extended Universe is finally here, as Directed by Zack Snyder and made for a cool US$250M. This is the second instalment in the DC Extended Universe following 2013's 'Man of Steel' also Directed by Zack Snyder and which made US$668M off its US$225M production budget, and sees once again Henry Cavill reprising his role as Superman/Clark Kent. This film features some big name acting talent and also unites for the first time on the big screen in a live action movie a number of favoured characters from the DC canon - some of whom will get their own big picture outing in future years. All that said, it seems that this film is already dividing critics the world over with some making a scathing attack on the movie and others rating it well. Ultimately you will have to decide, and while the fate of the world rests in the hands of Batman and Superman, the fate of Batman and Superman rests in yours.

As the film opens we see Superman battling it out above the city skyline with an alien foe assumed to be the tail end of his epic battle with General Zod as seen at the end of 'Man of Steel'. There is mass destruction everywhere and innocent lives lost including those close to Bruce Wayne as he tears through the city streets gazing in disbelief at the sight of crumbling buildings and collateral damage in front of his very eyes, and all at the hands of Superman. All around him the citizens stare in disbelief at the carnage all around, and flee to safety, fearful for their own lives. Fast forward two years or so after these events and many of Metropolis's inhabitants, and indeed the world, are left feeling helpless, angry and fearful that Superman is not everything he is cracked up to be and in fact that he may even be a threat to humanity, especially if he continues to go unchecked. Equally though there are those who consider Superman as God like and their saviour given his superhuman powers. The media is in a frenzy as the debate rages on, and often on the front page of The Daily Planet newspaper where Clark Kent works with the love of his life Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and supervised by Editor Perry White (Laurence Fishburn).

Those who doubt Superman and see him as a threat include billionaire Bruce Wayne aka Batman (Ben Affleck) who takes it upon himself to wage a one man war against Superman to rid the Earth of him, so that its citizens can rest easy once more. This Batman however, is an ageing Superhero whom we learn through trusty and loyal Butler Alfred (Jeremy Irons) is 'too old to die young' and has been battling villains for over twenty years now. We are beyond the Nolan films, the age of Robin here, and Wayne Manor is a derelict abandoned wreck of a building now and a fading memory of what it used to stand for. Wayne is still a rugged handsome man about town and astute businessman loaded with more wealth than you can imagine, but his focus has shifted from capturing villains and locking them up (a reference here to the upcoming 'Suicide Squad' perhaps) to thwarting Superman once and for all. Affleck plays it well, looks the part with his chiseled features and lends a certain gravitas to this ageing Batman knocking on the door of fifty, and still living with his trusted family Butler, who has been seriously up-skilled from his former film appearances to a role much more emotionally advanced and tech. savvy.

In the wings however, watching and waiting is Lex Luthor (Jessie Eisenberg) who also has plans for Superman, and is working on weaponising Kryptonite which he has come to possess from the downed alien spacecraft carrying General Zod some two years earlier. He wants to create an intergalactic warning system that acts as a deterrent to potential invading alien kind, but he needs to get it through the Senate, and Senator Finch (Holly Hunter) ain't gonna let that happen for fear that such a weapon may be used for less noble means than intended. Angry that this is likely to be the case Luthor takes out his revenge on the Senate just as Superman descends to give evidence for the first time in a landmark hearing. It doesn't end well for anyone, and as a result Superman goes into hiding believing he was the root cause for the death of hundreds.

When Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne come together at a charity event hosted by Lex Luthor their initial reception is less than warm, as they both go on the defensive about their alter-egos, whilst not knowing yet who and what those alter-egos are. At this event, Wayne attempt to tap into LexCorp's mainframe and does so successfully only for the drive to be 'stolen' before he can reclaim it by a sultry mystery antiques dealer Diana Prince (Gal Gadot). Later tracked down by Wayne who confronts her, she explains that she has returned the drive to the glove box of his car, but that she believed that Luthor also was in possession of files relating to herself, which she wanted to retrieve. Later that day Wayne decrypts the drive and whilst scouring its contents learns that Diane Prince is some kind of immortal warrior as evidenced by photographs of her taken from the early 20th Century.

Meanwhile Luthor ramps up his activities to bring down Superman and is successful in retrieving a sizable rock of Kryptonite which he brings into Metropolis under cover of night. Batman is watching Luthor's every move and uncovers the impending shipment and so lays in wait to intercept the cargo for his own means to ultimately thwart Superman. Following a well executed action chase sequence through the docks of Gotham in which Batman follows the Kryptonite truck in his Batmobile, the dark knight is halted in his tracks when he comes face to face with Superman, who gives him a warning to cease his one man vigilante activities immediately or face the consequences of his wrath.

Eventually, while Luthor is caught napping, Batman retrieves the Kryptonite and sets about building himself a powerful new exoskeleton Batsuit and waeponises the Kryptonite to use against Superman. Cue the obligatory training montage of a ripped Batman prepping himself for the ultimate standoff. 'Who Will Win' indeed?? In the meantime, Luthor must revert to 'Plan B' and with access granted to General Zod's downed scout ship which rests in Metropolis, he splices his own DNA with that of General Zod in the ships Genesis Chamber. Still intent on destroying Superman, Luthor brings Lane to the helipad on top of LexCorp as a means of luring Superman there with a blackmailed threat that leads him to face off against Batman in an epic battle that sees one rise victorious . . . well almost, and potentially!

Whilst that battle royale is going on, the mutated creature that Luthor has concocted in the Genesis Chamber using his own DNA and that of Zod's together with some alien reproductive technology is coming to life, and larger than it! With the power to outdo Superman, 'Doomsday' as Luthor affectionally has called it, engage in head to head combat that sees whole city blocks destroyed, land laid to waste, and a nuclear war head pound straight into them both far above the Earth's atmosphere from which they both recover quickly only to return to the ground where Batman and now Wonder Woman (aka Diana Prince aka Gal Gadot) join the fight. Needless to say, good overcomes evil, but, at a cost!

As the story draws to an end we see Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince talking about the formation of a 'Justice League' that unites the other metahumans seen by him in Luthor's decrypted files - those being Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg, and now their attention must turn to tracking them down and helping to protect the world from further threats. With Luthor safely locked up in maximum security for all of his criminal activities, he is visited by Batman who says that he will now be forever watching him should he ever step out of line.

As of 27th March, the film has grossed of US$424M setting it at the fourth biggest opening of all time and the biggest Superhero movie opening of all time, with the film needing to take as a minimum US$800M to make it the commercial success needed to recover its US$250M production budget and its US$150M or so marketing & promotion costs. Those 'experts' claim that it is likely to take US$1B given the media frenzy and what its has done so far in its first four days since opening. As far as this Blogger is concerned, I hope it does well. I was pleasantly surprised by the film and think it deserves better than many critics are citing. The lead performances are strong and considered (Affleck, Cavill, Gadot, Eisenberg), the story is solid enough, the action set pieces are well executed, and the film maintains the attention for all of its 151 minutes running time. Chris Nolan was on board as an Executive Producer and he gave it the thumbs up.

This film is not as dark and brooding as any of Nolan's hugely successful trilogy, but we do see Batman and Superman in a different light here and for me that was refreshing, and we are introduced to a new character, and fleetingly, some new ones too in readiness for the next instalment. Despite many of the naysayers, this film is worthy of your attention and it's a must see on the big screen, and it stands up well as a singular offering, and as a follow on from Nolan's films (albeit some years later given that Affleck's Batman is ageing and not afraid to admit it) but without the intensity. I saw it in 3D which is unnecessary in my opinion, but give the film a go and you decide - you could do a lot worse with your $20 spent on the cost of entry.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-