It seems like it was a long, long time ago now when I presented the first installment of my thoughts on the 2016 film “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (just as I did last time, I’m going to shorten it to “BvS” throughout). There was a time when I enjoyed this film, but as the years passed – with the general consensus of other moviegoers – I disliked this film. Today, having recently seen the ultimate edition (the superior version) of this film on DVD, I appreciate it for what it is, but I am in no way declaring that this is the best superhero film ever made either.
In part 1, I spoke about Batman in “BvS”. While eventually I
plan to return to my thoughts on Batman and his arc in this movie, today I want
to talk about Superman. The Man of Steel
is out of character in this whole film, as I see it. Please understand that I’m not bashing Henry
Cavill at all. I think Cavill was a good
Superman, but in “BvS”, he was not
given all that much admirable content to work with – at least in my opinion.
Before diving in, there is one other thing I need to cover
in this introduction: the concept of a multiverse. The CW network presented a connected universe
of heroes someone dubbed the “Arrow-verse” and the name stuck. The idea is entirely separate universes,
similar in some ways to ours, but in other ways, significantly different. This concept really helped me to understand “BvS”.
For instance, the Batman of this “universe” may not have the smarts that
other Batmen typically do (did Batman ever figure out Clark is Superman in “BvS”?), but in what has commonly been
referred to as the “Snyder-verse” after Director Zack Snyder, that’s just the
way he is.
That said, I still can’t get behind Superman’s attitude in this
film. They already established in the
previous film “Man of Steel” (2013)
that the S emblem on his uniform on Krypton means “hope”; yet Superman doesn’t
radiate much hope in “BvS”. In fact, there’s a scene where Lois reminds
Superman of the family crest he wears and what it means, he basically shrugs it
off, and calls it the dream of his father. Now I get that Superman is inexperienced,
mistrusted, debated, and manipulated all throughout the movie. But no matter how dark the situation, I don’t
believe that any Superman in the multiverse would ever say, “No one stays good
in the world.” The first time I heard
him deliver that line, my jaw dropped.
Let me contrast this with another superhero film. Until recently, I had not seen “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (2014) since
that day in the theater 9 years ago. The
reason for this, in large part, was because I knew that Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone)
dies at the end of the film. But I had
completely forgotten what transpired after this sad development. Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is devastated
and broken-hearted. But he decides to
watch the speech Gwen had given at Graduation Day – he had originally missed it,
of course, thanks to his duties as Spider-Man.
Gwen’s speech, in part, was as follows:
“It’s easy to feel hopeful on a beautiful day like
today. But there will be dark days ahead
of us too. There will be days when you
will feel all alone, and that’s when hope is needed most. No matter how buried it gets, or how lost you
feel, you must promise me that you will hold on to hope. Keep it alive. We have to be greater than what we
suffer.” Gwen’s hopeful words inspired
Peter. And frankly, they inspired me too. They made me wish that Superman, even in his
dire situation in “BvS”, rather than saying "No one stays good in this world" had instead said
something like, “There’s always hope.”
But that wasn’t to be.
Despite all of this, I applaud Superman’s selfless act at
the end of “BvS”. Lex Luthor had created the ultimate weapon,
he dubbed it “Doomsday”. This creature
was on a destructive rampage. Contrary
to some critics, no one was going to be able to stop it; not even Batman or
Wonder Woman. So Superman decided to
act: he gave his life to destroy the monster, saving countless lives in the
process. I also disagree with those who
contend this has moment no emotional impact, because he would just be
resurrected next year in “Justice League”. I confess I cried as I viewed the scene. In that moment, whether it was intentional or
not, I saw my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His life for humanity on
a cross. “So that whoever believes in
Him,” states the famous verse in John 3, “will not perish, but have everlasting
life.”
To be continued!
Kevin
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