I have been wanted to write about this ever since I watched the movie but sometimes, the idea of actually typing it out makes me a bit lazy, and hence it took this long for this post to appear after the movie was released. Procrastination much?
I think it’s pretty safe to assume that everyone had already watched the movie but if not, be warned that there are spoilers in this post.
Writing a movie review is not really my kind of thing. However for this case, looking at all the negative comments directed to it, I wanted to say something to defend the movie against some of the comments.
One of the things that most people have issue on is the “Save Martha!!!” scene. They said that that scene messed up the movie because after all that conflict in ideas, after all that fighting and brawling scenes, these two superhero figures become best friends when they discovered that both of their moms shared the same name. To put in Malaysian’s term; potong stim.
Well, I beg to differ. There is more meaning to that scene than just the “Yay!! Both of our moms have the same name!! Hooray!!” and here’s why. Before I begin, here’s the conversation that happened in that scene, just to help you to recall.
Batman: [suffocating Superman with his foot on his throat] You were never a
god. You were never even a man!
Superman: [hardly breathing] You’re letting them kill Martha…
Batman: What does that mean? Why did you say that name?
Superman: Find him… Save Martha…
Batman: Why did you say that name? Martha? Why did you say that name?
WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?
Lois Lane: [enters running] It’s his mother’s name! It’s his mother’s name.
This is how I interpret that scene. During the battle between Superman and General Zod, Bruce Wayne realized just how powerful Superman can be and how effortlessly he can caused destruction around him. In a mere mortal’s point of view, Superman is almost a God-like-being, with all that abilities that he has. Bruce is afraid that one day, Superman might decided to wipe out humanity just because he can, and hence, he has to do something about it before it happens. Fast forward to the part when Batman almost completes his mission by poking Superman with the kryptonite spear, Superman mentioned the name ‘Martha’. All this while, Batman always view Superman as a single being, a single alien that always acted on his own account and has no ties at all with humanity. So when Superman uttered that name, in Batman’s mind, it can only refer to one person which is his mom; Martha Wayne. Of course this make Batman to question Superman on why the hell he mentioned that name, until Lois came inside the picture and explained it to him. The explanation gives Batman a mindblown moment, NOT because their moms shared the same name but because Batman finally discover that this God-like-being, who can easily destroy stuff without breaking a sweat, actually cares about a human being’s live even though he’s about to be poked to death with a spear. This changes everything, on how Batman viewed Superman all this time and it leads to Batman working together with Superman to save Martha Kent and defeat the actual villain. I believe this is what the scene is trying to convey.
On the second point, critics loves to compare Marvel’s Captain America Civil War against Batman V Superman. Although I have to admit that Civil War is better than Batman V Superman (BvS) in the characters and story development, it’s unfair to compare it against Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. BvS is the first attempt to create a larger DC universe while Marvel has a long experience in doing this. Marvel too has its own shares of bad movies such as the Daredevil, both of the Incredible Hulk movies, and the Fantastic Four movies before they finally ‘found the right recipe’ to keep the audiences entertained. I believe that BvS is a good start for a more greater expansion of the DC Universe.
To end this post, here are the parts that I like and dislike about the BvS movie.
What I like:
- The beginning flashback scene where both of Bruce Wayne’s parent were killed in the alley. It was done beautifully and with that amazing background soundtrack, it sends shiver down my spine.
2. The scene of the building, in which the hearing of Superman’s action is taken place, is exploded and everyone is killed except Superman. To see Superman in the middle of the flames with the anguish look on his face as he looks around the burning place. Dayumm…. So much feels. You could literally feel the sadness and grieve inside him, when he see that he still survives while everyone died.
3. The fighting scene between Batman and Superman. That’s like a dream come true to watch it happen in the big screen.
What I dislike:
1. One of the reasons that I really like about Batman is that no matter what the circumstances, he will never take other people’s lives. It is the one code that he will never break. In addition to that, I loved the idea that Batman would never, ever use a gun against his enemy because that is how his parent died and he would never want to use the tools that taken his parent’s life. But in the BvS movie, Batman don’t mind at all at killing people. Heck, he runs over his enemy in his batmobile, launch missiles at the baddies, uses gun in his dream and almost kills Superman with the kryptonite spear. While I understand that in this version of the story the Batman is a worn out hero and is already pushed to his limit, it’s a bit too much to portray Batman that way.
2. Remember that I mentioned how I loved the opening scene? I don’t know why they have to spoil it by having the young Bruce Wayne floating upwards with all the bats flying around him. Why do they have to make it a dream sequence??
3. The ending part of the fight. I hate it. Really hate it. I don’t understand why or how Superman thinks that it is a good idea to hold the weapon that is your weakness as well and jump straight on into the fight. It would make sense if Wonderwoman is not inside the movie and there’s no one else who are strong enough to approach Doomsday. But she IS inside the movie and he has seen what she’s capable of. He could easily pass the spear to her and while Superman and Batman distract Doomsday, Wonderwoman can go for the kill. It’s a useless and a dumb self sacrifice to make.
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