Back in late 2013, I finally had a chance to see Man of Steel and see what all the fuss was about. I'd had a busy summer and hadn't managed to see it in theaters, though my brother had gone with my dad and told me that he had liked it. Finally they brought home the DVD, and we all watched it together, and... I was disappointed. Superman was such a weak character who only made decisions based on what his father (take your pick on which one), Lois Lane, or some other influential figure in his life told him to do. The movie wanted to explore the philosophy of how Superman should use his powers more than previous incarnations, but they left exploring that possibility alone after Jonathan Kent suggested that, maybe, just maybe, Clark should've let a school bus full of children die rather than reveal his identity to the world - I can see the point he was trying to make, but there's the fact that they left it there. Finally, Superman's decision at the very end of the movie was unbelievably grating to me, and I felt that if it had been Batman in the same situation, he would have found another solution - because they respect Batman as a character, but apparently not Superman. I haven't seen Man of Steel again.
When they later announced Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, I was frustrated on several levels. First of all, I hate the perception that because Batman and Superman have different approaches, they must be enemies - there are some great stories about them being different but also being very good friends. This was going to be the first time that Superman and Batman would co-star in a theatrically released movie, and it was explicitly more about answering "Who would win if Batman and Superman fought?" question above all else.* Wonder Woman was announced, and I could not believe that they were going to introduce her, Black Widow-style, in the middle of the Batman and Superman's movie, rather than in her own. The trailers started to come out, and it became abundantly clear that the dark tone, half-baked philosophizing, and extreme violence that I disliked in Man of Steel would continue here. Wonder Woman looked like little better than eye candy that the producers had thrown in because they knew that the fans would have a fit if they didn't. It looked like they were going to do everything I dreaded. But, I knew I would still see it in theaters because... it was still Batman and Superman. I did not appreciate seeing a movie because I was trapped in a sort of Skinner Box.
I went to see BvS in theaters, all right. I sat down, arms folded, scowling, expecting to hate this movie. (I'm not even being dramatic - that's literally what I did.) The beginning with an overdramatic retelling of Batman's origin story pretty much confirmed it for me.
Imagine my surprise, about an hour later, when I realized that I was actually enjoying this movie.
Every time I've tried to write this, I go into several digressions on one topic or another. Perhaps I'll go into more detail if there are questions about some aspect, but I'm going to try to summarize for the purposes of keeping this post a manageable length. Please bear in mind as well that, while I did enjoy this movie, I am not going to attempt to convince anyone else to like it if they did not. I liked this movie, but it is not the best Batman or Superman movie I've ever seen. It's not the best one that includes both characters. It's not even the best movie I've seen where Batman and Superman meet for the first time (YES I'm absolutely counting the animated ones here). But since I have such an unpopular opinion, I feel like I can't admit to this fact without feeling forced to defend it. I have a terrible time doing that verbally and my posts elsewhere tend to get inconsiderately long and ramble-y, so I'm going to try to explain myself in here.
(From here on out, there be spoilers for not only this movie, but also mild ones for several Marvel movies.)
I suspect that, ultimately, why I liked this movie more than others did was that it's one of the few that wanted to really explore what reality would be like in a world where superheroes exist. The superpowers and concepts were not a means to an end - the core of the movie is "What happens when there is alien life on Earth so much powerful than humanity can hope to best? Can we trust it?" Yes, the movie absolutely fails to execute those ideas on several occasions, and instead of exploring they idea, they navel-gaze until the movie comes to a grinding halt, without even giving a satisfying answer to the question. But the movie was still ultimately driven by what is life like in this world - and how would these characters behave?
It also wasn't afraid of having such "silly" concepts as a Batman who doesn't need to be "realistic" (*side-eyes The Dark Knight and the scene "justifying" why Batman can turn his head in all his armor*), an immortal warrior woman who has magic armor and a lasso, and a time-traveler who tries to warn Batman of some future threat, who is only justified within the movie for those who are familiar with The Flash. Not one of these are introduced to the audience with a wink and a joke. The closest it comes is when Batman and Superman see Wonder Woman for the first time and have their "Is she with you?" "I thought she was with you." But to me, that is a completely different league (no pun intended) than breezing past Scarlet Witch by describing her as "she's weird" or stopping just shy of overtly laughing at the name "Ant-Man". It's not at all a knock on Wonder Woman's inherent weirdness - it's more that neither of them were prepared for her. This is a world where these things just are, they don't have to be justified beyond the fact that you're watching a superhero movie.
Speaking of Wonder Woman, she was one of the things I loved about this movie. I loved her introduction as charming, mysterious, and her own agent that no one in the movie quite knew about or what to do with. Her motivations, and the fact that even Batman didn't know who she was, were intriguing. Wonder Woman also is the one who was given every opportunity to let Batman and Superman handle Doomsday, to continue on her way and on her own mission. Instead, she didn't think twice about revealing her existence to the world and risking her life to stand up against him. Honestly, my biggest exposure to Wonder Woman outside of this movie was the Justice League TV show (and follow-up series Justice League Unlimited), where she was my least favorite Leaguer. I've had classic Wonder Woman explained to me and I've loved that concept, but the closest I'd come to actually seeing that before this movie was her brief appearance in Young Justice.
When it was announced that Wonder Woman would be in this movie, I thought for sure that they'd never have the time (or skill) to give me an example of how that ideal Wonder Woman I desperately wanted to see. I was dead wrong, and I'm very glad of it. Not only that, it would have been a travesty to leave her out. This movie founds the Justice League, even if it that doesn't actually form for another few movies, and it would have been a mistake to do so without having the complete DC Trinity there for the first battle. This movie completely finally made me forget about her pathetic characterization in the TV show and sold me on her own movie. I'm beyond happy (and feeling quite vindicated) that her movie was very good and proved those of us who had hope right.
I am fully aware that almost all of these responses have had to do with my personal taste. I have a lot of background knowledge, experience, hopes, and passion for these characters. I am deeply invested in superheroes in general, I love speculative fiction - I am part of a very niche audience. And I suspect that might have a lot to do with why I like this movie and a lot of people do not. Zack Snyder is very clearly a devoted superhero fan himself, and while it's clear to me that he has a much different take on what makes a good superhero story than I do, I can't deny his passion. Perhaps it is just that these movies are very designed for the niche audience that not only enjoys superheroes, or even these characters, but does so the same way he does, which is why they're grating for those outside that audience. I will fully admit there are moments that feel a lot like fanfiction. But there are also so many moments that spark my imagination, that draw me into the world, that give me hope for future, more refined movies that will continue to explore what works, and hopefully leave behind what doesn't. (I am hoping beyond all hope that all the humor in the Justice League trailer is just a sign that either the marketing team is pushing for more of a Marvel movie type theme, or that the change will come around naturally - and not that they felt that because BvS failed, they needed to completely, abruptly change their strategy. I'd love a Justice League movie with a sense of humor - I just want it to maintain the sense of gravitas.)
This is why I will unabashedly say that I like this movie while fully admitting to its flaws. (The fact that I care about these characters means I utterly loathe Lex Luthor in this movie - sane Lex Luthor is an infinitely more interesting character than "wannabe Joker" - and I hate that Superman never comes across as a hero because he never makes his own choices.) I will never try to convince anyone else to like this movie with me - if the movie did not work for you, then it is a failure on the movie's part. I am not asking public opinion to change. I am asking that you respect my opinion on this movie and don't try to "correct" me with Martha jokes. I'm asking for the opportunity to have this opinion without having to defend having it.
Now is probably a bad time to admit that I like the Star Wars prequels too, huh?
*Skip this paragraph if you're not interested in my ran about the "Who would win in a fight?" question. For the record, I think it's inherently silly. "Who would win in a fight" is always going to be determined by not just each of the characters and their abilities, but the context of the fight. Is one of them fighting to protect a loved one? Does one of them just want to escape and the other wants to capture/kill them? How does the setting/environment affect the scenario? What kind of prep time did they each have? Captain America's fight at the end of The Winter Soldier gives a great example of how brutal he is willing to be when the situation demands it, but you can't use that as baseline for how he would behave in another battle without the same stakes as he had in that movie. A match divorced from context, set in a vacuum for the sole purpose of determining who is stronger, will never capture truly capture either character - even characters in fighting games tend to have the context of some kind of tournament they want to win. Also, quite frankly, it will also depend on the needs of the writer, in all contexts except a Death Battle. Always. Period. It's why a fight between Superman and Darkseid still has any potential to be interesting, even though (by this logic) they've fought before so we should "know" who would win in a fight.
