Batman V Superman
03.25.16
In 1992, my love of comic books had been replaced with William Gibson, Stephen King and Terminator 2 so I gave The Death of Superman a read but more out of respect than interest in how he’d been killed or who did it. Last night, my re-kindled interest in comic books (sparked by Bryan Singer’s first two X-Men films) reached a new height at the Airbus IMAX theatre. Today, I read some online reactions and while I think all things online should be taken with the proverbial salt there are a few things I am compelled to keyboard.
A lot of the criticisms may be accurate in conveying how the authors felt but I disagreed with much of it. One point I do concede is that it was tough to squeeze the MoS sequel, introduction to our new Batman/Bruce Wayne and set-up for JL through Bruce’s knightmare sequences, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor’s decrypted files into one film. Yes, I did want more screentime for Henry Cavill’s Superman/Clark Kent (and a montage of him saving people around the world) and Jeremy Irons’ Alfred (shades of Batman Returns) and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. Yet, the way I saw it, the limited screentime served to add value to each onscreen moment, each line of dialogue and every facial expression.
The combination of story elements from “The Dark Knight Returns”, “Red Son” and “The Death of Superman” was thoroughly engaging and did I catch a hint of Danny Elfman’s Batman theme? Not to mention how the impact of our X-chromosome bearing characters: Lois connects Superman to humanity, both mothers having the name Martha tied heavily into the resolution, Diana Prince (enough said); even Senator Finch serves to set off the ‘Superman is bad’ storyline. Lastly, I got giggles from the pop culture bits; two characters from The Walking Dead as Bruce’s parents, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Joe Morton creating more cyber-biotech, etc. I will be first in line for the Ultimate Cut but for now, I am wearing my black armband from the Death of Superman.
Johnlee
03.25.16
7:05pm”Batman V Superman
Apocrypha, Shadow and Cold Light 