Warning…spoilers ahead. Just from the trailer, if you have already seen the trailer then carry on, if you are one of those that scream OMGGGGGG every time someone mentions anything from a commercial, turn around now (by turn around I mean “go back to the main page and read some more awesome Werrrk.com material”).
The trailer opens up with our first real glimpse of Bruce Wayne. I dig Bruce, to me, Bruce always seemed to be Batman’s secret identity, and not the other way around. I’m one of a few who has been excited for Affleck to step into a Versace Batsuit(is Versace too basic for Bruce?). Keeping with tradition, Bruce appears at a large gathering, because if we’ve learned anything through the years, Bruce Wayne just loves to attend, and even host, boring parties that come with dress codes.
As Wayne pulls up, the clip cuts to Clark Kent pondering who is arriving as people are getting excited at the arrival, which, seems odd for Ace Reporter Clark Kent to be wondering who this is, is he playing a bit aloof to throw people off his super scent, or is he just not that great of a reporter? Moments later, in another cut, we see them at the interior of a building as they meet for the first time.
Clark’s just like “Bro, WTF is going on in Gotham, whats the deal with the bat guy?” We are then treated to an awkward smirk, or perhaps shit eating grin from Bruce and they basically enter what feels like an awkward rap battle, as they both drop disses on the others alter egos. It’s like, they both want to rep their city while slamming any sucka MC heroes. They both make valid points, but, Bruce clearly win’s this first battle by calling Superman coverage as fluff, and references him saving a cat. A cat in a damn tree. Bruce is basically Eminem in 8 Mile at this point and seems to be visually sizing up Clark. Still, I ponder, do they know who the other is? World’s greatest detective may already know who Kent is, then again, Clark may have flown over stately Wayne Manor and used his X-Ray vision to reveal a batcave. Who knows?
Just as the stare down gets intense, the music crescendo in full effect…enter Mark Zuckerberg with our first glimpse at the Joker. He jumps in to break the tension with all the accord of a jester and…what? Oh, wait, apparently it’s Jesse Eisenberg as a very jovial and wacky Lex Luthor. Yeah, I’m as confused as you at this point.
In another out of nowhere cut, suddenly we are treated to what Zack Snyder is known for, lots of pretty explosions and cool visuals. Superman, Batsuits, fighting, explosions. Is it real, is there a dream sequence? If nothing else, even with the rather choppy editing, I have to admit, 12 year old me is pretty excited with the gratuitous action and fighting. Batman seems to be really fighting, like, all in, which is really the first time this has happened on screen, at least for me. You feel a real sense of danger for Batman, and honestly, that’s kind of rare.
Awkward cut to Lex, then back to more brawling, then more awkward in brawl cuts that seem to elude to a dream sequence as we catch glimpses of a costume that was revealed as “Knightmare Batman” toy at New York City Comicon. More awkward cuts, military, oh now Lex in a lab coat as he seems to transition from wacky guy to arrogant prick more and more with each cut.
Lex has seemingly taken over Dexter’s Laboratory and is conducting experiments like Dr. Frankenstein, then, just when we thought Hulk had dispatched with Abomination in his film, he appears again in this film ready to mess some shi…oh, wait, apparently that is Doomsday.
Batman is pinned down in what seems to be his 9826th vehicle to be nearly destroyed in this film, Doomsday powers up his laser eyes and takes aim, Batman covers up his face because it’s been scientifically proven that your forearms are stronger than adamantium or vibranium(wrong universe again, damn it).
Then it happens, what appears to be a small nuclear blast cuts to our first glance at Wonder Woman who has just used her shield(maybe hers is Vibranium, damn it!) to seemingly save Batman’s life, I think this is just some more strange editing, because then it seems as though Supes and Batman(who has a gun now…) are basically BFFs now and kind of toss a moment of comic relief as they ponder who Wonder Woman is and where she came from, not going to lie, she looks amazing. Still a bit early to tell how she will work on the big screen and how they write her, but, visually, aside from being a bit short for an Amazon, she looks fantastic.
So, that all said, I’ve watched it repeatedly, I’m a fan of Snyder’s kind of brainless take on film making, I don’t mean that as an insult, he’s just more of a style over substance, and I can’t think of a movie I didn’t enjoy(yes, I love Sucker Punch too) of his. Yeah, the editing seemed odd(Hence A for Effort in the title), and I can’t help but wonder if it wasn’t a near rush job to counter the sucker punch(see what I did there) that Marvel threw just days prior. Regardless, for the first time since probably 1989, I’m excited to see Batman on the big screen, and yes, I still firmly believe Affleck is going to kill it.
2016 is shaping up to be an amazing year for movies, and Batman Vs. Superman seems to want to make quite a statement, how will it fare in a year with a civil war, a merc with a mouth and a new Ghostbusters? Only time will tell, but, it really feels like now or never for DC’s film division. Let’s all cross our fingers and hope it’s as awesome as we want it to be.
