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Monday, April 20, 2015

Batman v Superman Trailer Review/Breakdown

After the ridiculous amount photos and posters, the teaser trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is here, and it is presents some interesting things to discuss. 

Opening with a narration by Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and others that discuss how Superman is a savior, and maybe someone like him is too powerful to be allowed free reign. For one, Eisenberg's voice starts out different than expected, but as he talks more, all I can see is the usual Eisenberg that we have seen so many times. At this point, I need to see him in action before I make my judgment. 
The more interesting aspect of the trailer is the Superman statue. Sure, Superman is virtually an all powerful being, but he is responsible for countless deaths in Metropolis, which Man of Steel completely glossed over. So, are the masses praising Superman out of fear or out of gratitude? Or maybe both. Thematically, the movie raises an interesting idea of Superman essentially being worshiped. The comparison to others with power that people follow, like Hitler or Stalin, presents potentially fascinating ideas. However, considering how poorly Man of Steel implemented its themes, I have a feeling that the movie is going to turn out to be a pretentious mess, thematically at least. Of course, the DC fanboys will praise it for being "dark" and "edgy" but it will just fall flat on its face. On the other hand, you never know, maybe the movie will surprise us. 

Another issue I have is that Superman as a character is painfully bland. He lacks any charm or relatable humanity. Watching this trailer made me realize just how unlikable this version of Superman is. I am not the type of Superman fan that complains about changes to the comic book, but I do like the character in the general. Unless Kal-El is developed quickly, there will be no reason for the audience to care about him or his fight against Batman. Even though I know very little about this version of Batman, I am already on his side. 

Ultimately, do I think this is going to be a amazing movie? Probably not, unless the script is a significant improvement over Man of Steel, but it should at least be a good movie that is fun to watch. If Zack Snyder is good at one thing, it is action sequences (even if they are repetitive).

Ironically, I am more excited about the new episodes of Arrow and The Flash this week than I am for this movie. With that said, I still want to see if BvS crashes and burns or rises up the ashes. Below are screenshots with my commentary.

My guess that this is Mexico, which makes it seem like Superman goes on tour.

Something about the special effects here look off. Hopefully it will be fixed in the film.


Now this is an interest picture. It is difficult to see, but if you look at the shoulder patches on the soldiers, you will see Superman's "S" logo. Now this is an exciting idea, because Superman appears to have a task force specifically for him, and maybe he did not even want it in the first place.


Who is that looking up at Superman? Is he just a random guy that Superman saves or someone important?

Now this is where the trailer gets really interesting. Superman being worshiped is an intriguing idea. While I have my doubts about the execution of the concept, it is very reminiscent of The Dark Knight Returns in certain respects, although Superman is almost portrayed as villainous.

*Broody Ben Batfleck is brooding.* Could Affleck look any more brooding? With that said, I am on board with Affleck as Bruce Wayne. He definitely has the jawline and the actin talent.




Since Superman has his own task force, this gives Batman some lackeys to fight, and that is exactly what this shot looks like.

Our first look at Batfleck in the normal Batman suit. As expected, this is heavily inspired by The Dark Knight Returns' version of Batman. I assume Affleck's costume is majorly bulked up because he is not nearly that big in real life.

The classic Batman looking over the city. However, this is another failed effects shot. It looks too stiff, and the cape is just wrong.

"I am Iron Bat!" Bruce Wayne takes a page out of Tony Stark's book by creating a mechanical suit to battle a superpowered being. Also, his voice changing tech is exactly what Batman needed, which is similar to CW's Arrow.


"Tell me, do you bleed? You will." Now this is the money shot of the trailer. The big confrontation of between Batman and Superman. Somehow, the movie must introduce a reasonable explanation for how Batman is going to fight Superman. Superman can move faster than the speed of sound to the point where he can dismantle Batman's mechanical suit before Batman even realizes it. Without Kryptonite or a similar plot device, Batman stands no reasonable chance. Maybe, they are going to have a brooding contest to see which of these emo guys can be more depressed (just kidding).


My impression of the logo is kind of meh. It looks too fat, but it is fine.


What did you think of the trailer? Please comment below and check back tomorrow for the final part of my Top 10 Villains list.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

18 comments:

  1. Do you prefer Marvel over DC or vice versa? Just curious because you said you aren't that excited for the movie, so I was wondering if that's why.

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    1. I like both, but Marvel's characters and comics have always appealed to be more since the characters are more human and relatable. However, DC's TV shows are fantastic, well, at least The Flash and Arrow are great (Gotham was terrible). The main reason I am not excited is that Zack Snyder is a terrible director for anything other than visuals and characters, and David Goyer is a terrible writer for the most part.

      -James

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    2. I feel ya, I've always been an X-Men fan so I guess I lean Marvel most of the time. But I still love Batman lol. But I hear DC over powers most of their characters which I HATE! (That's why I don't like Thor or Superman). I don't think Snyder is that bad, 300 is classic and Dawn of the Dead is actually one of the better horror remakes of all time (very surprising). But recently, I definitely agree he isn't the best, so I guess we can hope!

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    3. I agree 300 is a fun movie. It plays to Snyder's strengths since character development, plot, and acting are not important. I have not seen Dawn of the Dead though. I guess I would say that Snyder has been a poor job of late, or rather a mediocre job.

      -James

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  2. Zack my hat off to you for what will be a REAL comic film masterpiece and thank God that you are doing JL as well.

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    1. I am not sure if you are serious, but if so, that's fine.

      -James

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  3. LOL the new symbols are so squatty. :P

    Considering how little I connected with Superman in Man of Steel (that movie was awful), I'm already automatically on Batman's side as well, though I'm curious to see what they are actually fighting over.

    ~Jamie

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  4. I am really excited for this and will be there Day 1. I think Snyder did fine with Man of Steel (other than making it way too long near the end) and it seems like Superman might finally answer for his mistakes in the previous film, which would go a long way to improve that film in and of itself.

    I think having Affleck on set will greatly improve the film. He should make a good Batman, and I think he will/should lend some directorial device to Snyder. I'm fine with the dark/broody, but I'd really just rather prefer to have the action be a little bit more less outlandish. Had they removed 20 minutes of destruction from the Man of Steel finale, it would have been fantastic, and probably deserving of the 9 I gave it initially.

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    1. I will see it for the sake of review, but I really do not want to get my hopes up. Man of Steel's main issue is that Superman is poorly realised as a character. Visually, it was cool though.

      I hope he lends some directorial advice to Snyder, But I don't know, as cool as some parts of the movie were, the script was really weak IMO.

      -James

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  5. I just personally liked The Dark Knight series so much...I'm not sure how well this is going to compete. Man of Steel wasn't all that great...and I'm confused with the whole Iron Man look for Batman...eh we'll see how this turns out.

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    1. Exactly, we will just have to see how it turns out.

      -James

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  6. I am really confused by this movie. I can't tell if it will be a horrid flop or a out-of-the-blue wonder. Perhaps it
    will be somewhere in the middle. On one hand the trailer reveals some interesting themes to play with. On the
    other side it feels like a pointless cash grab. This movie confuses me.

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    1. I have to agree with you. It could be terrible or surprisingly good. The entire reason Batman is even in this movie is because Man of Steel was not good as they expected, and putting Batman in anything is like printing money.

      -James

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  7. To me, it does not compute that there is a superman statue in Central Park if people fear/hate him. I guess they appreciate IHop and Sears even less...I know nothing about this kind of thing but they're certainly making it seem superman hates the world back and is only reluctantly being a rescuer...I personally like the direction the atmosphere in these films is taking, but this is overdone. Somebody thinks all ominous scenes have to happen in the middle of storms...

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    1. Haha, good one. But yeah, I have no idea why his statue is there. Maybe it will be explained, but who knows at this point.

      -James

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  8. I'm not really that excited for this movie and might not see it until it is on DVD if I see it at all. I've never been that fond of the Batman and Superman movies, and my interest is even less now that they are dark and edgy. It might be odd, but I like a bit of humor in superhero movies.

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    1. That sounds like a good idea, especially if you have never cared for the characters. It really is just too dark for its own good.

      -James

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