Hate for Batman v. Superman

In case you weren't aware, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is taking a real beating from the critics.

And yes, for the record, I loved it.  I would definitely put it in my top five comic book movies ever, right up there with the first Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and X-men: Days of Future Past.  I thought it was a near-perfect realization of all those comics I loved as a kid, from Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns to Crisis on Infinite Earths.  It's a movie that aspires to the best of what those comics offered, and if it's not quite kid-friendly, well, neither were the comics that inspired it.

But yes, it is a long movie.  There's also a lot of talking in it.  And it's dark.  And it talks about things like humanity and godhood, democracy and dictatorship.  It's very much the superhero movie you would expect from the guy who wrote Argo, and yes, there are a few missteps along the way.

"Aquaman is holding his breath."  How many times are people going to harp on this?  Aquaman is present in this movie for less than a minute altogether, and still people harp on the fact that Jason Momoa appears to be holding his breath.  Maybe he was stifling a burp.  Maybe he had a mouth full of fish.  I don't know.  Does it really matter?

"That's not Superman!  Superman wouldn't do that!"  But it is Superman, and he has done "that" many times in the comics.  If you are so offended by the version of Superman presented in Batman v. Superman, you should go back and reread your copies of The Dark Knight Returns, or even Kingdom Come.  Superman strives to be virtuous, yes, but he hasn't always been a paragon of virtue.  And how could we relate to him if he was?  It is their flaws that make characters interesting, and (for the record) Superman as moral exemplar went out of style a long time ago.

"Zack Snyder!  I hate Zack Snyder!"  If you really hate Zack Snyder so much, you need to rethink your priorities.  Zack Snyder is just a director - in other words, he's just a guy - and like any guy he'll do some things you like and some things you don't.  I get the critique that he's overrated.  I was also disappointed by Man of Steel.  But in my opinion he's redeemed himself with this one, and I now draw comfort from the fact that the director of Batman v. Superman (and Watchmen) will be, I can only assume, at the helm of the upcoming Justice League.

"It's not as good as Marvel!"  Really?  Are you sure?  Or is it just different?  Maybe you walked into Batman v. Superman expecting yet another clone of the Winter Soldier.  Maybe you were expecting bright costumes, and superheroes cracking jokes.  Maybe you were expecting kid-friendly (i.e. "escapism" or any movie that doesn't require thought), and Batman v. Superman definitely isn't that.  I would even argue that it's better than that.

But hey, maybe Batman v. Superman just isn't your cup of tea.  If that's your opinion, you are certainly entitled to it.  No one's opinion is wrong, and not everyone likes the same things.  I might have loved Batman v. Superman.  You might have hated it.  That's OK.  We can agree to disagree.

I only hope that you'll see the movie first, and make up your mind after you've seen it.  And more than that, you might actually examine your own preconceptions before seeing it, and not feel a bizarre need to be on the winning side of some ridiculous Marvel vs. DC argument.  You can like both of them, you know.  You can even like the X-men.  You can even like Fant4stic.  As long as you've exercised your power of independent thought, everyone wins.

And for God's sake, don't buy into these boring discussions of how much money a movie makes equaling its artistic merit, or how a score on IMDb is supposed to mean something.  NO movie deserves to be discussed in those terms, not even Transformers.  It is a saddening trend that reduces movies into numbers, and into thoughts thought by other people.  In the end YOU are the most important critic out there, and as such you'll find far less satisfaction in film when you continually resort to these kind of "authorities" when determining a film's worth.

Because when all is said and done, a lot of great movies haven't made a lot of money, and a lot of great movies were trashed by the critics.  Just because they didn't make millions and weren't liked by Siskel and Ebert didn't make them failures.  Many of them actually did find an audience, and enjoy financial success, at a much later date.

So if you're asking me, I'd recommend Batman v. Superman without reservation.  Go see it.  And if you happen to like it as much as I do, don't worry about what your "friends" might think.  We all like what we like, right?