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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Intermittent fight sequences and cinematography cannot salvage Batman v Superman's sinking, disjointed narrative.
"Look at me! Here I am. Love me!" is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice's cry to the masses. Masses that want to listen to its appeal, masses that want to see a film in which the two most iconic superheroes of all time go head to head in an epic showdown, but also masses that end up disappointed. There are a lot of good ideas floating around throughout the movie too, but director Zack Snyder can't translate those ideas into content that audiences actually enjoy.
The highly anticipated blockbuster couldn't come through for audiences because accomplishing the ideas, themes, and set-up for future DC Comics movies in a single movie longer than two and a half hours is plainly impossible. The Marvel Cinematic Universe would have needed -- and taken -- the span of five movies to do that. Those five movies are distinguishable within Batman v Superman, which would be fine, but those movies don't play well with each other. The connections between them are miniscule, and because they don't flow well from one to the next it ends up as a series of sporadic cuts from one "movie" to the next. There could be a Batman solo movie, Man of Steel 2, a movie about Superman's conflict with Lex Luthor, a movie that tries to set up the DC's Justice League (hence the Dawn of Justice), and the movie that actually corresponds with the title, the Batman versus Superman story. Individually, all of these movies have the potential to be something great, but because they are all jammed into one movie, they all turn disastrous, subtracting from each other. It would seem that with a ton of content, Snyder would be able to fill all two hours and thirty three minutes, but instead it shows beautifully shot and choreographed fight scenes that don't connect emotionally or logically, and are ultimately way too short after cutting to a muddled series of boring conversations.
Any emotional connections that do try to sew the movie together, however, fail in doing so. Kryptonite is the most blatant example, as several key events revolve around its power, but the problem is that Kryptonite is not intriguing, nor is it a good foundation. Regardless of its abilities to weaken Superman, writer David S. Goyer clearly could not find anything that made more sense or was more captivating. Fortunately, Henry Cavill (Immortals) is captivating as Superman, especially alongside Hans Zimmer's (Interstellar) intense score that flawlessly complements him. Superman's motives are intriguing, bringing up a series of philosophical questions about whether or not Superman should exist, and if Superman is justified, and Henry exudes that well on screen. His relationship with Lois Lane (Amy Adams, Enchanted) is beautiful, anytime she is swooped up from danger earning cheers. The problem is that all of this is only touched upon briefly and never expanded upon as it could have been and surely not to the point of emotional resonance. Instead, screen time is spent on Daily Planet editor Perry White (Laurence Fishburne, The Matrix) and his monotonous newsroom
for some intangible reason.
Batman (Ben Affleck, Argo) and his butler, Alfred (Jeremy Irons, The Lion King) have the opposite problem. The writing for him is efficient, but the motives are unclear. The opening scene is a neo-noir style retelling of the Batman origin story with cool, precise storytelling, but as it was already seen in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins is also unnecessary. In addition, Bats doesn't have any reason to be fighting Superman (in other words, to be in the movie at all). Batman is a beloved character, and Affleck does bring something new to the table. At the same time, energy is poured into creating something out of a character whose baseline hasn't yet been set in the DC Cinematic Universe. Batman v Superman is too worried about its many other subplots to even develop Batman to the level his character deserves, and because nothing is there to build off of, no fruits can come from that wasted time.
In many cases, it was the erroneous Batman story for which Superman was tossed aside, sometimes even Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot, Fast and Furious 6) and Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg, Now You See Me) taking precedence over the Man of Steel. Seeing Bruce Wayne's face turn darker and darker as Superman destroys Metropolis is perfectly done, Ben Affleck proving himself as possibly one of the most preeminent "Bruce Wayne"s ever. But after those opening thirty Batman heavy minutes pass, Wonder Woman is useless to the story, and Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex as well as the movie on the whole lack intrigue.
In the end, Batman v Superman doesn't accomplish its goals. Superman's story is sidelined by Batman, who, though in the spotlight, gives long and confusing bouts of
nothing? A terrible Alfred, especially compared to Michael Caine's take on the character? Random moving pictures on the screen? Snyder also has to set up his future Justice League movie, so he said, "No! Take out those useless moving pictures and put in different useless moving pictures of Wonder Woman!" There is nothing good to say about Jesse Eisenberg's take on Lex Luthor; the filmmakers utterly failed when it comes to him. He just sucks, and it is much easier instead to relax and think, "Wow, the movie isn't sucking right now" while cheering for Batman as he pounds in a thug's skull. Unfortunately, no matter how well-shot, eye-dazzling, or all-out jaw dropping the scenes Snyder creates are, they are in no way able to compensate for the drawn out mess that the rest of Batman v Superman has become.
F: Intermittent fight sequences and cinematography cannot salvage Batman v Superman's sinking, disjointed narrative
Hail, Caesar! (2016)
While interesting and funny at parts, Hail, Caesar! is unable to live up to its epic scope.
The premise of Hail, Caesar! is simple: There's a movie studio and there's a guy that works there. That's it. Now, once the movies inside the movie begin to be introduced (e.g. the titular Hail, Caesar!) things start to get interesting. The Coen Brothers make a film centered on the idea that there is a movie playing on the big screen, but there is also a movie inside that movie, and there are people making that movie inside another movie that was made by other people that made the real movie. Whoa. Unfortunately, that's about as deep as Hail, Caesar! (the movie, not the movie within the movie) gets.
The story, inasmuch as there is one, follows Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin, The Goonies), the head of production at Capitol Pictures, as he goes about his daily work. Mishaps are never far away. Through this journey - - or rather, lack thereof -- a truly beautiful world of film production is shown off with short glimpses into the hodgepodge of films that Capitol Pictures is cranking out. The different films are crafted accordingly, the Coen Brothers masterfully weaving in and out of them, showcasing some interesting stuff. Amongst the styles that they coalesce, however, the most important elements of a film like story, plot, and emotion get lost. Despite the style, production, the Coen brothers' incredible direction, and the world that they have pulled out of fifties cinema, Hail, Caesar! remains a handsome film that is mediocre and unsatisfactory lock, stock, and barrel the former aside.
That being said, it isn't a film that everyone will appreciate, and definitely not one that the average moviegoer will enjoy, but film buffs might love it. In fact, it scored a horrendous C- CinemaScore amongst audiences but enjoys an 80% amongst critics on Rotten Tomatoes, most of whom would probably love the style and setting and would also understand many of the obscure film jokes. Therefore, positive feelings toward the film greatly depend on which group one belongs to.
Still, there are plenty of goofy parts that everyone can enjoy: Burt Gurney's (Channing Tatum, 21 Jump Street) tap dancing scene is terrific, both comedic and well-choreographed. Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich, Beautiful Creatures) is an interesting, well-acted character that is fun to watch and live with inside the movie. There are entertaining aspects with good laughs to be had, but any of those aspects are unfortunately infrequent. Some sequences that aren't funny feel as though they go on forever, like when Lawrence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes, Schindler's List) attempts to coax Hobie to pronounce his name correctly for what seems like ten minutes. Conversely, some that are hilarious, like when Baird Whitlock (George Clooney, Ocean's Eleven) is captured, feel cut short. This off balance feel is made worse by the lack of focus and lack of plot. Ultimately, it is a haphazard wandering through disparate genres.
Pulp Fiction attempted the plot-less movie, and it does it amazingly. Hail, Caesar! tried the same thing, but it didn't have anything to support its uneventful plot. Good parts are there, and those good parts really are good. However great Hail, Caesar! tries to be, its comedic spans, colossal setting, and good direction are drowned by its ersatz and inorganic dialogue and lack of a gripping story. It remains uncaptivating.
F: While interesting and funny at parts, Hail, Caesar! is unable to live up to its epic scope.
Zootopia (2016)
While lacking emotional value, Zootopia still boasts hilarity and an underlying message that applies to everyone.
Zootopia starts out as a world chock full of anthropomorphic animals that go about their lives like ordinary humans, and, thankfully, the story told within that world is nearly as intelligent as the animals that populate it. Also fortunate is the incredible way that the animals begin to feel like human characters walking about the screen; their characters are so real that it is easy to forget that they are animals.
This case could be made with many movies that use anthropomorphics, but not only does Zootopia do it especially well, it also plays a clever twist -- not all the animals are civilized! Interestingly, the human race is the same way; many of our own behave like animals inside whilst appearing as human on the out. These are animals, but free animals, not ones in a normal "zoo", and are expected to rise above the oppressive nature humans experience along with freedom. All personas displayed in Zootopia revolve around this idea, one reason Zootopia is thoroughly captivating.
Like any good story, these themes are woven through the movements of said personae, one of whom is the principal character, Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin, Walk the Line), an eccentric rabbit that dreams of being a cop. Hopps has the motto anyone can be anything, and she uses this to motivate herself to become a cop. Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman, Horrible Bosses), a fox reluctant to fight for justice after being pegged as a scandalous cheater all his life, must join together to solve a mystery while fighting an uphill battle against the "speciesist" Chief Bogo (Idris Elba, Prometheus) of the police department and the clueless Mayor Lionheart (J.K. Simmons, Spider- Man), both of whom Hopps works for.
Concerning Chief Bogo, any and all actions of his speciesism that occur within the film can easily relate to the racism that happens among humans today. Of course, he still isn't actually the villain; he's not even villainous. He's more of an obstacle that Hopps has to overcome. Bogo's intentions are good. It makes sense that a small bunny shouldn't be able to be a cop. But when he is only holding her back because she is a bunny, that's speciesism. The cynical Nick says "You can only be what you are. Sly fox. Dumb bunny." These types of speciesism in the film are almost identical to the racism or stereotypical boxes that we as human beings put each other into, making Zootopia all too real.
Plus, the world of Zootopia is still entirely realistic, despite being animated and not live action! Characters have PB+J cell service on Carrot phones, with songs on them sung by the likes of The Beagles. Zootopia is gorgeous, and if the character and set design weren't enough the details supporting them are as in depth as they are in our universe. Every stone, every rain drop, every popsicle stick is painted perfectly, transcending the norm for animation.
As technology continues to grow, the animation will obviously get better along with it, illustrated by the progression between landmark films like Snow White and Toy Story. Zootopia proves technology is getting closer and closer to making that next landmark film. Even characters moving in the background offer to the scene exactly what they need to, something so often missing in animation and as frequently in live action. Zootopia stands as some of the most technically masterful material out there, surpassed only by all of Pixar's productions, particularly their most recent effort, The Good Dinosaur.
Like Dinosaur, however, Zootopia doesn't have a perfect story. Several times it becomes annoyingly predictable, and even worse, disappointing because of many cool points spoiled in the trailer. The political statements it makes are intriguing, but they begin to overshadow the story, becoming the focus of the narrative, even though such things should be displayed in the background and be representative of a magnificent story. Furthermore, just Like the political aspect, Nick Wilde takes over the story; the fox would have done better as the protagonist, boasting a dynamic character with more depth than Judy Hopps.
Fortunately, the writers built in hilarity and a fast pace atoning for the weaknesses of the film, keeping witty remarks and pop culture references always right around the corner. The Godfather, Frozen, and best of all, Finding Nemo, are either referenced or spoofed in great fun. However hilarious Zootopia is, though, it's icing on the cake (albeit a cake lacking emotional ingredients) to the thoughts that it provokes about society today. "Anyone can be anything", and that makes sense in the world of Zootopia and on Earth.
A small, apparently meek rabbit can become a cop if she works for it, even though it may be easier for a larger, more intimidating ox. Similarly, a predator isn't necessarily going to hurt you even though other predators might. That's not to say predators aren't dangerous, if they choose to be, because they can be! They have sharp teeth or long claws that can kill in seconds, but some of those predators choose not to kill. Why? The same reason that being a Muslim doesn't correlate to being a terrorist. Adults will watch and enjoy Zootopia because of its intense philosophical meanderings. Kids will fall in love with the precisely designed and adorable characters. Although all demographics will realize the lack of emotions and flawless stories Disney sometimes produces, everyone will undoubtedly fall helplessly in love with the visuals, quick pace, and the vast and uncompromising world of Zootopia.
C: While lacking emotional value, Zootopia still boasts hilarity and an underlying message that applies to everyone.