Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)- The Importance of Context/Why Batman Killing Doesn’t Work

Context is an important key to storytelling. Not only does it provide awareness to the circumstances and stakes within the story itself, but it also gives a clear cut reason as to why we should care about the characters we follow throughout their journeys. Even when adapting from a source material, you have to provide context within the established film itself that can work as it’s own standalone thing without needing outside medium to make audiences give a damn about what’s happening on screen. With all of the flaws that can be had with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, its overall context, or lack thereof, is one element that brings the whole film down that it can’t even come close to fully utilizing its potential.

Keep in mind, the one character I will be discussing throughout this piece is with Bruce Wayne/Batman. This is a Batman retrospective after all (even if six years is too recent to be considered a retrospective, but whatever). The Superman characters don’t do any wonders either and Wonder Woman is at least cool to watch when she shows up in action but I’m only focused on Batman with this post since this is strictly a Batman retrospective marathon.

There has always something that has been off for me about this iteration of Batman ever since I’ve saw this movie back in 2016. Even when I did actually like with what was done with Batman in the film (which I don’t anymore), I felt there was something missing about about this Batman, almost as if I missed an entire movie’s worth with this character or a Batfleck reference or two in Man of Steel. This cannot be faulted on Ben Affleck, he tries his heart out. He does everything within his power to give you a reason to get behind this Batman. This strongly comes down to the writing and the way director Zack Snyder portrays him.

Even six years later, I really don’t what Snyder was trying to do with his version of Batman. You would think from a costume and aesthetic standpoint, that he would be trying to ape The Dark Knight Returns version of the caped crusader where he’s older, weaker, more downbeat, and out of his prime (granted we kinda already did that with The Dark Knight Rises just four years ago but whatever). However, the film itself establishes that is clearly NOT the case at all.

This isn’t a Batman that is on the verge of being at the end of his prime. If anything, this is a Batman that is actually right in the middle of it. The only real difference though is that most people now see him as a villain. And the prime reason they see him as a villain is because of how overly violent and aggressive he’s become with being Batman. He’s beat them to a bloody pulp, tortures them, skins and tattoos them, and has a tendency to murder criminals.

And yes, you heard that last point right. Batman does in fact kill all throughout this picture, like straight up MURDERS them! Not in a like say a “technical” way (which Zack Snyder implied in an interview), but the film makes it 100% clear that he is out for blood and that he does indeed to kill people.

And yet every (and I do mean EVERY) time this criticism is brought up, you always (and I do mean ALWAYS) seem a swarm of angry Snyder fanboys come out of their caves to call you out on that exact criticism. And whenever they do, you don’t here an explanation as to why it works as it’s own thing but will always point to the other Batman movies and say that it’s fine he kills because he’s done it before in the other films.

However, there’s the one thing I noticed when I see folks defend Batman killing in this film. They always go back to the other films but never the one film that they are actually trying to defend. Why is that? Well, I think the answer is simple. The fact that most people draw so much attention to the other Batman films and not the one that you are talking about is mainly because, they don’t have an explanation of their own to back up their points.

I’ve stated in the past that I’m open for Batman to kill/murder within a picture as long as it plays into Batman’s overall arc in the feature film or at least gives a solid reasoning behind it. For the most part, the movies that had him kill gave a reason that worked from a story/thematic point but also made sense in the world that the movie took place in. And even when it doesn’t, the movies itself doesn’t put as much focus on it, making it easy for it to be glossed over (that’s why no one ever complains about Bruce unwillingly blowing people up when he burns down Ra’s Al Ghul’s home).

Batman v Superman on the other hand does not attempt to gloss this one major factor over. It DEMANDS you take notice of Batman’s intention to kill. It demands for you to watch him murder criminal after criminal in the most clumsy and nonrestraint way imaginable. However, there’s one majorly important that is missing with Batman’s reasoning for killing. That is well…an actual reasoning.

In Batman Returns, Batman killing was to show how aimlessness he has become with his vigilante persona and forgetting his sole purpose to putting on the cape and cowl to begin with. In Batman Begins, Bruce let Ra’s die because he’s letting the world decide his fate (as it did his) and testing Ra’s to see if he is as every bit of “immortal” as he claimed itself to be. In The Dark Knight, Batman murdering Two Face was to showcases how the Joker and Two Face himself has corrupted him so hard that he was pushed beyond his limits for the heart of Gotham. Even in Batman (1989) when he tells Joker he’s gonna kill him, it’s mainly portray has him just letting his rage and vengeance get the better of him as he was facing off against his parents’ killer. Dawn of Justice doesn’t provide a reason as significant as any of these as to why Batman is committing this terrible act. He kills now because, I guess Zack Snyder just wanted to be edgy and outgrit the previous Batman incarnations.

Sure, the film itself HINTS at what has corrupted Batman to go past his boiling point but there’s never anything confirmed or established in the actual film.

Was it his parent’s death? Could be but that would completely defeat the exact point of Batman so I’m going no!

Was it Robin’s death? Again it’s HINTED at with a shot of Robin’s suit but again, it’s never stated officially or given any emotional resonance.

Could it even be said Dan’s death, the one guy he mentions that got killed by Superman at the beginning of the film during the climax of Man of Steel (which is actually a really good scene btw)? Maybe, if his name was actually mentioned at any other point in the film.

Is it that the job of being Batman is hard, Gotham losing it’s soul, and that too many innocent people are dying? That’s probably the closest reasoning but even then, that can’t really work either for reasons I will explain later on.

I’m sure someone will point out something that was explained from an interview or behind the scene featurette or deleted scene but the thing is, IF IT AIN’T IN THE MOVIE, THEN IT AIN’T IN THE MOVIE! The hints that are scattered throughout the movie about Batman’s reason for killing are literally just that. HINTS!

That is where Dawn of Justice‘s real flaw with context comes into play. There’s nothing interesting or engaging about this version of Batman because the movie itself doesn’t give you anything to grasp upon on with this character. It either wants you to fill out the blanks on your own with the other multiple decades worth of source material with the title character or thinks that spatting out some pretentious monologue or dialogue bit that sounds like it was ripped straight out of a bible gives the movie context, which it does not at all.

We aren’t given any insight as to what this particular version of Batman stands for because it’s either too afraid of being compared to other Batman versions or it just doesn’t have anything interesting to say about it’s own version whatsoever. I so much didn’t get an indication as to who this Batman is but more of what he is NOT. That is basically Dawn of Justice’s take on Batman. Despite Affleck’s commitment to it along with improved suiting and fight choreography from past films, this Batman is missing the one most important element that I’ve mention throughout this piece. That being context!

Even if you take away the fact that Batman killing isn’t what the character mostly stands for in his source material (I know there are exceptions! SHUT UP!), it doesn’t even worked within the context of the actual feature film.

Firstly, it makes Batman come across as a massive hypocrite when it comes to his motivation for wanting to take down Superman. Throughout the course of the film, he goes on and on about how Superman is a threat to society and needs to be stopped at all costs but yet, he’s going around and killing people left and right. I’m pretty sure Sups can say the exact same thing about you too, Bats.

Secondly, it makes no sense as to why certain bad guys are alive to rot on the streets or in their cells. If Batman has no problem mowing down random criminals/henchmen, why does he feel the need to keep villains like the Joker, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and especially Lex Luthor around? I mean those guys have caused far more damage than anything a poor scared folk with a gun could ever hope to dream of. Why must those folks be silenced forever but these top evil people must stay living? Again, at least the other Batman movies made the killing made sense and even when they didn’t, they didn’t bother to put so much emphasis on it that it was easy to overlook.

Thirdly, and here we get to the most infamous part of the movie, Batman killing doesn’t work because it contradicts the Martha moment.

This moment right here is the textbook example of a moment that either makes or breaks your film. If it’s done right, then it could have provide the complete context needed to rally behind this Batman and justify the creative decisions made throughout the film. If it’s done wrong, then it becomes one of most unintentionally funny scenes of all time and further brings down the film. And as all of you would expect, it does the complete latter to absolute perfection!

What makes it even worse are the moments that transpire just before and shortly after this scene (at least if you watch the Ultimate Cut). Shortly before the part where Superman’s mom is revealed to be named Martha, Batman gives this confused, convoluted speech to Superman. Not only does this completely contradict the scene that is about to follow with Batman actually acknowledging Superman’s parenthood, but that it proves how little this movie understand it’s OWN Batman.

(Again, this is strictly on the Ultimate Cut, which I promise I won’t focus too much on. But considering, there’s (surprisingly) large groups of people out there that claim that this cut actually “fixes” the movie and this is seen as the definite version of the film, I’m gonna keep bringing it up.)

What this moment is saying here is that Bruce’s parents was as every bit corrupt and consumed with their own self-righteousness as Batman. Thomas and Martha Wayne. The two people that was suppose to act as the defining symbol of honor that Bruce is trying to represent on his family’s name along with himself. Yes, they are rich people but they were never suppose to be portrayed like that through the eyes of Bruce. They were presented to be as grateful, noble folks who did everything they could to help others and their only child. Not people who had the world made sense because they “forced” it to. Does those sound like words and actions that came from the innocent couple that was shot at point blanked ranged in front of their only young child?

There’s also the next big scene that follows shortly after the Martha realization. There are many folks that claim that Batman killing is justified when Superman reveals his mother to be named Martha to Batman. This is because 1.) it shows that Superman is as every bit of human as he is despite being a God and 2.) it makes him realize all the terrible things he’s done and begins his process towards redemption. I don’t buy either one of those reasoning. The scene I just mentioned before the Martha reveal contradicts the first reason and the scene that followed shortly after contradicts the second one.

Admittedly, I could let this part slight since a.) this fight scene is pretty awesome and b.) I can’t really see any other alternative where every single one of those bad guys are able to survive that brawl. However, it’s the part just before Batman gets to the Warehouse where he blows up the machine guns that are shooting at them with actual people operating them which he shoots and effectively kills that rubes me the wrong way. That right there shows that the Martha reveal could not have snapped Bruce out of his killing mindset because he is STILL doing that! Again, I can overlook the warehouse fight itself in that matter but not with what transpire before with his actions with the Batwing. He could have easily just aimed for the weapons themselves and not at the crooks in control of it but he didn’t.

There’s also the final scene with Bruce in the film when he met with Diana after Superman’s “death”.

This is the moment in which Bruce sees the goodwill that Superman was trying to do to do all along and that there is indeed hope in mankind. So much so, that this inspires himself and Diana to form the Justice League in act of Superman’s heroic sacrifice.

Some could argue that this is the equivalent of the ending of Batman Returns, where Bruce is able to escape that corrupt mindset that has plagued him throughout the movie and is able to regain his humanity once again by remembering why exactly he became Batman in the first place. However, not only was this arc about discovering faith in men done a million times better in Wonder Woman, (which I will write about in the future), but we are never giving enough of an insight to support this overall arc.

We never get into the psychological war that this Bruce is feeling within himself other than a couple of flashbacks of him still grieving over his parents’ death. Or how exactly fighting crime now is any different than it was fighting crime 20 years ago, at least where it’s something that he can’t control. Or even the personal connection with the enemies that he’s fighting throughout the entire film, except for finding out that the one man you’re trying to kill has a mother that has the same name as his mother. There’s just nothing here.

In general, that’s basically the overall problem with the movie as a whole. When it comes to the story, character development, themes, and most importantly context, it leaves way too much of it to your own interpretations. The questions it raises are never answered, the themes and messages that’s brought up are hardly explored, the head-scratching creative decisions it makes are never acknowledged, and despite a movie that’s trying to be about everything, it ends up ultimately being about nothing by the end of it. These flaws are ones that could be overlook if it at the very least had something to chew on and showed a level of ambition outside of just trying to cram two to three movies worth of content into one, but it never does.

The premise was there, the elements were there, the score was there, the casting was there (save for Jessie Eisenberg), the writers were there, and dare I say it, even the director was there, but the overall context and justification for itself was just not.

By the end, it makes this whole movie, even with the improvement of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, all feel like a lie. Nothing but a beautiful lie!

A couple of other notes:

• Yes, I know at least a good portion of what I’m talking about is brought up is mention in Zack Snyder’s Justice League but that still doesn’t change my overall opinion on this. The fact the creative team needed another whole movie to provide the context that should have been within this established film says more about them and less of the viewer.
• Even then, ZS’s JL, doesn’t solve the problem of making this version of Batman particularly interesting or compelling other than the performances of Affleck and Irons along with Batman being a team player with the other JL members. (I’ll discuss more of this once I get to JL.)
• I don’t get though why they felt the need to make Batman’s voice sound so raspy and recorded like it was over the phone. The sound editing can be so off that I’m thinking that Affleck is talking through a Zoom chat or something.
• I always find it hilarious how Metropolis and Gotham are so close together in the Snyderverse. I mean Batman has been fighting crime for 20 years now and only NOW where Superman and the folks of Metropolis are able to discover him. Has Batman really been that sneaky or could both those cities not give less of a f about each other?
• I do love the way the Batmobile and Batwings look though. It’s probably my favorite designs for both in any other Batflick so far.
• Ben Affleck is probably the best overall actor to portray Bruce Wayne/Batman in any film, unfortunately he was settle with easily the least interesting or compelling movie version of the character to date. Don’t @ me!
• Also, Han Zimmer’s score is pretty dope!

Next up: Batman: The Killing Joke