The Flickering Myth team react…
The film may still be 11 months away, but we’ve been given our first look at Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice via a teaser trailer! It was first leaked online (who didn’t see that coming?!) and then it was officially released less than 24 hours later. But did the release of the excellent teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens dampen the spirits of the Flickering Mtyh writing and editorial staff?
Let’s find out…
Eddy Gardiner: I’ve said it from the very start: Affleck’s going to be a cracking Batman. Forget about the Star Wars trailer for a moment; this looks good.
Matthew Skeen: I think Affleck will fill the older Batman cowl well. Does look as gritty and dark as the source material, hopefully Henry Cavill will do better in this than his first outing.
Tom Jolliffe: Even as someone who hated Man Of Steel, and doesn’t have much time for Snyder as a director, this does look incredibly cool. Visually it’s far more in line with the Batman I’d like to see in terms of design. I loved the Nolan Batman films, but wasn’t always overly keen on the designs of the suit and vehicles. There’s a real graphic novel vibe to the look of this, and visually it’s more in line with Watchmen than Man Of Steel (a good thing in my opinion). However, can the film be cool, and fun? Man of Steel sorely lacked in fun. Can it also balance all the other characters like Wonder Woman, Aquaman etc? We’ll see. Good trailer though.
Matt Smith: Batman looks a little bit bored, is my first impression.
As expected, glossy looking images presented to us, as well as the polar opposite tone to the Marvel movies. While Marvel presents fun, colourful characters with as many wisecracks as frowns, I’d be surprised if anyone smiles or cracks a joke in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. To me it’s a good start, showing the potential for an entertaining joint between the Caped Crusader and the Man Formally Known as Steel. There’s no real sense of what the story will be, beyond ‘I am going to punch you now.’ ‘But then I will punch you, and we will both punch some more.’, but it’s a bit early on for all that. What’s interesting is the comparisons between this trailer and the one for Star Wars, as they’re both entirely different films (I realise I’ve essentially done the same by comparing to Marvel movies). If it can match the promise and potential for explosive action and entertainment packaged here, it should be solid. For now I’m looking forward to Batman v Superman with a cautious optimism.
Villordsutch: Dross! Completely underwhelming dross! Everything about this trailer reeks of Hack Snyder’s previous efforts in the movie world.
Rob Kojder: It really didn’t do anything for me. I agree with everyone that Ben Affleck seems to be doing a good job and that the suit looks awesome, but I feel like I still don’t know anything about the story. We haven’t seen any of the other 500 characters that are in the movie and could clog up the narrative. I’m just still not sold that it’s going to be good yet, but there were things I liked about it.
Gary Collinson: As a teaser, it’s not bad. Some impressive visuals, really liking the armored Batsuit and the showdown between Batman and Superman looks like it will be epic. However, I hope Batman isn’t flying the Batplane when it kills those two men. I can buy Superman killing General Zod in Man of Steel, but if Zack Snyder has made Batman a killer then he’s made an enormous mistake.
Rob Kojder: When doesn’t Zack Snyder make enormous mistakes? I say that as a fan of his too.
Gary Collinson: This would be his biggest by far. If Batman will happily off a couple of red shirts then it makes absolutely no sense that he’d let The Joker live, or any of the other villains who already exist in Suicide Squad and beyond.
Rob Kojder: I also didn’t mind Superman killing Zod, but I definitely see your point about Batman killing. That’s a huge no-no.
Tom Jolliffe: My major concern for the film is still Snyder. He hasn’t got an original thought in his body. He’s too concerned with pilfering from other (often better) films. If Man of Steel owed much to Nolan’s Batman franchise, with the long list of characters set for this, it would seem Avengers could be the blue-print (minus the wise-cracks and sense of fun) here. But lets face it, the selling point here is 110% Bats vs Supes. Shoehorning in the likes of Wonder Woman, Aquaman and all the rest will undoubtedly effect the film. Indeed Watchmen had this problem. The more interesting characters didn’t feature enough and the film got sidetracked with the more dull characters.
Rob Kojder: Tom, Zack Snyder had an original thought: it was called Suckerpunch. It’s absolutely awful but also a guilty pleasure for me.
Chris Cooper: It’s still the best part of a year, so I don’t really want to know anything other than ‘they fight’ at the moment. Snyder has always been strong visually, and this is no exception. Affleck looks fantastic. The suit, size, and poses are ripped straight from The Dark Knight Returns. Make a God bleed to bring him down a few notches? Sounds like Leonidis and Xerxes. This isn’t like Marvel/Star Wars, and I’m really happy about that.
Luke Owen: Be it the fact I wasn’t keen on Man of Steel, or I’ve yet to see a movie directed by Zack Snyder I liked, or the fact that this came around 24 hours after that epic Star Wars trailer, but this remarkably did nothing for me.
A trailer for a Batman v Superman movie did nothing for me. Me, a 30 year old child who gets giddy about any movie based on a comic book, is underwhelmed by a trailer for a movie where Batman fights Superman. That is a talent, Zack Snyder. This for me is the same as the trailer for Jurassic World: I’m excited to see the movie because of the franchise and source material it’s attached too, but the first look is rather uninspiring.
However, I do like the “False God” story aspect.
Rob Kojder: I actually like every movie Zack Snyder has made to some degree, they are just all very flawed to the point where I don’t think he’s really that great a director. It’s like watching a baseball hitter hit singles instead of home runs.
Oliver Davis: I didn’t really comprehend how much the ‘Versus’ will be playing a part until this trailer. Which is pretty dumb of me, because that’s the title of the film. A film of one-up-manship could work really well as a structure, cutting between the respective hitters. It’s like having two sides in a sport you both want to win – Mayweather vs Pacquaoi, Punk vs Bryan.
Bad time to release it, but I like the way the Batman logo snuggles the superman one on the title card. It’s cute.
Scott J Davis: I think it shows potential for sure, and is certainly looking broody and dark, but the main issues lie with Snyder (as many have said) and his filmmaking, which is mixed to say the least. What I wouldn’t hate to see is the big match-up scenes with Batman and Superman to be completely CGI a and take out any real physicality, which could be achieved with Affleck and Cavill looking the way they do. I’m giddy as a fan boy for sure, but still very tentative about the whole thing. I hope this isn’t a “false” film…
Martin Deer: It was a teaser, so story aspects are going to be minimal. I see this film getting a lot of undue stick for things such as lack of story hints and too much CGI. All things which can be said about other films that are getting praise despite those aspects. That said, My interest in this film currently is up to 20%. I don’t see the need for it. Whilst I have faith in Affleck as an actor the praise he’s getting from this trailer baffles me, since his, I’m guessing supposed to be brooding face looks more like someone took his chocolate milk off of him. As for the character he is playing, Miller’s Batman was a good interpretation, but like Burton’s Batman I can appreciate someone’s different take but not like that they’ve made Batman in to something I dislike. His dialogue troubles me, because it sounds menacing and like he is determined to cause harm rather than reign in and bring under control. But I guess we’ll see. It may not even be Batman’s voice – what If it is the yet unknown villain?
Things I do like, however, include the tone and look of the film and the idea of conflict between those who are for and against Superman. Further exploration of why we need a character like Superman needs to be explored. All of that said, I really wish people would just stop criticizing Snyder and WB of things that they give a pass to because it’s got the word Marvel in it. Marvel films are guilty of equally or worse crimes. Love and hate equally. If I hear one more person praise Avengers: Age of Ultron but say Batman v Superman has too much CGI and too many characters I’m probably going to hurt my iPhone and that will make me angry.
Kris Wall: It’s very dark, I almost had to turn the brightness up and felt the creeping need for a flashlight. It also looks very shiny, the signature Snyder effect that I’m not really a fan of. I loved that glimpse of the Batmobile and Affleck looks cool in his suit and I liked the sound of his voice but nothing else grabbed me and following how disappointed I was after Man Of Steel, they’ve got a lot of work to do to convince me this won’t end up the same.
Ben Rayner: I actually really liked the dark tone and visually it seems okay. Just not sold on what seems to be a Batman that simply feels like being an Asshole and attacking superman because he’s become such an idol. Let’s hope he hasn’t killed anyone either, as Gary has pointed out, that simply makes no sense and is one of the key facets of the Batman character. (Also, Batfleck looks pretty stale in the shots we saw).
Anthony Donovan Stokes: It was okay. Ben Affleck and everything to do with Batman impressed me. Didn’t care for the look of it looks like nothing was shot on location, looking forward to the next trailer.
Tom Roach: It was really lacking for me. I’m probably still hyped from the Star Wars trailer but this trailer was not great. I really liked seeing a better look at the Batsuits but the trailer was just weak. I didn’t expect much from it as it is still 11 months from release.
Luke Owen: I do wonder whether the Star Wars trailer has affected many of our opinions. I just didn’t react to this as strongly as Star Wars, and in that sense it feels underwhelming. I do have to give huge props to a lack of plot in the teaser. We need more of this in trailers, please.
Jessie Robertson: Heavy material for a “comic book movie” I hope it doesn’t lose audience because of it. It didn’t honestly show a lot but the face-off was as awesome as I imagined it could be
Luke Owen: I really don’t think the tone is an issue. It’s probably one of the films strengths. If the ‘dark’ tone was an issue, The Dark Knight wouldn’t have made a shit tonne of cash.
Anthony Donovan Stokes: I would argue that the dark tone didn’t work 100 percent with Man of steel or even The Dark Knight Rises for a lot of people. But I don’t get that vibe her it just looks like your standard tone for a trailer.
Martin Deer: I don’t think the material nor the tone is a problem. I’ve seen people complain that Batman isn’t light or fun enough. These people are wrong – that’s not who Batman is. If you want light and fun you’ve got Marvel, and that’s what they do well. Don’t try turning a character isn’t in to something he isn’t. Batman is dark. That’s how he works. My issue is he works on screen because of that and because he’s relatively realistic. The second he starts punching Superman on screen…. we’ll see. But the tone looks fine. Marvel are knocking out enough fun and forgettable films. Let’s let DC knock out something dark and forgettable. No need for all comic book movies to be the same.
Helen Murdoch: Completely underwhelming and I had low expectations after the disaster that was Man of Steel. Some of the visuals look good but I imagine Snyder will fall into his standard schtick of style over substance.
David Fleming: I’ll watch it but the trailer doesn’t make me want to and the bat armour suit really does look like LEGO Batman. I don’t mind it being dark (though it was literally difficult to see cos it was so dark). Daredevil series was dark and very good. I hope they do have some lighter moments in it as well to lift the mood from time to time.
Anghus Houvouras: I’ve watched the trailer 10 times now, and each time I like it more. I love the idea of playing with the God vs. Man theme. Superman has always been so boring in film because he’s little more than the ultimate do-gooder. Giving us a movie where people fear Superman as much as praise him feels kind of cool. The visuals are a little odd. It’s like I’m watching some late 90’s/Early 2000s music video from Maralyn Manson or Nine Inch Nails. I dig the robot Batman voice. People get hung up on how actor’s choose to portray Batman’s voice, but I never saw Batman as much of a talker. The idea of a voice modulator to disguise his identity makes sense. My biggest issue is how damn serious it seems, Snyder and company seem to be making a bold declaration that this movie will be zero fun. No smiles in the DC Shared Cinematic Universe. Only brooding, angry heroes.
Tom Jolliffe: Even with dark and brooding you can still make a movie that’s fun to watch. I’m thinking of The Crow for one, and to a certain extent The Dark Knight where with all the threat there was slightly mad comedy you get from The Joker. As a solo movie, Superman should have been a bit more colourful and a bit less Emo than he was in Man Of Steel. Taking him into Batman’s world, which can be darker is interesting and I’m with Anghus, in that making Superman a symbol of fear to some is interesting and also timely. But again the film still needs to be fun. It still needs to get audiences off their seat and enjoying it. For many Man of Steel failed in that. Even Nolan couldn’t go 100% serious with his gritty vision of Batman. He had guys like Caine, Freeman and Ledger to lighten every now and again with a little humour. If the prospect of Batman battling Superman can’t be fun, then it’s going to fail.
Anghus Houvouras: In theory it can be loads of fun. But if it’s just Snyder going Slo-Mo 300/Sucker Punch for 20 minutes, it’s going to get real boring, real quick.
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So, surprisingly quite negative from the writers here. There are some positives to be found from some pockets of our writing crew, but there are many who feel Zack Snyder is the biggest problem with the film.
What did you make of the trailer?
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is set for release on March 25th 2016 and sees Zack Snyder directing a cast that includes returning Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill (Superman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Laurence Fishburne (Perry White), Harry Lennix (General Swanwick) and Christina Wren (Carrie Farris) alongside Ben Affleck (Argo) as Batman, Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious 6) as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) as Aquaman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jesse Eisenberg (Now You See Me) as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons (The Borgias) as Alfred Pennyworth and Jena Malone (Sucker Punch), Holly Hunter (The Piano), Callan Mulvey (300: Rise of an Empire), Tao Okamoto (The Wolverine) and Scoot McNairy (Argo) in as-yet-unrevealed roles. Listen to the Flickering Myth Podcast review of the trailer below:
