A flawed masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (31 March 2016)

I confess I am a huge fan of Frank Millers's seminal 1986 work "The Dark Knight Returns", which is just as well as the film, in its early sequences, borrows heavily from the book to the extent of recreating exact scenes from the comic (note Martha Wayne's exploding pearls in the opening sequences, to name but one). In this sense and this "interpretation" the film reflects the moral ambiguity that made Dark Knight so compelling. It brings a reality to the Superhero film that is often lacking (When Superman throws someone/thing through a building what happens to the people in that building?) and reflects that just because you think that you are doing right it doesn't mean that everyone thinks you are doing right. Ben Afleck as Batman is superb and brings real grit to the role, so much so that I was almost moved to tears at one point, and his beef against Superman is logical. Henry Cavill too brings the power and virtue of Superman to the screen in a way that feels grounded and real. Amy Adams also deserves an honourable mention as Lois Lane and Gal Gadot, in her brief appearances, as Wonder Woman certainly make the character worthy of further study. Even Jesse Eisenberg in his early scenes as Lex Luthor lends a logical argument to his desire to stop Superman. Set pieces are stunning and the film raises interesting questions on what it would be like to have very powerful beings roaming the planet, in a way that Avengers doesn't (not that I don't like Avengers films, I like them for wholly different reasons). So what goes wrong? Doing a Dark Knight returns film is a great idea and in so many ways this is a Dark Knight returns film. BUT! Dark Knight Returns was an endgame, a portrayal of Batman at the end of his time and how he faces that, while this is a beginning, Dawn of Justice and all that. Which means that some run-of-the-mill action film plotting has been shoehorned onto a classic story. So while the action sequences are superb they arrive at the expense of the plot. This includes the way in which Batman and Superman are persuaded to fight. In DKR it is logical and easy, Superman is a lackey of the government brought in to bring Batman down. However in a film where Superman isn't a lackey of the government the method is more contrived and ultimately weaker. Superman takes some scenes which were originally Batman's in DKR and if this WERE an endgame film would still have great power and resonance. However we know that this is just the start of a series so it renders the impact null and void. Nevertheless go and see this film for yourself, where it is good it is very good and will probably be the best film adaptation of DKR that we are likely to see.