Will ‘Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice’ soar high or fall into darkness?

photo courtesy of collider.com

Warner Brothers’ highly anticipated ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ hits theaters nationwide on March 25.

This is the showdown comic book fans and moviegoers have been waiting for ever since comic book movies became such a major part of popular culture. After years of anticipation, the two biggest superheroes in DC comic universe, and in the world of comics in general, duke it out in Warner Bros.’ long-awaited Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Hitting screens nationwide on March 25 as opposed to a typical summer release, this story takes place in the Man of Steel universe created by Zack Snyder back in 2013 and revolves around the aftermath of the fight between Clark Kent/Superman (Henry Cavill) and General Zod (Michael Shannon), which left essentially all of Metropolis decimated. The world is split as to how to feel about Superman after this, with some fearing his capabilities and other seeing him as a symbol of protection. One of the people who sees nothing but trouble with Superman is none other than Gotham City resident Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), who also happens to be the vigilante of the night known as Batman. As a conflict brews between the two, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) wants to take down Superman himself and creates the monstrous Doomsday to do so. With the world threatened by this deadly force, Batman and Superman must put aside their petty squabbles and join forces, alongside Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), and eliminate Doomsday.

The worst part about this movie is that for those who’ve seen the trailer is there doesn’t seem to be any surprises left to unravel. The trailer reveals what looks like the entire three-act structure, from the increasing tensions between the two heroes, the inevitable fight between them and the final compromise that leads them to work together. Perhaps there are some major subplots or twists that have been kept from the footage that’s been released, and one would certainly hope that’s the case because it would be ashamed to go into this movie knowing basically the whole story from start to finish.

It’s also important to remember that Zack Snyder is a filmmaker known for creating a huge spectacle with his films, not an emotional story. Look at 300, an insubstantial bloodbath filled with thrilling action sequences but thoroughly lacking any significant story. The same can be said Sucker Punch, which isn’t forgivable the way 300 is, because 300 goes for it with its violence and madness, whereas Sucker Punch is just tame nonsense. So hopefully he manages to work his way around his weak storytelling habits as well as deliver some grand visual splendor. The movie is written by the Oscar-winning writer of Argo Chris Terrio and frequent DC comic film adaption writer David S. Goyer, and if things go right with the script, paired with Snyder’s usual flair, then chances are Warner Bros. has something truly special in store for us.

Will the movie be good? It’s hard to say at this point, given the fact that there’s just so much hype around revolving around it. It’s difficult to tell whether it’s because fans see substantial quality in it or just because this is a big screen pairing that almost everyone has been dying to witness for ages now. The talent behind and in front of the camera are surely capable of great work, but there’s always that unfortunate possibly where everything could go wrong, especially with such a huge movie like this. Hopefully that is not the case here, and audiences get the spectacular superhero movie they deserve.