Film Review: The Flash (2023)

STORY

Bruce Wayne warns Barry Allen of severe consequences if he keeps traveling back in time to see his mother alive. Overcome by his emotions, Barry uses speed force to alter the past and ends up in another universe where there is another version of Barry with his mother alive.

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INTRODUCTION

Welcome to yet another sad chapter of an ever-collapsing brain-farting universe of DCEU or DCU. A cinematic universe whose Gods are still devising a plan to jump-start and level with Disney Studio‘s Marvel Cinematic Universe.

After seven years of inception, or maybe ten if I do not dare to miss Man of Steel, the story of this cinematic universe still fails to get the confidence vote of comic book audience and DC Comics loyalists. Meetings after meetings, reshoots after reshoots, executive producers are still clueless and now almost every Justice League actor is out besides Jason Momoa. If you ever get to know that a DC film has been interrupted with the bosses ordering reshoots, realize that the film is already marching towards the failure before even hitting the theatres.

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REVIEW

The Flash is just another DC superhero film that is badly trying to follow one of the successful routes of MCU philosophy which is dragging humor in almost everything. Yes, The Flash is a cool dude and I cannot imagine his solo film going dark despite his dark origins and many portions of comic book pages turning black in the past.

The Flash film is supposed to entertain the audience. But you have to apply the fun and the entertainment only when the cinematic universe is either fixed or turning towards a game-changer. Fixing the universe and being a game changer are the two major factors this film was to be made responsible for. Instead, the film overcooked the whole screenplay with a very unconvincing plot. After such a messed up plot and extremely bad CGI, you will have to ask yourself, what was the value of the entire story of the film? Exactly, close to none.

Warner Bros. bosses have still not learned their lesson from DCEU failures. You cannot drag so many characters in a single film to get the audience approval. The story of the film needs breathing. And there is no space or time of maturing the supporting characters who are introduced.

Michael Keaton‘s Batman has returned and roped into this miserable DC universe just like wrestling legends are often dragged to WWE events to attract the audience. After mere ten minutes of onscreen appearance, Keaton’s Batman agrees to fight alongside visibly two boys with silly jokes to find Superman and stop General Zod from invading the planet. Ten Minutes! Keaton’s Batman who looked so washed up to his old game suddenly finds reason to return and fight. Such development requires build up and that lacked here.

There is nothing Wow! about Supergirl at all. Boring introduction, unattractive fighting sequences, and no character development. Plus, Sasha Calle doesn’t look fit for the role. Michael Shannon‘s General Zod is terribly wasted. You must have felt Zod’s wrath in Man of Steel ten years ago. Why? Because Zod’s character was widely stretched to fit in the story and make you feel uncomfortable about his madness. But this time, I was not getting that thrill to see him attempting to invade the planet. Zod was in the film for hardly 15 minutes.

Unprecedented cameos in the final act were meaningless and once again, dragged. Yes, thank you. Super thank you for finally uniting Christopher Reeve‘s Superman and Helen Slater‘s Supergirl in the same frame in such a blood-boiling use of CGI. But at what cost? In fact, I am curious to know the real cost of production for “The Flash”. Wikipedia and various sources on the internet says that this film costs over $200 million in the production. I fail to believe a film with such heaving budget hitting the theatres with that deepfake and horrible CGI.

The dialogues of the film lacks substance. There is no impact but very off dialogues.”Come on Barbie, Let’s go party?” “You wanna get nuts? Let’s get nuts.” The Music score is super ordinary. So many vital scenes lack a musical impact. Zero inspiration.

I am unsure of Ezra Miller‘s future after being surrounded with so many controversies but after watching “The Flash”, I feel it is time to find a new face. This character portrayal is way too cheesy. And it feels like the television portrayal by Grant Gustin was more fitting and closer to comic books in comparison.

Some interesting developments come out from this film. Like Barry was in Metropolis when Zod starting killing people. Ben Affleck‘s Batman riding Batpod similar to what Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway drove in “The Dark Knight Trilogy“. Our Boba Fett shows up as Tom Curry of the other world to whom Barry calls to check if he is Arthur Curry‘s father. Keaton’s Batman electrocuting Flash is a straight comic reference from “Flashpoint“.

When ‘The Flash’ was announced years ago, my first impression was that this film will be based on “Flashpoint” due to the nature of the continuity in the first phase of DCEU indicating about it when Barry comes from the future to warn Bruce in Batman v Superman. But I guess I was in delusion to assume if WB executives will come up with a plan smart enough to run a comic book inspired storyline.

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PLUSES

Despite being immensely disappointed with the film, I liked a couple of scenes. One was Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne’s thought-provoking advises to Barry. The life lesson Bruce gave here to Barry were quite hard hitting that actually makes Ben Affleck’s version of Bruce more subtle. I wish DCEU had valued this angle of Bruce/Batman. The other scene was Barry meeting his mother one last time in the supermarket. Knowing the fact that he is reversing the altered timeline which means his mother will remain killed in the past breaks Barry and makes the audience re-imagine what if the sons and daughters meet their dead parents while traveling back in time one last time? How does it feel? Painful, isn’t it? This is what Bruce was trying to understand Barry, “These scars we have make us who we are. We’re not meant to go back and fix them. And there’s nothing broken with you that needs to be fixed.”

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TWO BATMEN IN THE SAME FILM!!!

A cinematic delight to our eyes was appearance of not one but two Batmen in the same film. Let’s not talk about the third Bruce Wayne of the film which was also meaningless. But anyway, a story that had to make two Batmen from different worlds appear for Barry didn’t give much chills to the audience. One may ask themselves, should two Batmen have shared the same screen? Just like three Spidermen? I think it obviously would have been exciting. But at what cost? The given story didn’t support to bring them together. So I think it was a good decision. Maybe it would have been more heartbreaking to see two Batmen together being part of an unusual disappointment.

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THE DCEU MESS UP

So what now? Now, I wait for Aquaman and observe how James Gunn‘s vision for a fresh DC universe will give birth from there. Am I excited? About what? This DCEU had a weak foundation due to a punctured storyline that was unjust to the Justice League. The slating of the films, the interferences of Warner Bros. bosses, the reshoots of the films, the Joss Whedon chapter, and last of all rejecting Zack Snyder‘s version of continuing of what possibly looked like a very promising trilogy of the JL. All this failed to present a DCEU that we comic geeks ever wanted to watch out.

Just take a small example of planning Michael Keaton to play a Nick Fury kind of role in the future films of the DCEU. And for that purpose, Keaton starred in this film. And then, he worked in Batgirl and then the upcoming sequel of Aquaman. When WB hired James Gunn, he came up with a new plan that held no future for Keaton. Therefore, he was killed in ‘The Flash’. Batgirl got shelved in the post production. And his scenes from Aquaman cut. How do you expect actors to work with you in this universe for a long period?

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ANOTHER BOX-OFFICE DISASTER!

When it comes to the box-office collections, The Flash, believe it or not, is the sixth consecutive flop in the DCEU. Shazam in 2019 was the last DCEU film that met success. Since then, two of the DCEU films didn’t even reach the cost of the film budget, Wonder Woman 1984, and The Suicide Squad. Perhaps because of COVID-hit 2020. But still, the last three DCEU films didn’t even meet the break even point. And now Blue Beetle has become the seventh consecutive flop in the DCEU.

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GUNN’S VISION

Shall I be optimist about James Gunn’s vision for future DCU? See I am inclined towards Zack Snyder’s vision but it is useless to whine about something that is shelved. The one aspect I really like about Gunn is that he is a comic geek and knows this shit. The developments of the future projects that he announced all have essence of comic books which is exactly what a comic geek desperately wants; a universe that identifies and recognizes the efforts and contributions of the writers. Where and what is the enthusiasm if a superhero film doesn’t have a comic book value at all? To devalue book sources and detach a comic character and story line for a new once-upon-a-time, you need to come up with an extremely rich writing content that can hit the audience while playing the right chords. So not every film can be Joker at all.

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CLOSING REMARKS

To end my never-ending assessment, take ‘The Flash’ as a comedy film and a forgettable past, and for some time, we believe in the theory that S stands for Hope.

RATINGS: 3/10

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Film Review: Black Adam (2022)

STORY

After sleeping for five thousand years, Teth Adam returns as the savior of his nation Kahndaq from the crime syndicate called ‘Intergang‘.

When his wrath on the cruelty results in casualties, Amanda Waller alarms Hawkman to look after the matter before the consequences turn worse. Hawkman assembles the Justice Society (JSA) and therefore begins a clash of antiheroism between the rights and wrongs occurring in Kahndaq.

Black Adam is finally released after years of speculation and theorizing the certainties of how to connect the dots with this film to the entire DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Being one of the most awaited films from Warner Bros. and DC Comics, Dwayne Johnson left no space to hype his most promising project to date.

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COMICS

Not off-topic but the Black Adam film tries to stay in touch with comic roots but not accurately. But it is necessary to speak about a few points that I observed in the film.

Isn’t Black Adam a JSA member?

Yes, it is true that Black Adam was not a part of JSA. He became a JSA member pretty late. If I am not wrong, he wasn’t a part of JSA in the golden, silver, and bronze ages. He became JSA in 2001, even after heroes like Black Canary, Stargirl, and Hawkgirl.

Justice Society of America

Justice Society of America is the first-ever team of superheroes that was introduced in the history of comic books. Editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox came up with this idea and introduced it in the third issue of the All-Star Comics back in 1940, during the great war.

The founding members of that JSA were easily the super-strongest force of superheroes ever assembled for decades. They were Hawkman and Doctor Fate (as dramatized in the film) along with Hourman, The Spectre, Alan Scott‘s Green Lantern, Jay Garrick‘s The Flash, The Atom, and The Sandman.

Al Fonzie

It is amusing to see that Atom Smasher was the nephew of the original Atom Smasher played by our beloved Fonzie, Henry Winkler in a cameo. Henry’s character Al Pratt is The Atom and as mentioned before, one of JSA’s founding members. Worth observing is that Doctor Fate and The Atom are old and hence represent the golden generation of JSA.

The Hunkels

While Cyclone requests an entry permit at the gate, a few of you may happen to notice the screen outside the gate showing up her data. Yes, she indeed is the relative, the granddaughter of Abigail Hunkel a.k.a, Red Tornado. This also means that Red Tornado was also part of the golden team of JSA.

The screen also indicates that Cyclone is a very intelligent student. In comics, she is a student of Harvard University and has a slightly different but still mindblowing score of 4.0 GPA and 1300 SAT.

Character Alteration

The freedom fighter in the film Adrianna Tomaz is a disappointing character alteration. In comics, she actually is Black Adam’s wife Isis and she has a major role in Black Adam’s life as she dies and Black Adam in fury begins to kill the entire human race in the World War III storyline.

Intergang

Kahndaq in the present day is oppressed and occupied by the international mercenaries called ‘Intergang‘. Now, what is Intergang?

Intergang in comics is a crime syndicate that was run by the Mannheims (Boss and his son Ugly) and the Edges (Vincent and his son Morgan). The organization was armed with advanced technology supplied by the New Gods of the planet Apokolips. Yes, Darkseid was the benefactor who was using the organization to disinter the anti-life equation.

Possibility

Now understand the scenario; by the end of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Darkseid’s quest for the anti-life equation continues. Superman flies away. Perhaps Amanda Waller approached him after Suicide Squad‘s project Starro, Peacemaker‘s project Butterfly, and meeting Shazam to reach Kahndaq after the Justice Society failed Amanda. Black Adam’s crusade against the Intergang will run until the news reaches one of Darkseid’s elite.

Here, I am really hoping that Darkseid is not the benefactor of the Intergang just like in comics. Because if DCEU shows his planet supplying arms and technologies to them then how come Darkseid is unable to trace down where the planet earth is? That will be the biggest plothole ever.

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PLUSES

The CGI and action sequences are impressive. I loved the fighting between Black Adam and Hawkman/Doctor Fate. Aldis Hodge as Hawkman and Pierce Brosnan as Fate were the best performers in the film. They were heavily suited to the roles and did justice.

The costumes in the film were close to perfection. Even if comic books had a little different idea, it was equally exciting observing the heroes in these costumes.

The mid-credit scene of Superman’s arrival to face Black Adam definitely is exhilarating and the audience expects more from here. Honestly, if I was in Amanda’s position, I would rather send Shazam to Black Adam, not Superman.

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MINUSES

Black Adam held a lot of importance for an ever-collapsing DCEU to boost financial expectations, and critical acclaim, and make the film acceptable to the audience. But once again, neither critics accepted nor the audience in majority held the film in supreme compliment like they usually do for Marvel releases.

At a budget of over $200 million, the film has done a global business of only $389.2 million until 13th December which is a sheer disappointment, I assume not even break-in. Wakanda Forever, which was released three weeks after Black Adam has grossed $769 million at a budget of $250 million.

So what went wrong with Black Adam? Was the film overhyped? Is Black Adam that bad? YES.

Only 125 Minutes?

Black Adam lacks a standard screen time under which Black Adam and the Justice Society deserved a lot of minutes to develop the screenplay and the characters.

Black Adam was more of a typical science-fiction action-thriller than a superhero film. In the screen capacity of only two hours, the film had a lot to do to settle the audience with the politics of Kahndaq, the origins of Teth Adam, JSA’s own introduction, and the antagonist of the film. Thus, the writing of the film repeatedly faltered and strongly reminded me of Josstice League.

I think Warner Bros. still haven’t learned from their mistakes or maybe Black Adam is the final film of Walter Hamada‘s troubling era as president and we shall witness improvement under the new presidency of David Zaslav since Warner Bros. and Discovery have merged.

With the given plot, Black Adam was no less than a three-hour film. Due to the extremely short length of the film, the makers failed to dramatize a lot about Teth Adam’s backstory and ran most of that part in the narration.

The worst underdevelopment of the story is the Justice Society. Hawkman introduced and narrated their backstories and assembled them within three minutes. Within three minutes! The screenplay has a plane to catch and also to catch the train to compete with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) like that. The same formula Warner Bros. stick with in the past when Justice League and Suicide Squad were introduced and assembled within a few minutes.

Forced Humor

And then the worst of the kind of the writing element in such a dark and tragic chapter of Teth Adam and the entire plot, needless and unnecessary humor stretched to more than a limit.

The application of jokes on such a serious plot clearly looked intentional by the makers. The jokes were fitting nowhere and not making any sense at all. Let me share with you some ‘fUnNy’ moments for your ha-has. When Adrianna successfully establishes communication between Black Adam and the Justice Society, Atom Smasher is eating a bucket of chicken.

Black Adam breaking the walls to enter the other room instead of using the door looks senseless. Were there no doors five thousand years back? If that happened in the comics is the other thing, just like Batman disappearing in a blink. The character of Karim was annoying and close to being unreal.

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Plotholes

Speaking of unrealistic, the writing of this film is very incoherent and full of dumb plotholes. Teth Adam exposes himself to the city and besides a few scores of witnesses in shock, people are generally busy in their usual routine.

A bigger dumb plothole is that Intergang guys are still checking cars at the checkpoint. No one in the intergang is alarmed about Black Adam’s return, it is the boy Amon who indicates them to witness him. No social media or news media breaks the news about something supernatural that has shown up in the city. Why didn’t Fate take the crown of Sabbac from Amon’s bag?

JSA not knowing Teth Adam in the first place and believe it to be a myth looks displaced. Many JSA members have been on different planets for thousands and maybe millions of years. How come they do not understand how to put up a fight against Teth Adam?

Why didn’t Hawkman assemble a team of veterans who were more experienced than the rookies, Cyclone and Atom Smasher? Cyclone and Atom Smasher were like some rookie dance extras who were promoted by their managers due to a lack of manpower. This was the best chance to introduce Gardner Fox’s most iconic JSA team to fight against Black Adam. Only Hawkman and Doctor Fate appeared.

Below-par Direction

Black Adam heavily suffers from a below-par direction. There is not a single shot that builds in the audience with some excellent cinematic impact.

There is one shot where Black Adam’s son dies. Instead of investing one solid screen minute in Dwayne as the father of the dead son, the director flew him away with rage.

Amon’s uninspiring speech in such a low voice pitch to unite Kahndaq people to fight, skating to mom and leading the band of Kahndaq people furiously marching the street was so cheesy, so cringy, and so mainstream Bollywood. Another irritation is the unstoppable background score and which is too unimpressive. It kept playing on our ears and torturing us.

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CLOSING REMARKS

Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam reminds me of Dwayne Johnson but not Black Adam. His acting is very restricted and doesn’t bother to test his limits. There is so much tragedy in his story but Dwayne’s performance is nowhere flexible.

The story had potential but badly lacked direction. Black Adam is like a Bollywood film with a gigantic budget. It is a visual spectacle and popcorn-grabbing entertainer. But for the superhero genre, Black Adam is just another disappointment in the DC Extended Universe.

RATINGS: 4/10

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Justice League – Film Review & The Ultimate Case

Justice League film is not the ideal assembling of the greatest superheroes team for scores of reasons. Because the continuity of the universe is faltered from here and makes you feel if the other powerful substance stole the power from the God of this DC cinematic universe and in the process, claims to be God. When the universe is in the process of perpetuation, make your mind how to maintain and execute the project. The planning of the infrastructure of the universe should be done even before the beginning of this all Project: DCU.

In short: “If the God is making silly mistakes, do not blame the universe.“

ONE LITRE OF WATER IN A GLASS?!?!

Superman is dead. Steppenwolf, Darkseid‘s uncle, has threatened the world to destroy the earth by stealing the three Mother Boxes he once stole and then lost in a prodigious battle to a unified army of the Amazons, Atlanteans, Olympian Gods, and Green Lantern Corps (I also have doubt that Thanagarians were involved too). With all the Mother Boxes with Steppenwolf, Batman creates a team of metahumans to honour Superman and fight against Steppenwolf and his military of Parademons.

This all sounds a pretty impressive plotline on paper but this all doesn’t fit in a universe whose existence is in a premature state. This is like some kind of sports shaping into the invention and is further announced for a global competition and in a few days, a team is created from nowhere to participate and win the jackpot. Yes, that last sentence didn’t make any sense. And that is my explanation about the fate of this DC Universe.

The audience knows nothing about these metahumans, Barry Allen aka The Flash, Arthur Curry aka Aquaman, and Victor Stone aka Cyborg, nor do they touch their origins. They are just contacted by the team leader and asked for help! Their becoming superheroes are just concerned in the dialogues which are not enough. And with the space of hardly two hours of the screen time, the film is a source of confusion and running a 100-metre sprint race without firing a starter pistol, just like Suicide Squad.

JL film creates a colossal issue of hows and whys of the universe. Many questions are to be raised by the audience especially the one who has never known this superhero team but wants to know. Why is Barry’s father in prison? How did Victor die before he became Cyborg? What’s this conversation of Mera and Arthur about? All the answers to these questions are in the dialogues which are not enough. You cannot explain and present the entire hows and whys in mere two hours. And with shortening or cutting the screen time of the film by almost 50 minutes, the filmmakers ask you to stop thinking that much and focus on the what-the-hell continuity.

MAN OF STEEL RETURNS

Now Superman’s return. From the release of Batman v Superman to Justice League, a lot of opinions and theories were established. Many questions were raised. Should Superman return? If so, then how? Why? Exactly when? Of course, the creation of a superhero team without him is impractical. The return was certain but to wait how long? 21 months? He died in one film and returns in the next. It all happened in haste but why so hurried? What train are the executives missing?

Superman’s return as many stated one of the best scenes, didn’t impress me, to be honest. First of all, the idea of his return itself is not so spectacular. Using the Mother Box to resurrect his body is not a wow! to me. This is not an ideal return. Imagine where does this resurrection nonsense stand in front of the comics storyline in the making of his return after his death while fighting Doomsday, nowhere!

Once he returns from the dead. He is confused and not at all alright. Fights his soon-to-be friends and before it is too late, enter Lois Lane to melt his anger and he flew with her to Smallville like what the actual f***! This scene is even worse and illogical than Martha one.

Yes, Superman not included in the marketing campaign was a wise idea as it produced a spectacular wait for the release of the film and watch the grand revelation of his magnificent return but his return was nonsensical. And what about Bruce’s Knightmare sequence in BvS? What was that all about if Clark had to return this way? Barry eventually was right that Lois is the key and she is the one who brought Clark back to his consciousness but I am not convinced that this was the motive behind the Knightmare sequence. Will this confusion be cleared in the Flashpoint film? Because I am not understanding when did Barry go and warn Bruce?

If Superman is returning, so is Clark. Superman’s return may be understood by the world but what about Clark? How is he back? Why are people in the surroundings not surprised? Hopefully, these questions may be responded in the sequel of Man Of Steel.

ISSUES AND TISSUES

Barry, in his own words, is afraid of guns and murder, and obnoxiously tall people. And he has never done battle. Victor, on the other hand, is new to the language on his head which he doesn’t understand and fresh of becoming some robot who is not aware of his powers which he is getting every morning. A shaky beginning of such metahumans who are put into a team to fight against the global threat. They haven’t proved their worth in their cities, Cyborg is hiding after his father’s experiment on his son’s dead body while Barry hasn’t even joined CCPD, but they are recruited to save the world from Steppenwolf.

CGI of Steppenwolf is very different and looks less-threatened to a Steppenwolf the filmmakers showed in a cameo in BvS. I have no idea how and why his face is so changed in a time period of two films but is easily the worst supervillain offered by the DCU so far. Even Doomsday or Zod looked more threatening than him. With the return of Superman, Steppenwolf is so easily defeated that gives a furthermore wrong impression about his threat. This was the same monster who with his army was fighting against a unified team in the beginning. How on earth is the normal mind to accept the fact that this killing beast Steppenwolf who was stopped with the collective efforts of the ancient Gods, Amazonians, Atlanteans, and Lanterns was manhandled by Superman alone? For Superman, he was such a piece of cake that he smashed him, then he went to save the civilians, raced with Barry, returned back and asked his teammates if he was still bothering them and resumed the beatings like if Steppenwolf was ever bullied by Superman back in the college before! This was so so wrong! Who was writing this part? Joss, was that you?

Aquaman’s first appearance in the film is so ordinary. His first appearance could easily have been where he saves a man in the boat. His character in the film is very underdeveloped. It is just a Jason Momoa show, not Aquaman. Although I liked the father-son conversation between the Stones but overall Cyborg was average. The excellence of Wonder Woman continues from where she left in the previous instalment and in fact, she further impresses with her leadership qualities. Her relation with Bruce was one of the positive points of the film. Barry Allen is funny and his character is lighter than the one in the Arrowverse. Superman doesn’t have enough lines but I think his character has been more lighted than the previous two appearances. I am convinced with this decision. A slight change in his personality after the resurrection helps the environment of the DC films proceed in the same mode. 

I don’t know who was editing this film but it was a very unattractive start to the film with a camera recording Superman in one of the worst possible CGIs in an attempt of hiding his moustache. With such an enormous amount of money invested in this project, how possibly could CGI go that wrong? I wonder what made the makers think about keeping Superman clean shaved. In the comics, he did grow the beard. Speaking of the opening, in my opinion, the film could have its super blockbuster opening if they had shown that Steppenwolf’s ancient war against the unified army as the opener. Imagine the film opening with Steppenwolf stealing the Mother Boxes and with his army of Parademons about to invade the earth and suddenly steps a unified army to stop the threat. A perfect 10-minute starter making the audience understand the significance of the Mother Boxes and also explaining why exactly a League of Justice must be established. And by the way, this fight sequence is the only time in the whole film which made me convince to be directed by Zack Snyder. One of the best scenes of the film sadly was hardly a minute of screen time.

JL film is lighter in tone. Yes, a lot of humour is added but few were unnecessary like Aquaman sitting on Lasso of Truth, The Flash’s That’s Rude scene, and Cyborg and The Flash digging Superman’s grave, yes they were digging. I mean there could have been many ways to bring out Superman’s dead body. If this was some comic reference or homage then pardon me.

The fighting sequences are impressive. I liked the teamwork the way the heroes are helping each other like The Flash helping WW pick her Sword of Athena or Superman and The Flash dividing their work in saving the civilians or Aquaman reaching at the nick of time and saving his new friends by lowering the water pressure through his Trident of Neptune in the tunnel of the Gotham Harbor (The Ten Commandments tribute, anyone?).

COMICS EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES

Like all the DCU films, JL also has honoured some notable comic book references and dropped some easter eggs. The one obvious is the race between The Flash and Superman which happened twice in the film. This comic tradition of the race between the two speedsters has been presented many times in different mediums but this all began in the 199th issue of Superman back in 1967. The idea was devised by the writer of this issue, Jim Shooter, and penciler, Curt Swan. At that time, Jim Shooter was only 16 years old.

Parademons are exactly the same from the comics. Crispus Allen appears for a scene with Commissioner Gordon discussing the drawing of the Parademon. Who knows if Crispus becomes the Spectre in the future just like in comics. As I mentioned before that Steppenwolf is Darkseid’s uncle but this fact should not be confused if he is found later in the films that he isn’t his uncle because, in The New 52 version, he is just the general. This DCEU has been more based on The New 52 as you may notice the lineup of JL is exactly the same as New 52 comics. Cyborg replaced Martian Manhunter from the original work.

Bruce plans a headquarter for the JL which has to be the Hall Of Justice for sure. And further on, Diana adds the line “With room for more”, giving an obvious hint to have more superheroes in future to join the league. After winning the fight against Steppenwolf, Cyborg utters the word ‘Booyah’ which is not a comic reference but one of the most popular catchphrases Cyborg introduced in the Teen Titans cartoon. Barry’s Pet Sematary joke comes from Stephen King‘s novel and film with the same title.

A very important comics discovery was the Green Lantern fighting in that ancient war against Steppenwolf. That GL was none other than Yalan Gur. Check the comparisons in the pictures below. I screenshot the film sequence where, by few microseconds, the face is the clearest.

In comics, Yalan Gur abused his power and turned corrupt due to the fact his ring was then passed to Alan Scott who was the first character to bear the name, Green Lantern. Yalan Gur is killed by Steppenwolf in the sequence and so the ring leaves the finger and flies somewhere. Has the ring now passed to Alan Scott? Is Alan Scott the Green Lantern we are waiting for in the future films?

In the first meeting, when Bruce asks Barry about his powers, Barry in response is pretending and answers that he is skilled in learning sign language and gorilla language. That has to be quite obvious that Gorilla Grodd exists in the universe.

Batman standing on a skeletal gargoyle before meeting Commissioner Gordon is the tribute to the cover of the 682nd issue of Detective Comics. Cyborg’s body reconstruction with the help of Mother Box is from Geoff Johns and Jim Lee‘s Justice League: Origin. On this book, the animated film, Justice League: War was produced. Bruce riding a horse in quest of Arthur looks like one of the homages of Frank Miller‘s The Dark Knight Returns which Zack perhaps missed in BvS. Arthur sitting on Lasso of Truth may be another homage to the comics incident when Hal Jordan accidentally touched Lasso of Truth and spoke his soul out.

UNAPPEALING SCORE

DCEU films have been blessed with the impressive musical scores from Man of Steel to Wonder Woman. Even before this universe, Hans Zimmer gifted our ears the unforgettable work on The Dark Knight Trilogy. But this time, even the music department looked compromised. Danny Elfman‘s score was flat and very ordinary. It was supposed to be Junkie XL but was later decided to replace him with Danny. Yes, Danny is the one who produced the iconic Batman theme which was also used in Batman: The Animated Series but that doesn’t guarantee his producing another top-notch. Instead, he reused the famous themes of Batman and Superman, the result? Average response. Listen to his score straight after the credits when the burglars are about to rob the bank and you will realize how ugly his score sounded. Also, many of his scores will remind you of his work on Hulk. Removing Junkie from the project was a bad bad bad decision. No situation in the film gives you the feeling from the background score. The genuine score builds the mood of the audience and sets a proper tone. Take an example of the No Man’s Land Scene when Wonder Woman raises and presents herself to the world as the answer for the victory and confronts all the shots and bullets. This is what I am talking about. The score in that scene melts you and that is what I wanted in JL like all the previous DCEU films, some quality.

JUSTICE LEAGUE NEEDS JUSTICE

JL film is as expected a very early breakthrough which should have happened after the audience gets the awareness of the superheroes, their worlds, their origins and hows/whys of becoming a superhero. After all this, then the God of this universe should have dropped the bomb over their heads by bringing a monster, a threat, a disease, against whom they collectively fight together for a better cause.

If the box office collections are low and the response of the audience is negative, Warner Bros. is to be blamed. They should not involve themselves in the director’s vision and creativity nor should they decide what to cut from the film. After director Zack Snyder’s departure due to the family tragedy (strong rumours are that he was fired), WB hired Joss Whedon which was a massive blunder. Many scenes were reshot and further added $50m to the extraordinary budget of $250m. Then the Warner Bros. CEO, Kevin Tsujihara, cut the screen time to 1hr59m which is extremely short for a superhero film like JL which needed a heavy detailing about the heroes and their worlds.

Many important scenes are rumoured and reported to be cut from the theatrical release. Barry’s love interest Iris West and Arthur’s advisor Nuidis Vulko are not featuring in the film. Two of the Lanterns, Kilowog and Tomar-Re, were to meet Batman in his Batcave in one scene but that was scrapped. Film’s principal photographer has confirmed Superman wearing his iconic black suit which never happened. Some sources are claiming that Darkseid was to appear in the film which never happened. Plus, few scenes which were observed in the trailer never featured in the film which is quite strange. Most significantly the one in which someone showed up to Alfred in the trailer became a mystery to the viewers and began finding the answer who that superhero can be by zooming Alfred’s glasses and observing the colour. To that level of madness among the die-hard fans, the producers chose to scrap this scene, wow! Now that scene has been added as the deleted scene in the digital release. All the above-mentioned scenes would have helped the audience leaving the room with comfort.

WARNER BROS! DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

I have never understood this philosophy or ideology of cutting the screen length in the theatrical release. Warner Bros. decided to cut almost half an hour of BvS in the theatrical release and paid the price of making the film confused and misunderstood full of plotholes to the viewers. From here, I actually thought Warner Bros. will learn from their mistakes because later on, they hit their peak through Wonder Woman. But for JL they cut no less than 50 minutes which is an extraordinary length. The audience can watch a film with a running time more than three hours IF the film makes you understand things what the director wanted to. Just in case if you had not watched the ultimate edition of BvS, you would never know that how come Superman couldn’t detect the bomb in the court or Steppenwolf and Luthor did meet each other. Warner Bros. has to get rid of making the horrible decisions before the viewers begin taking less interest in their films.

Warner Bros. has to slow them down and stop competing against the Walt Disney Studio to match the standards where their Marvel Cinematic Universe today is. This is not how you assemble the team and expect praise from the audience. Stop being in haste and focus on making people understand your universe.

The reason why Wonder Woman worked both on the box office and praised by the critics and the audience was that Wonder Woman was produced to make the audience understand the superhero, realize why she exists, and why the world needs this woman. Same goes for the other metahumans. Instead of implementing a JL project, the God of this universe should have focused on introducing the metahumans in their own solo or origin films so that the audience would be convinced and understood their involvement to their world.

MCU’s approach was the perfect one, they had the right plan in both cinema and TV on assembling their heroes in a convincing way. But I guess Warner Bros. decided to innovate a different structure of explanation and presentation so that they can separate the ideology from the Walt Disney Studio. But how long can they keep them away from the MCU philosophy? Two of the DCU films did follow the trend of surprising the audience with the post or end credits, JL and Suicide Squad.

Status of Zack Snyder in this universe is now confusing. Is he really fired? Because according to IMDb, he is the announced producer of future DCEU projects. But in any case, losing him as a director is a major setback. In addition, Warner Bros. is adding way too many films on so many characters in the universe and most specifically from Gotham city which I find unnecessary. Instead of rushing with so many projects like films on Nightwing, Batgirl, Black Adam, Gotham City Sirens, Lobo, Harley Quinn, JL Dark and God knows what else, better they stabilize the DCEU structure and reconsider what and how exactly they want from this universe and how to continue it with improvements.

For the sake of DCU’s prosperity, increasing a universal fan-following, overwhelming responses from the critics, and boosting the commercial sales through the marketing campaign and merchandising, WB have to take immediate and effective steps before the universe collapses and becomes a laughing stock. Things have still not gone that down financially. Their each DCEU film has worldwide grossed at least $650m despite the negative reviews which is absolutely not bad at all. From DCEU, Warner Bros. has earned $3.7b from only 5 films which shows the worldwide fan-following of DC Comics are excited and not giving up at all! I am hoping for a decent turnaround and may they learn from their mistakes and make the fruitful but not dreadful decisions.

RATINGS: 5.5/10

Film Review: Suicide Squad (2016)

The third chapter of the DC Universe, Suicide Squad, is itself a suicidal and wasteful event coinciding the events of BatSup and parallel to the events happening in the upcoming Justice League (JL) film. The screenplay of the first 30 minutes of the screen time is faster than Barry Allen’s speed. Actually, a roller coaster ride where you try to adjust yourself to the altitude but have to do nothing but scream. The viewers will meet the same fate in this period of half an hour and it will look like a 30-minute over-exaggerated trailer.

No matter how slow-and-sound was the beginning of director David Ayer‘s Fury, this is the contrary. Keeping in mind this is such a major franchise and a freshly baked existence of some Suicide Squad comprised of dangerous super villains, the makers should have properly introduced these characters and build it to our understanding. They just didn’t define these people and kept them raw to the viewers.

My first and primary objection towards the film basically is the reason of the making of Suicide Squad. After the BatSup events, was the creation of a super villains squad necessary? Absolutely not! It never made any sense. A.R.G.U.S. intelligence officer, Amanda Waller‘s plan to assemble Task Force X for a top secret mission makes you think for a moment that the whole story or the film could have been skipped for the sake of some other introductory origins-based film on any iconic superhero.

Hardly a 5-second cameo of Barry Allen indicates the parallel connectivity of the upcoming JL film. The trailer of JL which was released a few months ago showed Barry accepting Bruce Wayne‘s offer to join a team of superheroes and here we see him helping A.R.G.U.S. to catch his enemy, Captain Boomerang. Another possibility to Barry’s cameo is that A.R.G.U.S. may have known Barry before Bruce hired him due to the fact that Amanda passed government files to Bruce which are based on metahumans that included pages on Barry and Arthur. In any case, it was a very short cameo but an interesting hint.

One of the major expectations from the film was the introduction of Batman’s most famous arch-enemy, Joker played by Jared Leto. 8 years after the events of Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight involved Heath Ledger‘s version of Joker. Sadly the Leto one doesn’t come to the expectations after all the hype and legacy which Heath left on us. Joker’s involvement to the film is highly questionable. Not that the onscreen appearance of Joker is quite less than expected but the character’s involvement in the story of Suicide Squad doesn’t justify. Joker simply has no prominence in the film due to the fact his role is short for a reason.

Attached to Joker is the origin of Dr Harleen Quinzel. That famous interview with Joker in his cell which made her Harley Quinn is extremely short. The scene deserved a lengthy interview and expanding the after-effects could have given much a deserving screen-time to both from the origins. Shockingly, the entry of Joker in the film was very very ordinary.

Another minus of the film is the script which offers Batman and Joker sharing the same screen but does not confront. The mystery behind Robin‘s torn suit in BatSup film is still enclosed for God knows what reason. When the stories of different films in the same universe are interconnected in the same timeline, the balance of longevity should be cohesive. Robin’s death deserved a minor flashback in the film to solidify Joker’s involvement in the film.

Is there anything impressive about the film? Yes! The music department of the film has much to offer than the story and continuity. Academy award winning musician, Steven Price has produced a very impressive musical score with many attractive soundtracks fitting your mood with the scenes. The visual effects and costume designs are remarkable.

Performance wise, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn is the clear winner. Her depiction of madness to the character is the one that steals the show. Paul Dini, the creator of the character has highly praised Margot’s role. Viola Davis as Amanda Waller is another major impressive number as she continues to impress the viewers in recent years from the ABC show How To Get Away With Murder. Will Smith as Deadshot and Cara Delevingne as Enchantress were average performers. The rest were below par. Mid-credit scene is quite interesting which connects the building of the Justice League.

If Suicide Squad was the priority to produce after the events of BatSup, then the film badly lacked heavy writing. The characters are not detailed and the story itself is flat to the connectivity. Yes, it is entertaining with the flavour of humour added but then I would state the obvious that it is the script which attracts the viewers, not the proposal of adding humour for the sake of filling cinema houses. David Ayer’s direction is a question mark and nowhere to the level of excellence where he made Fury.

The problem between the shared universe is now the artistic creativity. There is a tremendous difference of pace and mode in both films, BatSup and Suicide Squad. If BatSup is dark and slow, then Suicide Squad is the contrary. When you shape a universe with different storylines and characters to describe and shot, the momentum is highly required to balance the films and bridge the gaps. Being the initial phase of DC extended universe, every film is playing a different note altogether. The continuity and conclusion of BatSup directly connect with the upcoming JL film but before the film releases, the producers will educate you the whos and whys of Diana Prince in next installment. The viewers who do not read comic books on these iconic superheroes have no luxury of understanding these powerful dudes but have to struggle and understand them after watching JL as the solo films on Barry and Arthur are bizarrely slated after JL. In the same case, the viewers who have never read about the team of super-villains in comics are and will be completely at a loss while watching the film and making it look overstuffed. DC/WB people must consider changes in their strategy and forget about catching a supersonic train which takes them to their rivals.

Ratings: 4/10

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Dawn Of Justice – The Ultimate Case (Part-2)

This part will touch some more important issues and aspects related to the film Batman v Superman (BatSup). Before I begin, I must remind the readers here that this blog is continuity to the previous blog. So the first timers of the ultimate case here should first read the previous part here.

BEST SCENES

 

1) COLLAPSE OF WAYNE BUILDING

Although it was General Zod‘s wrath on Metropolis as Mr. False God tried to avoid as many casualties as he can but it was too late and severe was the collateral damage. One of the damages perforated the owner and made his mind to save the entire human race from the culprit even if there was a 1% chance. The visual presentation of the collapse was intense and powerful. And the collapse was where the rivalry came to birth. Scenes after the collapse will remind the comic readers the story-lines, Batman: Cataclysm and Batman: Aftershock.

2) GRANNY’S PEACH TEA

No matter how bad was Shah Rukh as Lex Luthor, he did a cruel favor to Senator Finch and viewers by teaching a very expensive lesson. The court hearings abruptly paused by the scared Senator when she witnessed the jar. To the standards of a deceiving villain, this was unpredictably more than a cruel punishment. Luthor played an astonishing strategy behind the scenes and successfully manipulated much of the outsiders of court to gash more hatred towards a False God.

3) BRUCE WAYNE’S WORKOUT

The Batman of 40s cannot offer you much of the 127 styles of martial arts he learnt in young age in his prime fighting career but he performed impressive workouts which was highly necessary to present.

4) THE GLADIATOR MATCH

This was the match written in the clouds. As Lex played the role of Michael Buffer by announcing and adding more spice by billing the fight as God versus Man, Day versus Night, Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham, this created more intensity. Result? I found a much heavenly comfort to see the fight between the iconic heroes and that turned out to be jubilant. The fight surpassed my expectations. This is exactly what we all needed. Plus the glimpse of fight is somewhere similar to the writings of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. One cannot ask for a better fight between God and man than this.

5) ARRIVAL OF WONDER WOMAN

As much as Lex proved an overacting jester to me, his creation shattered the level of curiosity to know him. Doomsday was Lex’s answer to destroy the MOS. The battle was deadly but it was more like a hard struggle of lowering down the sound knob of stereo system when it is the loudest when you are very far and your parents are about to enter home.

Anyhow the battle met its peak at the sudden arrival of Wonder Woman who as Diana Prince was walking hither and thither before. I would say the flow of that battle action sequence was so deep to me that I couldn’t realize that the one who saved poor Batman’s ass from Doom-Doom wouldn’t be the recharge Superman on the space but her. Wonder Woman theme was very impressive but the intro of WW was far better than the other two heroes in the film.

WHY BATSUP DIDN’T COME UP TO THE EXPECTATION?

 

1) DEADPOOL

Not many have noticed and tried to analyze as what exactly made the response of general public so negative. What deceived them? Why did the film with so many promises become unacceptable? In my view, the first reason was the funny guy in the red suit. Deadpool was released a month prior to BatSup. Being r-rated, Deadpool wasn’t a huge threat to the film’s business as Captain America: Civil War which was released after it. But Deadpool the superhero and Deadpool the film met an unexpected universal appraisal.

Contrary to philosophy and filmmaking of DCs, Deadpool was a highly entertaining popcorn grabbing comedy film which won heart of all age of viewers turning the tables wrong on the producers of BatSup who were prepared to show a very dark humorless presentation of the film a month later. Being the highest grossing r-rated film, such success built uninsured change in emotions among the viewers in tatters as the overjoyed viewers of Deadpool fell in their graves in the theaters to find the film awful. Naturally it was like watching any Terrence Malick film after any of Frat Pack films.

2) UNDERSTANDING A UNIVERSE DIFFERENT THAN MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

Being a DC Comics lover, I have a lot of respect for Marvel comics as both the giant comics publishing companies created the most loving superheroes in the golden age for generations. But what hurts me is such a powerful cinematic universe of Marvel are more inclined towards box office collections than the character development of their superheroes. Filmmakers in MCU produce popcorn grabbing circus films where the focus is on winning hearts of the viewers by entertaining them. The producers are more focused on eating peanuts in circus rather than reading to us Marvel’s best comics stories. They make their superheroes jesters in the court. We see superheroes performing slapstick, acting silly and speaking one-liners. Films like Iron Man 3, Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy and Age of Ultron were all funny films. Recently released Captain America: Civil War made a mockery of all involved major superheroes fighting in airport and joking/apologizing while punching each other.

As Marvel Studios were the first among the comics publishing companies to create a cinematic universe with the help of Walt Disney Studios, it became acceptable for viewers to recognize the films based on Marvel superheroes as the true comics cinematic industry. There was no competition in years as WB were focused on Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight Trilogy. When The Dark Knight Rises was released,  MCU were concluding their first phase. This year with the release of BatSup, MCU have entered in their 3rd phase.

Many of the DC superheroes are not that universally recognized as Batman and Superman. Even the third hero of trinity who is Wonder Woman never got a single film before this in 75 years, so is the case with other heroes. So for the viewers, it will take time to understand the existence and culture of this universe and its heroes, and their powers and villains. It is pretty hard to expect their heroes to be as funny and perform slapstick as heroes existing in Marvel universe.

3) IMPROPER CONSTRUCTION OF DCEU

After announcing the birth of their cinematic universe rival to MCU, the biggest challenge for the big bosses of DC/WB was to create a distinguished, recognized but an acceptable universe. WB lacks no finance to fund the DC films but it was all about the best brain creating a perfect theory before forwarding a proposal. For me the outcome was very strange and questionable.

In Oct.2014, when WB announced 10 DC films to be produced and released between 2016 and 2020, it was a massive disappointment to see every JL superhero gifted a solo film but not Batman! (Superman had his MOS before all this)

Besides that, film for Green Lantern, being such a beloved superhero among the comic readers was adjusted last which gave a hint that he will be introduced to us pretty late. Shazam indeed is a potential name but wasn’t DC’s original property in first place. Shazam character was created under Fawcett Comics and ran the issues until the company shut down. In 1972, DC publisher licensed Shazam from Fawcett and revived.

Two JL films were slated in different future timelines, the first part being the fourth in line to release even before solo films on Aquaman, Flash and Cyborg with no proper introductions which brought more confusions to understand their strategy towards assembling a team of heroes so early and so undefined with underdeveloped characters.

The reason why the story of BatSup to the viewers in theater fell so incoherent was the very reason described in previous paragraph that for assembling a team in so near future, they made the film look overstuffed.

4) BRINGING TWO ICONIC HEROES FACE-OFF TOO EARLY

Indeed historic announcement of bringing BatSup together at San Diego comic-con three years ago was crazy which made the attendees and viewers lose their mind in excitement. But some brains surely began thinking as what made them brought none other than Batman in to Superman’s world? Was that their only key to challenge or announce a new universe rival to them?

Bringing Batman meant connecting two different worlds in same film with more than one story. With recent conclusion of Nolan’s trilogy, reintroducing Batman in mere four years was too early. Producers needed some more breathing to watch a new Batman. Nolan’s and Zack’s Batman were very different, could have been better if he had been given his own standalone film first and later introduced him to MOS.

5) RELEASED PG-13 THEATRICAL CUT

This was the major reason why the film received negative reviews by critics and general public. A 150-minute film released in March worldwide offered us a confused broken story-line making every viewer Sherlock to magnify and puzzle the broken pieces himself/herself. The editor who chose to cut no less than 30 minutes lacerated very very critical and defining moments of the film due to the fact, the critics and general public turned clueless and gave up.

Had the producers decided to release the 182-minute original cut in first place, the critics would have penned positive reviews and would also have made the percentage bar rise above in Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes. The general viewers would accept and the box office collections would definitely hit a billion-dollar mark. Like I said before, I waited months and watched the original cut at first place, and I admit that this version meticulously made more sense than the released one, defined the core characters more broad and created a more cohesive transition.

ADDITIONAL FOOTAGES IN ULTIMATE EDITION

 

Like I wrote above that many of the important scenes were badly cut from the released version. Let me notify you the deleted scenes proving the laziness of WB for forwarding the film without pointing or realizing what a terrible mistake that was;

1) Jimmy Olsen wasn’t introduced in the beginning.

2) Superman wasn’t shown helping the rescuers pulling out dead bodies after the blast in court which after that he flew in disdain and left the scene with the witnesses sharing negative responses.

3) The very next scene, Lex Luthor rushed to LexCorp only to spot a damaged glass-box with no kryptonite. It never showed the viewers that Lex Luthor had seen the footage from one of the CCTV cameras that Batman entered the LexCorp office and grabbed the element. Had they shown this scene in released version, would make sense for viewers how in the world the Caped Crusader got the Kryptonite.

4) Both scenes featuring Jenna Malone was cut from the released version which made the viewers pay a very heavy price of dislikeness. Malone played the scientist at S.T.A.R. Labs, Jenet Klyburn, who has a couple of scenes in the film of sheer prominence. UE version clears that she is the one to whom Louis Lane hand over the bullet for scanning  which was shot and found in Africa.

In the other scene after the blast in court, it is again she who confirms that the same bullet and Wallace Keefe‘s wheelchair were made from the same metal and the inside of wheelchair was lined with lead. And we know Superman’s weakness that he can detect any solid object but not lead. Without this confirmation in released version, viewers would have raised the question how come Superman didn’t detect a bomb in the court.

5) The most important cut from the released version easily was the moment before the arrest of Lex Luthor which shows the upcoming JL villain Steppenwolf. His cameo before the arrest of Lex Luthor in UE was a very critical bombshell on the viewers after watching the whole film. WB will regret cutting this scene from the released version. An angry departure of his hologram existence after communicating with Lex Luthor raised questions. Was Lex aware of Steppenwolf’s existence even before he planned to take on Superman? Was Lex already in talks with him? Was creation of Doomsday idea of Lex or his? and many more. But in any case, his short appearance in ultimate edition made some sense of properly introducing the commander of parademons. The announcement of his being main villain was unnecessary if they had included this vital scene in released version.

HOW DC EXTENDED UNIVERSE SHOULD HAVE BEEN CREATED AND PRESENTED?

 

Ok I know the existing universe will run as planned whatever the case is but I have every right to forward my idea of a better and acceptable universe than this. Because in first place, I disagree with the decided structure of this running cinematic universe due to the reasons I explained above in Improper Construction of DCEU.

I need no urgency or haste to play cat and mouse game in order to come close to Marvel and their universe. If WB would hand me this responsibility, I would prefer presenting origin stories of iconic heroes over a gladiator match and assembling of JL at the speed of light. My creation of universe will have phases (say Phase I, II, III and so on). For a better foundation, my pillars in Phase-I should be strong enough to hold the next phases.

My Phase-I will have 8 films, seven of these will be origins-based solo films for each original member of the JL. Those members are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. The reason of strictly picking these seven heroes for Phase-I is because when the first ever Justice League was assembled as JL or Justice League of America (JLA), the above-mentioned superheroes were assembled to appear in The Brave and the Bold (issue#28) back in 1960 conceived by writer Gardner Fox. With seven origins-based solo films, my eight and final Phase-I film will be a proper JL film where all the seven above-mentioned heroes will unite to fight against one of the main allies of Darkseid.

This is the most simplest way to present a universe with more breathing in origins and character developments in superheroes each film. Just like MCU did for their first and the most impressive phase. By second and third phase, all seven superheroes can proceed to complete their trilogies with other films to introduce other potential superheroes like Green Arrow/Black Canary, Booster Gold/Blue Beetle, Shazam/Black Adam, Birds of Prey, Teen Titans, Supergirl, Hawkman/Hawkgirl, Lobo and many more.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM FUTURE DC FILMS?

 

With 81% record drop in box office collections in second week, WB was hit by a meteorite with the most harsh responses and many of the viewers complained the film to be humorless. For the sake of excellent collections from future DC films, the producers are compromised to add humor in a dark universe and fulfill their demands, so that their eyes would meet a glimpse of a colorful circus show like the shows which are produced by Marvel studios. This is like a gunfire on an old pedestrian walking in a narrow street.

Some sources say that many scenes of upcoming Suicide Squad are re-shot for adding humor. Zack Snyder also has cleared that upcoming JL film will have a lighter tone than BatSup film. My expectations can raise the bar only if the upcoming films offer me potential stories and strong connectivity with storyline of other films keeping a balance between humor and dark. A serious story like BatSup cannot offer you humor but may entertain you once you understand the characters and their worlds.

For me, my major concern in future DC films is seducing me with dynamic presentation of stories where the directors properly focus on hero’s character development and nurture him/her with the flow. No matter the film is dark or funny, the director should use the influences and creativity of great comic writers and apply in their story, the winner must be the true portrayal of superhero and the audience should provide a positive response.

Roping and involving Geoff Johns and Ben Affleck for upcoming JL and Batman standalone films is a brilliant decision from WB. A creative team of comic-book consultants should be established under Johns who would have authority to raise their voice over the scripts and screenplays.

CONCLUSION

 

BatSup case is a mature affair with super-excellent work on screenplay and action sequences. The characters, Alfred and Lex Luthor, offer you to listen the best and powerful dialogues whereas performance-wise Ben Affleck as Batman is the true winner and his portrayal will remind you numerous Bruce Waynes from comic books. Laurence Fishburne as Perry White and Amy Adams as Lois Lane play tremendous supporting roles.

Henry Cavill as Superman is a dignified figure but not signified. He has been impressive but after finishing two superhero movies, I am still waiting for some signature mark on the character. He is yet to remind me Superman from the comic books as Christopher Reeve defined him in his time.

No wonder how many great actors have played the role of Alfred Pennyworth but none of them remind me the character I read in the comics. Not only the films, neither Alfred of Gotham TV show nor the one in the game Arkham Knight reminded me. Hans Zimmer (in his final superhero film) and Junkie XL produced very impressive scores. Zack’s favorite cinematographer Larry Fong has done terrific cinematography like previous Zack films.

I would like to humbly request all of you who have read such a lengthy review or to which I call an Ultimate Case, to kindly avoid/ignore the released version and consider it as a bad dream but give a favor to yourself and watch the Ultimate Edition. May the future DC films does Justice, Amen.

FILM RATINGS: 8.3/10

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