Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice

If you enjoyed 2013’s Man of Steel, here comes the sequel.  If you were appalled by the destruction of Metropolis in the earlier story, you weren’t alone.  Bruce Wayne, AKA Batman, was also angered and has decided that someone needs to reign in the seemingly limitless power of Clark Kent’s alter ego.  So that explains why two of America’s favorite superheroes are now fighting each other.  And if you need further proof that Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice is, indeed, a sequel, all your favorite actors/characters are back three years later.  Henry Cavill returns as Clark Kent/Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Michael Shannon as General Zod, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, even Diane Lane as Martha Kent.  They are joined in this new adventure by Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, and Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman.  If you’re wondering where Wonder Woman comes from in this story, so am I.  But the three are all Justice League members, so perhaps future flics will include Aquaman, the Flash and Green Lantern as well.  Indeed, Director/Producer Zach Snyder has five more DC Comics movies in the works, scheduled through 2019.

The on-line question and answer site Quora has a number of pages devoted to Superman v Batman.  In my opinion, the most interesting is the one asking “What is the best way to describe Batman and Superman?”  I found this of interest not just by the poetry Quora members used in their descriptions, but also because the respondents seemed to be primarily young males from the Indian subcontinent who sometimes displayed a very Indian perspective, e.g. “Batman is the silent protector. The mongoose you want under the house when the snakes slither by, because even the man needs backup sometimes.”  The one exception is Oakland, California based James Friel, who is neither from the Subcontinent, nor, at age 69, particularly young.  He says this about the two characters:

Superman is an idealist.  Batman is a pragmatist.
Superman is more intelligent. Batman has more street smarts.
Superman grew up middle class. Batman grew up unimaginably rich.
Superman can be naive. Batman can be cynical.
Superman is more powerful.  Batman is more skilled.
Superman was raised by a couple who loved him as their own son. Batman saw his parents killed in front of him.
Superman wants to stop harm from occurring. Batman wants harsh justice.
Superman is motivated by hope. Batman is motivated by revenge.

The last three are the key to this movie, or as Batman himself says, “…deep down [Kent] is a good man.  And deep down, I’m not.”

This two and a half hour film (eight minutes longer than Man of Steel) has been rated PG-13 for intensely violent scenes, profanity, and some “sensuality” as imdb.com puts it.  Specifically, some scenes are so graphically violent that they may frighten young children.  And if you don’t want your children hearing certain words, seeing bare flesh, or for that matter, impossibly muscled flesh covered in skin-tight costumes, you may want to leave the smaller kids at home.  The movie opened March 25^th, 2016, and the opening weekend box office brought in $166,007,347 in the U.S.  Three weeks later (April 14^th), the movie had more than paid for its estimated $250,000,000 budget, with a total box office of $302,301,730, again just looking at U.S. revenues. 

Upcoming Films (Subject to Change):

BATMAN v SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE PG-13
April 22 - 24
THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT PG-13
April 29 - May 1

Showtime is 8:00 p.m.,  Friday, Saturday and Sunday

In the interest of full disclosure:  I have no connection to the Llano Theatre.  I just appreciate the fact that a small town, Plains, Montana, has a movie house that shows great movies at a reasonable price usually within a month of their first on-screen appearance in the big cities, and I want to make sure that those of us who live in the area continue to enjoy this luxury for a long, long time.