Batman V Superman
Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman in 1939 and it has been a sensation ever since. The superhero has gained a lot of fans over the decades and continues to add more fans to the list. The Batman movie franchise has earned about $4. 4 billion in worldwide movie grosses, while in global trades, the superhero brand collects $500 million a year. Detective Comics (DC) are known for their dark storylines with amazing origin stories that a lot of readers and viewers can relate to. When it comes to animated movies, DC does a fantastic job at portraying the characters, without sacrificing the plot of the movie. Although, the media and entertainment company isn’t as successful when it comes to making live-action movies. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Jay Oliva and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice by Zack Snyder both share a similar plot, but the former being an animated movie is factually right according to the comics and is way more appealing visually than the latter, it’s live-action counterpart.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns follows a plot based on the comic with a similar name by Frank Miller. The movie explains how the retired superhero returns to save Gotham City from gangs and his biggest nemesis, the Joker. The movie provides a glimpse of how Bruce Wayne (Peter Weller) lost his parents, and what led to the creation of Batman. After the unexpected return of Batman, the government feels that he is a ticking time bomb that can ruin the society if not kept under check. The government then asks Superman (Jerry Siegel) to control the rogue Knight. Each character in the animated movie has an important role that helps the viewers create an emotional relationship with the characters. The emotional attachment helps keep the viewers hooked to the story without having a single dull moment. In the movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, characters are misplaced without any proper explanation. The cause of the fight between the two superheroes remains unclear throughout the movie. Batman (Ben Affleck) avoids killing Superman (Henry Cavill) only because he finds out that both their mothers are named Martha. The duo along with Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) who serves no particular purpose in the storyline goes off to fight the villain of the movie which takes the entire storyline out of context. The movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice fails on keeping the viewers interested because of the hollow plot and frequent change in the storyline.
When a movie is adapted from a novel or a comic book, viewers and readers expect the story to be even more interesting if not similar to the book. Batman is famous for the techniques adopted by him while fighting crimes. He is known for creating high tech gadgets and using his skills to physically disable the opponent without killing them. He is also known for how disciplined he is and how he sets his own rules to follow by. In the animated movie, Batman: The Dark Knight Rises the superhero (Peter Weller) can be seen using rubber bullets against an army of mutants so that it only hurts them physically. Moreover, in the movie, the Joker persuades Batman to kill him. After a brief moment of self-control, Batman doesn’t forget his own rules. On failing to persuade the disciplined superhero, Joker kills himself by snapping his neck. Even during the final battle with Superman (Jerry Siegel), Batman only threatens to kill Superman. Amidst these ongoing battles, Batman’s agenda remains the same, and that’s protecting the people of Gotham at any cost without any personal interest. This shows how in the animated movie, the fundamentals of the characters do not change. An exact opposite situation can be noticed in the live-action movie Dawn of Justice. Batman (Ben Affleck) can be seen going after Superman (Henry Cavill) out of personal grudge. The only reason Batman goes after Superman is that Superman flies into buildings owned by Bruce Wayne while in a battle in the previous movie. Because of the personal damage faced by Batman, he decides to fight Superman and take revenge.
Visuals could rarely be a problem for animated movies since they have a similar flow of animations throughout the movie. We don’t see a fluctuation in animation and camera tricks in animated movies. In live-action movies, however, CGI and camera tricks play a very important role in creating a great visual experience for the audience. Superhero movies like Avengers and Deadpool not only have great storylines but also offer amazing CGIs and camera tricks. One of the reasons why the movie Avatar worked well at the Box Office is because of the good plot it offered with amazing CGI effects. The movie kept the viewers interested because the viewers discovered a new world to explore. The final battle between Pandora tribes and invaders keeps the viewers interested because of the bold action sequence coupled with great CGI effects. The success of the movie led to the announcement of two new installments to the franchise in the next 4 years. One of the reasons why Dawn of Justice failed to be people’s favorite, is because of the outdated CGI effects the movie showcased. Simple scenes like characters jumping from rooftops have been poorly edited. Moreover, CGI for Doomsday looked like a bigger version of the alien from ET with a poorly edited body structure. These days even low budget movies aim to have better camera tricks and CGIs so that the viewers get the full experience of what the story wants to portray.
Dawn of Justice isn’t the only movie that displays two huge superheroes fighting amongst each other. Marvel Cinematic Universe has its own superhero versus movie called Civil War. The movie performed well at the box office and received positive reviews from fans across the globe. The movie consisted of a little complex yet logical plot with good CGI effects. The movie is about two superheroes going against each other resulted due to a difference in opinion regarding a government order. There are multiple action sequences between both teams to stop the other from reaching the next objective. The final battle between Ironman and Captain America keeps the audience on the edge and finishes the movie with a satisfying end. Dawn of Justice, on the other hand, has a small action sequence between the two superheroes while the final battle is fought by both, side by side, against an unexpected villain. While, in the animated movie The Dark Knight Returns, the story smoothly transitions into the final battle between Batman and Superman.
Zack Snyder tried recreating certain scenes and dialogues from the animated movie by Jay Oliva. To name a few, scenes like Superman absorbing energy from the Sun to regain his strength back and the one where Batman uses Kryptonite to weaken Superman’s strength temporarily were recreated fairly if not perfectly. They were recreated fairly only because of the use of CGI effects. Frank Miller rightly expresses his love for CGI as:
Comic-book pages are vertical, and movie screens are relentlessly horizontal. But it's all the same form. We use different tools, but we get the job done. I'm completely in love with CGI. It's great for conveying a cartoonist's sense of reality.
Superhero movies are made with an intent to inspire the audience and to make the viewers realize that hope exists in the world, either by going by the right choices or creating the ones that are. In the end, the difference between the works of Jay Oliva and Zack Snyder is an indication that superhero movies must be factually correct with good visuals. In today’s day and age, movies without even fairly acceptable visuals are considered to be a low-budget and low performing movies, and it is assumed that such movies would not have a good storyline. Movies must have characters that are important to the plot rather than having many with no importance in the movie. The Dark Knight Returns gained appreciation even though it was not released in theaters as it had a better story than it’s live-action counterpart. Even after 11 years since the date of release of the animated movie, many viewers still critically acclaim the plot and visuals of the movie.
