Batman Vs. Superman: Two Sides To Every Story

I really did not want to see this movie...

For one thing, I have never been much on superheroes. There is of course the one exception... Batman. Batman does what he does without the assist of any superpowers. He uses a millionaire's wallet and his brain with peeps in the background to make gadgets. He is a science hero. A tortured, physical science hero with a lot of angst (more or less depending on which branch of the storyline, which actor, etc...).


Then of course, there is the one I dislike the most, Superman. I never much cared for any permuatation of the costume, the fact he is impervious to everything with the exception of some rare, green glowing rocks that just happened to make it all the way to Earth from Krypton, and the fact that he has to masquerade as a nerd to keep out of sight, kept me off his fan list for the genre.

As far as Batman goes, I grew up with the character as portrayed by Adam West. I still enjoy watching the actual movie that has the international delegates reduces to powder from an evil plot spun by a collection of the super villains from the show. From my perspective, the Batmobile has always been one of the actual stars as well. Batman without a super cool ride just wouldn't be right.

Like I alluded to before, I never really cared enough to follow Superman. In fact, as far a screen goes, Christopher Reeves would be my first reference. Although those movies were fun, they never really catapulted me to the level of fandom for the Son of Krypton. I still have not see Man of Steel.

So here we are in 2016 and my 12-year old wants to go see Batman V.s Superman: Dawn of Justice... in 3-D... in IMAX...

So I went.

I think I left the movie feeling slightly disturbed.

I will say this, whoever did the writing and the depth of characterization did a phenomenal job. Starting with the fact that the movie left me uneasy and ending with the fact that one with some medical background could peg the issues going on with the major characters... I was somewhat impressed.

I'll start with the Batman. The dreams... the memories... this Batman truly exemplifies Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD). We know that Batman has usually shunned traditional firearms. In this movie's case, he uses them deftly and with ease in his dreams, taking on imaginary Superman minions while tossing out hot lead with one handed ease. The detail given in the dreams of his parents deaths are just another example. From my perspective, sitting in the audience, all of this played into his ever building anger in the movie. This sleep deprived, tortured Batman was very interesting to watch.

...and of course, it took a parent's name to break the accelerated angst caused by the prodding and manipulation of Lex Luthor, just before he would have dealt a fatal blow to the Kryptonite impaired Superman.

Speaking of Luthor... what a wonderful example of psychosis. The derailed and corrected trains of thought and deeply woven plans. From my normally non-Superman perspective, this is the most diabolical Lex Luthor I have seen.

I felt the underlying tone that was consistently put off by Superman screamed "I just want to be normal," while his actions indicated either an inability to not be involved in a rescue or maybe an extreme addiction to being in the limelight.

The thing that really hit home with me though was how the actions of one, being viewed by another, especially when goaded by outside forces, spawned pure hatred between the two heroes.

What came to mind was there are always two sides to every story and without the knowing the other persons perspective the "facts" relayed by the visual may never be complete.

There was no communication. There was simply blocking on an epic level... until the tide turned and the truth was revealed. To me, that was the take home lesson from this piece of entertainment (in addition to learning that my son knew more about the DC superheroes than I would have though imaginable).

I will agree with one reviewer's notes I read in two areas... first, it is probably the best Batman movie I have seen, and two... Wonder Woman stole the show. It would take a Superman fan to weigh in on how this Clark Kent fared against those who came before.

Some of you are probably thinking that this is way off the mark from the type of things I usually write about. You are right. It is.

Like I said, the movie left me feeling a little disturbed.

I know people who could easily be labeled as acting exactly like Batman, Superman and Luthor.

Think twice, and remember there are always two sides to every story.