But Steve, why did you go? Well, I still like Batman and I wanted to see if Ben Affleck would do alright. For me, it’s about time we got an American actor over an ill-tempered Brit to play my favorite caped-vigilante. You also need to watch a bad movie to rightfully call it bad anyway.
Versus is a sequel to the dreadful Man of Steel and the foundational movie to WB/DC’s next step, a Justice League film for the parent company is desperate to have a string of Marel-like hits. Too bad they went with Zack Snyder. I enjoyed 300 and Watchmen. I just don’t think Snyder is the right person for bringing DC’s beloved team to the big screen. Firstly, everything looks as if it was digitally altered with Instagram filters to create this dingy, dreary world the heroes live in. Then comes all the plugs for what will be the sequels because those plot lines are not going to be resolved in this two-plus-hour slugfest; aka characters only diehard comic-book fans will recognize.
Personally, I think the people who approved this mess just knew the basics around the comic stories the movie cribbed and crammed together. Their rationale was, “Hey! People will love it. Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns, the Death of Superman and a bunch of other nerd crap. It’s like printing money.” Not really. It’s just a humongous noisy mess and they probably realized it eventually. Notice how it wasn’t released during the Summer, when the hits often appear.
Alamo Extras: Batman the Movie (1966) trailer; Bollywood thing of Superman and Spider-Woman dancing/singing; Superman 3 appearances; Batman toy commercials from the Nineties, Mego stuff from the Seventies; Fatman & Robin plug; David Letterman bit; a demonstration of how Marlon Brando read his lines in Superman; Mexican Batwoman!; Superman on I Love Lucy; Interviews of New Yorkers on why they like Superman; Various people as Superman to the Sixties song REM is known for covering; Bob Hope special with Batman and Superman arguing over who’s Lois Lane’s date; Turkish Batman!; a collage of how many different times we’ve been shown Bruce Wayne’s parents being murdered in Crime Alley; Bane on parole via Funny or Die.