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5 pressing questions Batman vs Superman totally fails to answer

5 pressing questions Batman vs Superman totally fails to answer

It’s a film that’s been panned by critics left, right and centre. And the plot holes just keep on coming
30 Mar, 2016

Forgive me for being demanding, but when you put two superheroes in a film – one being the near indestructible Superman and the other being tech-savvy, ahead-of-his-time Batman – planet saving should be an easier job.

I mean, the X-men and Avengers managed mostly okay. Not so in the latest from DC Comics.

The film pits Batman against Superman – which is fine, it’s a battle that piqued the curiosity of thousands of fans and sold all the tickets. However, while the two are engaged in a series of one-upping action sequences, villain Lex Luthor is able to exploit their hostility to mastermind a plan of mass wreckage. That should make them feel pretty dumb, except that they show more evidence of brawn than brain through most of the film.

No wonder the city is a mess... just like the film. Batman vs Superman not only reduced the beloved superheroes to caricature but is also full of plot holes that fans find difficult to forgive.

Here are five pressing questions the film should've been able to answer, but didn't.

1. Do Batman and Superman have any good reason to hate each other?

Plot spoiler: We're told Batman hates Superman because he “brought the fight to us”, as in all the aliens that followed him to Earth and destroyed almost all of Metropolis in Man of Steel. Superman hates Batman because he suspects he’s up to no good. We’re never sure why; his editor at Daily Planet thinks he's a non-issue. Oh well. Commence the battle!

Really, these are not good reasons for superheroes who are essentially on the same side to hate each other.

In my estimation, Batman and Superman basically don’t like not being the only hero in town. Each thinks the other doesn’t do a good enough job of saving the city/country/planet. So they forget their primary duty of saving the city/country/planet and try to thwart each other’s attempts to do just that. It's really just male aggression on overdrive.

(Spoilers) First case in point: Superman forces Batman’s detour during his chase of the Kryptonite-carrying vehicle, which allows Lex Luthor to get a hold of it. (Sure, Batman also had anti-Superman weaponry, not world peace, in mind, but it's less disastrous than how Lex would have used the Kryptonite.) Second case in point: Batman gives Superman a sound thrashing (after exposing him to some of the same Kryptonite he had to steal from Lex later) and refuses to give ear to the imminent danger to Superman’s mother and everyone else (in the larger scheme of things).

And what does it take for the boys to cool down? Superman’s revelation that he and Batman’s mother have the same name. What?!

So, it could have taken one stiff conversation ages ago for those two to settle their differences and fight the bad guys together, but no. Not before the boys had a rough-and-tumble in somebody’s abandoned backyard (what is that random building anyway?). Ugh.

2. Why did Superman say ‘Martha’ in the first place?

Plot spoiler: In the above battle scene, Batman is moments away from taking Superman's life when Superman utters 'Save Martha', referring to his mother whose death Lex Luthor has ordered if Superman fails to produce Batman's head to him. Batman has an instant change of heart and really does go save Martha.

But seriously, who calls their mom by their first name? And couldn't Superman just say 'Save my mother'? It would have the same thawing effect on Batman, who knows all too well how trying the loss of a parent can be.

3. Why didn't Superman save his own mom?

Plot spoiler: So Superman and Batman are quick to reconcile and Batman goes to save Superman's mom while Superman goes to confront Lex Luthor.

Given that a) Superman doesn’t have to take the stairs, b) can pretty much flit in and out of places and c) has zero qualms about leaving gaping holes in buildings, I don’t understand why he didn’t just save his own mother. It would take him all of… five minutes, tops, to burst in, grab his mom, fly out while a volley of bullets bounce off his steel bod. And he could then join Batman at Lex’s new lair to show him, ‘Look, we’re a team now!’.

But Batman is sent to rescue mom, which takes a lot of bullet dodging, flame dodging and surviving an explosion. What a waste of ammo.

4. Why can't Superman have more... finesse?

Sure, his missions come with the element of urgency, but does he really have to cause so much of a mess?

We don't see Clark Kent ripping open doors and throwing over tables to swat a fly in the office of the Daily Planet, so why does he have to such a dangerous, life-endangering klutz when he's donning the red cape?

It's not just buildings he's destroying, he's costing people's lives. Does he really think the building he left crumbling won't crush at least half a dozen people. No wonder Batman can't stand him.

5. Why is Batman's mask just plain dumb?

This bears repeating: Batman's mask is just plain dumb. As a disguise, it needs to be pointed at and made fun of. For it fails to cover up Bruce Wayne's (as in Ben Affleck's) super-distinctive butt-chin. How does no one guess that Wayne is Batman is beyond me.

Also, it catches fire.. a lot. At the end of every other action scene, one tiny piece of the mask is in the process of slowly melting. If he can make a super-solid Batmobile, why can't the mask be made of stronger stuff?

Comments

Zak Mar 30, 2016 04:46pm
This movie was like watching a dumb bollywood movie .
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mani Mar 30, 2016 05:01pm
The movie is a fail.
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Saadat Mar 30, 2016 05:18pm
Batman doesn't trust superman with such indestructible power. Good men can turn in to bad men, Remember Harvy Dent. Superman has issues with the vigilante approach of Batman. One person can not be the Judge, Jury and Executioner. It sabotages the very idea of Justice. This is the ideological difference between the two heroes and this is the reason why they are up against each other.
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AUD Mar 30, 2016 05:32pm
unfortunately director fail to keep the legacy of Nolan and made Batman totally vulnerable... like in the end batman was the one who exposed brutally and saving his life from monster creature !!!
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Asim Ali Mar 30, 2016 06:00pm
@Saadat Well said.
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AUD Mar 30, 2016 06:02pm
@Saadat hope you noticed, batman killing bad people numerous time in fight scene which is against his basic principle... remember rise of dark night when he stopped Selina killing Bane supporter !!!
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Asim Ali Mar 30, 2016 06:13pm
How does no one guess that Wayne is Batman? For the same reason why did no one guess that Clark Kent is Superman. I mean the guy is only wearing a pair of glasses. The director wanted to stick to the comic book here. So you got to cut some slack here for the director.
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Rizwan Mar 30, 2016 07:53pm
I think the movie was great. The animosity between the two was very well explained in the first half. Lex Luthor's plan villainous plan was quite wicked and the reason Superman didn't go to save his mother was because the fight with the Zod abomination creature was above Batman's level. All in all I thought it was a good comic book movie.
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bkt Mar 30, 2016 08:33pm
That was such a dumb movie, I was unsure most of the time why I was watching and whether I had heard right. The plot is dumb enough but thankfully there was Wonder woman. Wait was this movie about Wonder woman? If no, then why is she in this movie at all?
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bkt Mar 30, 2016 08:36pm
You would think that Superman, with his advanced technology would have mastered a way of getting around his prime weakness to kryptonite. But he seems to be dumber in each movie or Tv program he comes in. This is not good.
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Akram Mar 30, 2016 09:59pm
@AUD well they do explain that a few times also. Its in a dialogue between Alfred and Bruce where one mentions that he has been fighting for 20 years now alone against criminals and has just lost all hope now, he is frustrated. When he says that criminals are like weeds that is what he meant. He is older and grumpier now like any human being. This has taken a toll on him and he can't stand it anymore and now believes criminals should die. Eye for an eye.
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Shazy Jeo Mar 30, 2016 11:09pm
Just going out & checking your favorite charaters as Ben Afflek role isn't bad to see the super hero movie dispite bad reviews.
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Uzi Mar 31, 2016 12:03am
Not saying this movie is the greatest of superhero flicks ... but how many of you seen ALL of DC animated movies or read all the comics OR even seen the Justice League cartoon series... I am pretty sure most of you have NO clue what i am talking about ... In order to understand the reasoning for this movie, you need to see/ read of all the above ... probably too late now. Don't criticize till you know all the background.
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cameron Mar 31, 2016 03:26am
its a good movie and jsut so you know lots of kids take their parents name in the west.
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Noor Mar 31, 2016 05:22am
@Zak but you still watch it anyways.
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Abdullah wazir Mar 31, 2016 07:17am
I was extremely disappointed while coming out of Centaurus Cineplex.it was totally a waste of time.
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SMALL TWEET Mar 31, 2016 09:28am
@Zak can i need to say about pk movie
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Saadat Mar 31, 2016 09:30am
@AUD Bro this is different batman. Much bigger and brutal.
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amin Mar 31, 2016 09:32am
This was a comic movie. Not a Sherlock Holmes. Brawn is the essence of it.
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Ahmer Mar 31, 2016 09:52am
Well, why Superman's mom was trapped in the first place? She is Super Mom. She could fly out herself. This movie is gonna be as bad as Deadpool.
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MM Mar 31, 2016 10:00am
I liked it. Probably because I wasn't looking for a great story. It was an introduction of new series i.e. Justice League and that what I believe is more exciting.
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Funga Mar 31, 2016 10:05am
@Zak Shhhhhhhhhh.. only the villain was acting like Shahrukh Khan :)
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Asad Mar 31, 2016 10:06am
Agree with the Author. I believe the movie has totally destroyed the class Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale built with the Dark knight. They always focused on the high tech and the different suits that Batman acquired....Plus whatever happened to Batman's Principles of not shooting or Killing anyone. Wasn't this Batman's rule..capture not kill as he was incorruptible, and here he goes shooting and killing every criminal. On top the movie was not aligned at all. Sudden scenes of dreams and what not there was no build up of story at all...just some random scenes joined together. Oh and the Martha part astonished me as well....let alone half the time superman is saving that Lois Lane.... Its a fail. all the love for Batman created during Christian Bale's time is gone and we are back to the era of fail Batman movies. I mean even Alfred was flying the Bat plane :S.
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Wasif Mar 31, 2016 10:09am
the whole Martha scene was inspired from Karan Arjun
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A Shah Mar 31, 2016 10:33am
I prefer a good Bollywood flick to this!
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raw is war Mar 31, 2016 11:49am
they will only answer to one question. What is their collection at box office.
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Waqas Mar 31, 2016 09:22pm
I agree the movie could have been better
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Waqas Mar 31, 2016 09:24pm
@Uzi I totally agree with you
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Iqbal Mar 31, 2016 10:56pm
This is a smartly constructed movie as Batman's dream sequences and some other stuff will be better explained in upcoming Justice League movies, after all we live in an era of franchise and spin off movies and DC is following in the footsteps of Marvel but is focusing more on the darker and edgier side of the superheroes.
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