10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 18

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Eighteen: The Postmortem

Welcome to the eighteenth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Over the past seventeen weeks, we’ve been on a roller coaster of film criticism, close-reading the film in deep dives of analysis, commentary, and review. That’s more than four months devoted to a film that proved one of the most contentious flashpoints in a particularly divisive 2016, and the fact that we’re still talking about it speaks to the film’s depth. Those of us who loved the film don’t want to let go of it, and those who didn’t like it nevertheless can’t stop talking about it.

Four months is a long time, and with Justice League making its debut this weekend (see how we synced that up?), we should mark the occasion with some sort of postmortem on the “10 @ a Time” project. For those playing the home game, we are and have been looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; the preceding installments in this series can be accessed below:

Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five || Part Six || Part Seven || Part Eight || Part Nine || Part Ten || Part Eleven || Part Twelve || Part Thirteen || Part Fourteen || Part Fifteen || Part Sixteen || Part Seventeen

I was watching the theatrical cut of Batman v Superman when I conceived of this project. I realized that, even without the benefit of the Ultimate Edition, there were things in the theatrical cut that were lining up for me, things that made more sense the more I watched the film. The goal of the “10 @ a Time” project, then, became the explication of these connections, the revelation of the clockwork mechanism operating behind the film. Boy howdy, I didn’t think it’d take as much effort as it did, but I’d say the results were well worth it. In recognition of what I take to be the twin remarkable achievements of Batman v Superman and my laborious analysis of the same, I present The Postmortem, in the form of ten takeaways (in no particular order) from my hermetic immersion in the film.

"When people ask you who's your number one bad guy, you say--?" "Superman!"

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 17

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Seventeen: Men Are Still Good

Welcome to the seventeenth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we bore witness to the death of Superman. Today, we fall so that we learn to pick ourselves up.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 2:43:20 to 2:54:40.]

At the end of the road, we can probably agree – whether you liked the film or not – that Zack Snyder is a pretty bold filmmaker. Batman v Superman is unconventional in a number of ways, difficult and obscure in places, but it’s his film. Hatchet-job theatrical version aside, there’s little question that this was the film he wanted to make; like its first protagonist (and the accidental hero of Watchmen, Rorschach), Snyder has not compromised, has not made easy and safe choices. There were many roads to Justice League, and I can’t say that very many filmmakers would have taken this one.

Does anyone else get a Godfather, Part II vibe from this shot?

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 16

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Sixteen: This Is My World

Welcome to the sixteenth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we saw the second battle for Metropolis begin. Today, you’ll believe that a man can die.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 2:33:50 to 2:43:20.]

"Kneel before Zod."

As a comics collector of several decades now, it’s a little unusual to think that among my first comics were chapters of “The Death of Superman,” in which the Man of Steel met his end at the fists of Doomsday. Even at a young age, I knew he’d be back, of course, but it’s a bit striking that my introduction to Superman was as a man who could die, who could never be replaced, and who could return when the world needed him most. All of this is to say that I remember sitting in the movie theater the day I watched Superman die, and the only thing I could think was, “How did I not see this coming?!”

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 15

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Fifteen: Is She With You?

Welcome to the fifteenth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we looked at Batman’s big fight and Superman’s second-most important act of heroism. Today, we get right back to the fighting.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 2:24:15 to 2:33:50.]

DC's Holy Trinity. I'll leave you to work out which is the Father, which the Son, and which the Holy Spirit.

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 14

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Fourteen: Gotham Roast, Well Done

Welcome to the fourteenth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we saw eight ways to read the “Martha” scene (ten, if you read all the way through the post). Today, we return and begin again to save Martha and fend off an abomination.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 2:13:06 to 2:24:15.]

"Pew pew pew!"

Time is of the essence in this installment of the film, and as we wind down (I’d guesstimate we have about three more segments of “10@T” to go) it’s kind of astonishing to think about how much the film still manages to pack in. As I’ve said before, I would much rather a film be overfull of substance than of style and would prefer it if a film packed in too much plot rather than protract too little. That being said, it’s a funny little coincidence that this segment begins with a shot of a clock, ticking down from ten minutes – it’s as if the film knew I’d be reviewing it in this manner.

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 13

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Thirteen: Martha

Welcome to the thirteenth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we got right down to fighting, without losing sight of the film’s ongoing interrogation of what it means to be human. Today, we’ll visit the hill on which I’ve chosen to die.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 2:10:56 to 2:13:06.]

"Why did you say that name?!"

I’ve rewritten this opening paragraph several times, my approaches ranging from waxing philosophical about significant single words from 2016 (“covfefe” was, alas, in 2017) to effusive rage at the glib and willfully ignorant crowd who sneered at these two minutes. I’ve thought about going into a deep historical dive (Martha Kent’s original name was Mary, then Sarah, then back to Mary), considered recapping the film to this point to get us primed, and mulled simply dropping the word MARTHA in big bold letters. What do you say about a moment like “Martha”?

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 12

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Twelve: Boys Share Too

Welcome to the twelfth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we continued the discussion of fathers and transfigurations, of rises and falls. Today, our protagonists get down to the titular “v.”

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 1:57:46 to 2:10:56. No, we’re not rebranding as “Twelve at a Time”; we’re running a little long because a) this is mostly a big action scene, and b) we are going to cover much less next week.]

The bulk of this segment is devoted to the all-out brawl promised by the title of the film, and we’ll get there in just a moment, but first we have to check our email.

Who was Lex's graphic designer?

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 11

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Eleven: Transfigurations, Part II

Welcome to the eleventh installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we talked about how the major players are readying their positions for the final act. Today, fathers take the floor before the sons duke it out.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 1:44:51 to 1:57:46. We’re running a little long because some really fascinating symmetry shows up if we think of this batch all together.]

The blood on whose hands, Lex?

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 10

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Ten: Transfigurations, Part I

Welcome to the tenth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we talked about the Washington hearings, Bruce’s (orchestrated) reaction, and why the Ultimate Edition is still so much better. Today, Superman hits another Jesus moment, and Doomsday approaches.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 1:35:00 to 1:44:51.]

If I can get ahead of myself, I was a little surprised to see that the next installment of “10 @ a Time” will take us to the top of Lexcorp for Lex’s big monologue and the beginning of the end – a testament, perhaps, to how much can happen in ten minutes of this movie. There’s also the acute sense, though, knowing that this is the end of the second act, that Batman v Superman is hitting a kind of mythic cyclical button, as if to say, “And so we return and begin again.” This segment of the film moves everyone into the places they need to be for the film’s narrative and thematic climaxes – Superman is at his vulnerable nadir, Batman is assembling his death trap, Lois is two steps closer to proving Lex’s guilt, and Lex is (like Batman) moving his final schemes into place.

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 9

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Nine: The Sound of Silence

Welcome to the ninth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we discussed whether angels bleed and why we need mothers. Today, more stuff blows up.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 1:24:53 to 1:35:00.]

At least Superman didn't have to live through Election 2016.

What’s immediately apparent is that this chunk of the movie plays so much better in the Ultimate Edition than the theatrical release, which shortchanged just about every character except for Lex Luthor. In the Ultimate Edition, Senator Finch gets a moment of clarity before her death, Superman finds himself hampered yet again from saving people, Lois pushes further forward with her story, and Bruce fractures his relationship with Alfred ever more painfully. What’s remarkable, too, is how much is communicated silently, without the benefit of long monologues. In fact, the people that speak the most in this installment are the ones with the least to say. In the theatrical cut, recall, Lex blows up the Capitol, Superman disappears, and Bruce scowls at the television before stealing the Kryptonite; let’s break down, then, what the Ultimate Edition expands and how it deepens the film.

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 8

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Eight: Do You Bleed?

Welcome to the eighth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we talked about the Knightmare and touched on Alfred’s efforts to keep Batman human. Today, stuff blows up, and two titans meet again for the first time.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 1:14:10 to 1:24:53.]

The bulk of this installment is taken up by an action sequence, which is a fabulous eyeball kick. It’s interesting that, at seventy-five minutes into the movie, this is (barring the Knightmare sequence) really only the second Batman sequence of the film. We’ve had Batman as creature of the night in his horror show debut, and now it’s Batman the stop-at-nothing action hero.

Achievement Unlocked: Creature of the Night +10xp

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 7

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Seven: Welcome to My Knightmare

Welcome to the seventh installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we talked at length about Superman and how the film preempted #NotMySuperman. Today, we’re down with another case of Bat-fever, this time by way of Mad Max: Fury Road – and you may be surprised that I actually like that.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 1:04:29 to 1:14:10.]

Darkseid is.

We’ve come to one of my favorite parts of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and it’s precisely the kind of scene that merits a “10 @ a Time” treatment because the film itself doesn’t do a lot with it by way of interpretation. It’s a dream sequence, a vision of the future, but it’s not even close to a future that comes to pass by the film’s end or which is transparently averted in time for the end credits. The Knightmare is instead posited as a mystery, inviting contemplation and exegesis beyond what the film will provide.

And look, I’m aware that if any other film pulled that stunt, I’d be out in front, leading a riot. To be fair, I do think that that theatrical cut of the film might have fared better if all this overt franchise-building had been left to the Ultimate Edition. But on the other hand, the point of this feature is in part to share all the things I see in the film that make me love it, even if those things are elements that I read into the film. Put another way, I know that most moviegoers don’t recognize the fire-pits and Parademons as intensely significant to the DC mythology, but those are among the things I love about the Knightmare sequence. The film would lose nothing without this scene, but it gains so much more.

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 6

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Six: Must There Be a Superman?

Welcome to the sixth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we talked about daddy issues and the Bruce/Lex parallel, but today we’re served a heaping helping of plot alongside a powerful meditation on what Superman ought to be in the 21^st century.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 0:53:05 to 1:04:29.]

"In time... they will join you in the sun."

When Man of Steel came out in 2013, there were two major complaints, each constituting one half of the same coin: “Superman killed someone” and “Superman didn’t save anyone.” I’ll be honest – I have little patience for either of these critiques because they both fall victim to what I feel are some of the most pernicious attitudes toward comic book movies, the first of which is this belief that comic book movies must absolutely adhere to the source material as though it were gospel. It is supposed that, because Superman currently has a policy against taking the life of another, a film version must immediately operate under that rule. Such a policy, however, forgets the basic storytelling dictum that Superman did not form that rule ex nihilo – he took up that policy after the taking of a life was so grievous to him that he chose never to do it again. (Not coincidentally, Superman killed Zod in the comics in 1988, and also on film in Superman II in 1980.) Lest we forget, Man of Steel is literally Superman’s first day on the job.

The second critical trap to which comic book movies are often subjected is this ludicrous notion that any origin movie must conclude on a note where the bulk of the comic book adventures can be assumed to take place immediately thereafter. That is to say, a fair number of moviegoers expect an origin story to conclude such that the next movie might be an adaptation of their very favorite storyline, treating an origin story like the foam of Zeus’s head out of which Superman might arise, Athena-like. This is not to say that comic book movies haven’t done this; Batman Begins ended on a note of “Here we go!” while older films like Superman, Spider-Man, and X-Men have all taken similar tacks to the imagined “next chapter.”

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 5

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Five: The Magical Thinking of Orphan Boys

Welcome to the fifth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we talked about the way the film portrayed its interpretation of Lex Luthor, and we’re going to continue that conversation this week.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 0:40:45 to 0:53:05.]

Inverted by request of the owner.

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 4

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Four: The Greatest Criminal Mind of Our Time

Welcome to the fourth installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we talked about the continuing contrasts between Superman and Batman’s brands of justice (in the case of the latter, quite literally). We’ve had half an hour of good guys, so it’s time to see our film’s vision of villainy.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 0:29:17 to 0:40:45.]

"Miss Teschmacher!"

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 3

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Three: Funnel Ferry Butter Bar

Welcome to the third installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we talked about Lois’s relationship to Superman and how that foreshadows much of the rest of the world’s inability to understand him. Maybe he’s just a guy... having said that, let’s check in with the other guy.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 0:19:55 to 0:29:17.]

"I am vengeance, I am the night..."

While I’m not going to pretend that this is deliberate – at least, I won’t argue that it is (it very well might be) – there’s an interesting structure that reveals itself by taking BvS ten minutes at a time. In short, thus far: Bruce, Superman, Batman, Clark, Bruce. If we extend our gaze, the last thing we saw in Man of Steel was Clark Kent, and the pattern’s going to broken in the next ten-minute chunk by (appropriately enough) Lex Luthor.

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 2

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Part Two: Road to Nairomi

Welcome to the second installment of “10 @ a Time: Batman v Superman.” Last week we talked about how the opening ten minutes established the film’s operatic tone and the necessity of seeing the murder of the Waynes one more time. Having met Batman, it’s time to check in with Superman to see how he’s conducted himself in the intervening eighteen months since Man of Steel.

[For those playing the home game, we’re looking at the “Ultimate Edition” home video release; for today’s 10@T installment, we’re looking from 0:10:07 to 0:19:55.]

"Among the fishes, a whale!"

10 @ a Time - Batman v Superman, Part 1

Welcome to the first installment of “10 @ a Time,” our weekly look at films which demand far more attention than the usual review is able to give. Here you’ll see films that are particularly dense, thoughtful, demanding: films I love and therefore feel the need to work through to grasp them fully. Sometimes they’ll be movies we all know and love, movies upon which we agree and in which we can revel; other times they’ll be movies that didn’t get a fair shake the first time around. And who knows? Maybe, just maybe, they’ll be stringent disassemblies, dissections, and disparagements.

For our first run of “10 @ a Time,” we’re throwing back all the way to March 2016. The country was facing a divisive election and a divided populace, I had just submitted a full draft of my dissertation on (what else?) comic book superheroes, and Arrow was still terrible. Then came the movie we’ll be studying for the next four months – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

I’ve reviewed the film twice, once upon its theatrical premiere and again on the occasion of its “Ultimate Edition” director’s cut release. It became the first film of 2016 to make it onto the Personal Canon, and I’ve seen it at least a half dozen times in the last six months. Each time I watch it, I’m compelled to review it anew – in short, I have so much more to say about these movies that one or two reviews can’t hope to contain it all. And so, “10 @ a Time” was born.