Five Things Batman v Superman Did Better Than Captain America: Civil War
By Kit Anderson
Batman v Superman and Civil War at least on the surface seem pretty damn similar. Two heroes fighting over ideological conflicts. Dealing with the collateral fallout of super heroics. And hey they are both about the same running time! While in actuality the two are different films, especially with them opening so close together it is only natural to compare the two. Batman V. Superman has quickly faded in the box office despite a fast start and a highly hyped release. Captain America: Civil War on the other hand has just started what is expected to be a record setting run in the box office. While many of us were disappointed in Batman V. Superman, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Civil War and the its great story. No doubt that in my opinion overall Captain America: Civil War is the better movie but there are things that Batman V. Superman did a better job at. These are the five things I feel that Batman V. Superman did better then Civil War (WARNING Spoilers for both Batman v Superman & Captain America: Civil War follow):
Next: #5:....Bruce Wayne's Reasoning
5. Bruce Wayne’s Reasoning
Maybe it was just me but one of my very few issues with Captain America:Civil War was how quickly these “heroes” turned on each other. On the flip side we see Bruce’s pain and the fact he has no friendship with Clark or Superman. Add that to Clark’s super powered fight killed hundreds of people that worked for Wayne and we quickly empathize with him and understand his fight against Superman. That is something that Civil War could have taken a bit longer to explain leaving you wondering why they were willing to turn on each other so quickly.
Next: #4:....The Cast
4. The Cast
To be clear I am not talking about acting or characters here. Simply the differently sized casts. While Captain America: Civil War had so many different heroes demanding screen time it left you wanting more time spent on each character. While this is a positive for the film franchise Marvel has created it is also something that Batman V. Superman was more successful in. Due to limiting the amount of heroes they introduced into the story we felt we fully understood and knew both Bruce’s and Clark’s stories fully from the start.
Next: #3:....Plot Beginnings
3. Plot Beginnings
If only all of Batman V. Superman could have been as interesting and intriguing as the beginning scene. Batman V. Superman’s first scene was instantly recognizable for DC fans and in my opinion was the most emotional scene in the entire film. That is just based simply on the fact it was easier to understand and relate to then some of the more shocking and emotional developments later in the movie. Civil War on the other hand felt the need to jump straight to the action less then two minutes into the film and the heroes were fighting it out. Bruce Wayne and the loss that the battle had caused was the focus on the beginning of Batman V. Superman which was a nice change of pace for DC and Marvel movies.
Next: #2.:.... They Hugged It Out In The End
2. They Hugged It Out In The End
Okay maybe that is an exaggeration but the point is Clark and Bruce clearly resolve their issues and move on to fight the actual bad guys. Cap and Iron Man have a much less amicable last scene together. After discovering the secret that Steve has been keeping from him what was an expected final battle and resolution scene instead turned into two good guys beating the crap out of each other. We last see them together laying with bloodied faces on the ground both far from having resolved much of anything at all. Fast forward to the end of the movie and besides a letter we have very little resolution to the fight between the heroes. Batman V. Superman left no such questions with the two heroes fighting side by side in a exciting ending battle.
This is important because both Civil war and Batman v Superman are leading to even bigger conflicts, Justice League is coming and we know that Batman & Wonder Woman are now focused on gathering these other super powered individuals to help combat the big bad )Darkseid) coming in that. We have no clue how the Avengers will reform to face Thanos in Infinity War, you can’t just pretend like Civil War didn’t happen. So that is time you have to take in Infinity War to explain how this fracture in this team is fixed. Maybe it will be handled great, but we don’t know that until the next movie comes out. It could just feel awkward and forced and a waste of time to get to the real meat of the film.
Next: #1:....More Serious
1.
More Serious
This can be taken as a positive or a negative depending on your point of view. There is no doubt though that Batman V. Superman start to finish does a better job at being a darker, more serious film then a Avengers (or Captain America)movie will ever be. From the dream sequences to the death of Bruce’s parents the movie is heavy and a lot to take in for a super hero flick. Captain America: Civil War however kept the audience laughing while still dealing with darker themes then any Marvel movie has as of yet but is nowhere near as dark and serious as any Batman movie we have seen over the last years. I think despite my problems with Batman v Superman, there’s a place for dark, mature and serious superhero films, and really the fact that Batman v Superman was dark wasn’t really one of its problems unless you just didn’t want to deal with a dark superhero movie in the first place (which is perfectly fine).
So there are 5 things I feel like Batman v Superman actually did at least little better than Civil War. But in all honesty, the two films, despite their surface similarities are very different. If for no other reason than Marvel spent 8 years and about a dozen movies building to Civil War, and of course we are just getting started with Batman v Superman and the larger movie universe it inhabits. Nevertheless it will be very interesting to see where both the future of DCEU and the MCU go from here (and yes, it is ok to like both!).