Rewatched the Ultimate Edition to prepare for Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021).

This might be one of the most underrated and misunderstood films of all time, and everytime I watch it I love it even more. Zack Snyder perfectly combined superhero movie with a political/revenge thriller. The themes about power, humanity, and seeing the good in people are masterfully woven throughout the dialogue and visuals.
     Bruce Wayne starts out this movie cynical and pessimistic due to the Black Zero Event. He even says in the beginning "what falls is fallen", "how many good guys are left, how many stayed that way?", and "we've seen what promises are worth", showing his distrust and belief that heroism is a lie. The feeling of powerlessness when his parents were murdered is what set him on this path, trying to have power over criminals for 20 years. He has since began dehumanizing the criminals, becoming more and more violent. They are in the way of what he now believes to be his one true goal (killing Superman), so he doesn't care whether they live or die. He tells himself that this path is healthy and that it is honoring his parents memory, but he is really just using it to avoid overcoming the grief and the powerlessness that he felt. This is the "Beautiful Lie" that he talks about. He feels this same powerlessness when Metropolis is being attacked by General Zod and he can't save the people in his building or any other citizens. Because of this, he dehumanizes Kal-El and sees him as the criminal that took his parents' lives, he even says "you were never a god, you were never even a man." He decides to take Superman's life and he has a realization that his 20 years fighting crime in Gotham are all for naught if he doesn't, "this may be the only thing [he does] that matters." When he is about to kill Superman, Clark uses what he believes to be his last words to ask Bruce to save his mother, demonstrating his humanity and selflessness. Then Batman takes a step back and realizes what he's become. He is the Joe Chill in this scenario. He finally sees Clark for what he is, he's not a Messiah or a god, he's "just a guy, trying to do the right thing." His inner confict is shown in the imagery of half of his mask being removed. It is Bruce versus Batman, the light versus the dark. Those who make jokes about this scene clearly don't understand it. No, Batman did not decide help Superman because their mothers had the same name. It's about so much more than that, it's one of the most important scenes and the turning point in Bruce's story arc. It is the moment that could have plunged him further into the darkness if he murdered Superman, but instead it begins his journey back into the light. After he picks Superman up, he makes him a promise, juxtaposing what he said earlier about promises, displaying his growth and how he is beginning to trust again. After Clark's sacrificial death, he is shown visibly stepping into the light, symbolizing his redemption. Kal-El's death showed him that "men are still good", and "we can rebuild", also juxtaposing what he said earlier. Bruce also decides not to brand Lex, showing how he has grown as a character. One of the most important things about the character of Batman in general is that, no matter how many times he gets knocked down, he gets back up. This doesn't only mean literally. In this movie, he gets knocked down into the darkness after witnessing the fight in Metropolis, but he gets back up at the end of the film. This movie is symmetrical, it begins and ends with a funeral. The beginning shows Bruce falling into the darkness, and the bats lifting him into the light, symbolizing the birth of Batman. After he falls again after the Black Zero Event, he is brought back into the light by Superman. This is the rebirth of the Batman. 
     Like Man of Steel (2013), Superman is shown in a more realistic light in this film. He is a figure of controversy as he would be if he were real. Some people believe he has too much power and should not be allowed to act without oversight. Others see him as above humans and believe that we should not try to restrain him with regulations. One of my favorite scenes that highlights this is when we see Superman save a girl at a Día de los Muertos celebration. At first, Superman is smiling because the girl is safe, but he stops smiling when he sees how the citizens are worshipping him. This is then followed with several interviews of people sharing their opinions on the politics of Superman, intercut with shots of Superman saving people where he is given Christ-like imagery to represent how the public sees him. This juxtaposes the truth and what one of the interviews is saying: that he's "just a guy, trying to do the right thing."  Clark is confused as to why he is a figure of controversy when he is just trying to do what is right, while the bat vigilante is ignored by the media and aided by police. He takes his frustration out on Bruce when he tells him "the bat is dead, bury it." He knows that if he goes to the hearing and talks about what happened in the desert, he will clear up the controversy. The hearing is bombed and many people inside the Capitol building die. Destruction follows him everywhere, increasing the controversy. He and Lois consider that it might be impossible for him to be Superman and to be with her. He didn't see the bomb because he wasn't looking. He sees the good in people, and he doesn't expect someone to commit an act of violence like that. He reflects and remembers a story that Pa Kent told him, about how sometimes your good intentions can have negative consequences, and the only thing that made his nightmares go away was when he met Clark’s mother. When Lois is thrown off of the building by Lex Luthor, he comes to save her. He finds out that Lex has kidnapped his mother and will kill her if he doesn't kill Batman. He talks with Lois, he says that either he needs to convince him to help him, or he must die. Leaving with "No one stays good in this world", before flying off to Gotham. One criticism I've heard is that this line is out of character for Superman, as he should be optimistic and hopeful. The point is that the filmmaker is bringing Superman down to his lowest point before the third act, when he finds his hope again. This is a pretty common storytelling technique (think about when Peter quits being Spider-Man in Spider-Man 2, or how Bruce considers quitting being Batman after Rachel dies in The Dark Knight), it’s intentionally out of character for Superman. (I also think it's fair to get a little depressed when someone has kidnapped and threatened to murder your mother) Superman is in a lose-lose senario. When he gets to Gotham he tries to reason with Batman, but he won't listen. When Bruce is about to kill him, all he can think about is his mother. Even in his last moments, he sees the good and the heroic nature in Bruce and begs him to save Martha Kent. After Bruce comes to his realization, Clark trusts the man who was just about to kill him with his mother's life. Later, when he hears that Lois is trapped underwater he immediately ignores Doomsday and saves her. He then certifies his home by saying "this is my world," which juxtaposes when he said "my world doesn't exist anymore." His hope is restored, paralleling Pa Kent’s story, because like Superman says, Lois is his world. He then sacrifices his life for a world that at times was angry and hated him for just wanting to help. 
     As a child, Lex Luthor was beaten and abused by his father. He was powerless against his father's fists. Because of this he came to the conclusion that power is inherently evil. When his father died he gained power over him, because he controls how he is remembered. In an effort to gain power, Lex gains knowledge, but when Superman shows up the feeling of powerlessness returns. Lex sees him as a fraud, he surmises that he is evil and he wants to expose him to the rest of the world. He alters public opinion about him by threatening witnesses and falsifying evidence to make people think that he is a murderer. When Kal-El decides to speak in front of the Senate, Lex knows that that will disrupt his plan. So he uses Wallace as a Trojan horse to get a bomb into the Capitol building. The bombing of the Senate and subsequent vanishing of Superman sways the public opinion of Superman even more. At the same time he is using Bruce. He gets him to steal the kryptonite and the information about the other metahumans in hopes that he will kill them after Superman. Lex kidnaps Martha Kent because he knows that he can use her to get Clark to fight Bruce. He engineers this entire scenario in order for this fight to happen. It is a win-win situation for him. If Superman kills Bruce then he proves his point and reveals to the world that Kal-El is not the Messiah that they believe. If Batman kills Clark, then he proves that Clark is not all-powerful. "If God is all-powerful, He cannot be all good. And if He is all good then He cannot be all-powerful." During Lex's monologue on the helipad he also says "no man in the sky intervened when I was a boy to deliver me from Daddy's fists and abominations." Later, Superman saves him from the fist of an ancient Kryptonian abomination, proving him wrong. Lex enters the scout ship, he creates Doomsday to kill Superman  as a backup and to show the public what real power is. He sees Doomsday as a son, saying to Zod's body "you flew too close to the Sun." This also has the double meaning of "you flew too close to the son," the "son" being Kal-El, as he is often called "the last son of Krypton." He compares Zod to Icarus, and thus making him Daedalus, the genius inventor from Greek mythology, displaying his hubris. Another thing I really like about this version of Lex is his ability to manipulate people. Both in the grand scheme of things and in his individual interactions, he always knows what to say or do to get someone to do what he wants. At the end his head is shaved, fitting the look of the classic super-villain that we know from the comics. Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor gets a lot of hate but in my opinion he’s incredibly comic accurate with some really interesting motives and dialogue. He’s probably my favorite villain in any comic book movie. 
     The biggest complaint I've seen about this version of Batman is that he kills, and Batman shouldn't kill. Ignoring the fact that all of the live action Batmen have killed, that's the point of the movie. He begins the movie as a fallen and broken version of Batman. He's not a murderer, but he doesn't care whether criminals live or die. He's blinded by his hate for Superman, and doesn't see that what he's doing is wrong. He then has a redemptive arc by the end of the movie and realizes this. So when people say that something he did was "out of character" for Batman they're right, that's the point.
     I've heard people say that the fight between Batman and Superman wasn't good and that they had no reason to fight and even compare it to a "pissing match," and... yeah, there is obviously a struggle of masculinity there, that's intentional. Why wouldn't this hyper masculine adrenaline junkie immediately start sizing up this creature from another world whom he knows is a thousand  times stronger than him? 
     A lot of the themes in this movie could be applied to modern-day politics. There are obvious parallels between the Black Zero Event and 9/11, and the rest of the movie is an allegory for the islamophobia that followed. Bruce Wayne, a rich, white man, feels powerless against Kal-El, an immigrant. He assumes the worst about him simply because he's different, and one could make the argument that he was scared that Superman would "take his job" (in the sense that Superman could make him obsolete), another popular claim amongst xenophobes. He expected Superman to be evil because he's a Kryptonian, and the only other Kryptonians that the world has ever come into contact with were those that attacked Earth. In the end, the rich man realizes he was wrong and that he's not so different from the immigrant after all.
     I also really liked seeing Lois Lane doing some actual detective work and reporting, as oppose to just being a damsel in distress for Superman to save. She is the one who actually figures out that Lex is behind everything.
     Of course with Zack Snyder and Larry Fong there is some incredible cinematography, some of the best in any comic book movie. There is an absolutely amazing score from Hanz Zimmer and Junkie XL. I especially like the track “Beautiful Lie” and Lex Luthor’s theme, which is, fittingly, a sort of warped and twisted version of Superman’s theme from Man of Steel. The cast is great, Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor all are amazing at their roles. There is some of the best superhero action scenes ever, like the Batman versus Superman fight, the Batman warehouse fight (my personal favorite), and the Doomsday battle. The dialogue from Chris Terrio is also amazing, it’s often very layered with a ton of interesting subtext. As of 3/17/2021 this is my favorite film of all time, but Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) comes out tomorrow and we'll see where it is after that. 

I could never go completely in depth about all the symbolism and themes, but if you want to read all about that I suggest reading Bryant Tyler's review HERE, it’s incredible.