"I don’t feel like ‘[Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice]’ had a heart; it was certainly fucking humorless, there was nothing funny going on in that world whatsoever, but it had lots of spectacle." While that was Kevin Smith‘s assessment of Zack Snyder‘s movie presented during his latest "Hollywood Babble-On" talk last week, it appears the filmmaker has softened his position somewhat.
Posting to Instagram from the set of "The Flash" where he’s directing an upcoming episode, Smith shared his new assessment of the movie following a second screening with his bud Jason Mewes (who also has a role in "The Flash" episode), who was seeing it for the first time. Here’s an excerpt of his post:
[Jason Mewes] LOVES his comic books – so much so that I’ve never heard him say he’s ever read a bad comic book (and I know for a fact he went deep on the I’ll-fated @marvel "New Universe" titles back in the day). He doesn’t dissect superhero material, he just consumes. Analyzing is for academics: Jay’s just there to see his heroes come to life. So to thank me for sneaking him into the @dccomics universe, Jay took me to see @batmanvsuperman again (my second time, his first). I liked the flick more on my second viewing (see 1 hour review on my #KevinSmith #youtube channel). I’d said the film didn’t have any heart, but after the second viewing, I actually found the heart in #batmanvsuperman: it’s in the viewer. And the viewer I watched the blockbuster with the second time was all agog, eyes as big as saucers. During the Knightmare sequence, we shared a moment that even elevated the flick for me: when the winged New Gods nasties attack #Batman and take him down, Jay (age 40) & I (age 45) simultaneously looked at one another and whispered reverently "ParaDemons." It was a beautiful moment shared by two lifelong fanboys who were delighted to see their childhood flash before their eyes.
It’s not a complete one-eighty on his previous feelings about the movie, and who knows, maybe "Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice" does play better a second time. That said, you’d be hard pressed to get me or many others to sit through it again. Thoughts? Let us know in the comments section.