Getting to Win This Time or No Resolution - Only Sequels
It mirrors the noble helplessness in the dreamy reimagining of the Battle of Metropolis from the start of the movie. The sequence sees him team up an accept the help of not just Superman but the mysterious feminine Wonder Woman, who together are allowed ritualistic reenact the 9/11 metaphor and like Rambo in Rambo: First Blood Part II “win” this time. The concept of “winning” in this genre means the limiting of destruction to property and not human life. In a surprising and jarring moment of self-awareness, the film completes this illusion by including real life news anchor Anderson Cooper telling the audience to not worry about loss of life since that segment of the city was not populated because of the end of the work day. This does not change the complete destruction captured as Superman throws Doomsday into a series of refineries that all explode. Doomsday itself emits energy that wipes out whole city blocks in imagery mirroring that of nuclear bomb tests.
By the end of the fight Superman is dead, heroically sacrificing himself to stop the monster he helped create. This sacrifice leads to further introspection and rebirth within Bruce Wayne who now sees the humanity in the figure he viewed with xenophobic rage, and the need to do better. That desire is tenuous as seen in the action sequence where he saves Martha. The sadomasochistic scenario was per Savran the “perfect engine” for Sylvester Stallone and the Rambo franchise and it holds true for Batman as there will be “no resolution – only sequels”. The overall arc of a film franchise has changed since the action heavy days of the eighties but their perpetual, self-fulfilling, nature has not.
In Zack Snyder’s filmography, there is fertile ground for subversive deeper reads on top of the highly-aestheticized text. His films portrayal of masculinity is not as secure and clear as it at first appears, but in constant conflict with itself. It is undermined or supported by the actions and presentation of the character Bruce Wayne/Batman. Bruce goes on an arc of rebirth and rejuvenation, climaxing in his rejection of the toxic masculinity that had been consuming him for a new different path inspired by Superman. This turnover of a new leaf, like the surefooted masculinity presented in action films, is mechanically necessary for the continuation of the DC Extended Universe of films. It is however, questionable given his actions in the film and the unending treadmill like construction of the modern cinematic universe.
