Criticism is always welcome and valid when it pertains to dialogue, cinematography, and the artistic execution of a film in relation to the creators’ ambitions and intent. But as anyone can understand, criticism becomes infinitely less constructive or progressive when the ambitions and intents being executed upon are assumed. And when a critic deems that a film has totally and completely failed to execute upon its assumed intent to the extent that it fails in each and every respect, and even the motivations behind that intent are called into question, one must – and should – ask if the intention has been misunderstood. That’s not a slight against critics or criticism, either – even great critics have (often famously) misunderstood great art. But as criticism escalates to extremes, it becomes even more important to ask the question: is there an intention or ambition that the film does succeed (to a greater degree) in exploring? And is there more evidence to support that intention than the assumed one that the film seems to completely ignore?
The refusal of some to believe that a director’s choices are actually that – choices – and not a product of total obliviousness or misunderstanding is one we may never understand. But it’s a simple idea: if Zack Snyder wanted audiences to believe Superman was infallible and above the moral dilemmas of our world, then he wouldn’t have needed to kill Zod. If David Ayer wanted audiences to believe doing the right thing outweighed the mistakes of your past, then the Suicide Squad wouldn’t have wound up back in their prison cells. And if Zack Snyder wanted audiences to think that good people are immune to being manipulated by paranoia and fear, Batman wouldn’t have succumbed to it. If he had intended the audience to take comfort in the fact that waging war based on xenophobia and a ‘greater good’ can be undone, reversed, and made up for… Superman wouldn’t wind up in a coffin.