“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” was not a critical success. Like many DC Extended Universe (DCEU) films, the studio seemingly rushed to bring some of the most iconic superhero characters together on screen. Many critics felt that Zack Snyder, David S. Goyer, and Chris Terrio‘s collective vision was far too muddled with action, highlighting spectacle over substance. The film was rather polarizing with audiences as well, landing a 63% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Most people burden Snyder with the brunt of the criticism, solely blaming him for the underwhelming adaption. Recently, ‘Batman v Superman’s’ cinematographer, Larry Fong, spoke about the film’s negative reviews, defending Snyder in the process.
“Everyone has their opinion,” Fong explained on the podcast ComicBook Debate. “Does everyone have to love the movie? Of course not…visually I feel like me and my crew killed it, so when you hear things about it, it kind of hurts. To be honest the weirdest thing… I’ve never really talked about this. But the weirdest thing, and this has happened a lot, I’ll have a stranger come up and say, ‘’Batman v Superman’ really sucked…but don’t worry, what you did was great. It looked really good. It wasn’t your fault.’”
“And I listened to that for a while and was like, ‘Okay, well thanks.’ But then the more I thought about it I thought I’m not going to accept that. Because everyone’s working towards a common goal, right? And Zack’s my brother, I’m not gonna go ‘Yeah!’ you know, ‘He did a horrible job…but I didn’t! I just did my job! That’s right!’ I don’t accept that. If you make a baby together you’re proud of that baby. You can’t divide that up,” he continued.
Fong has worked with Snyder on the majority of his filmography, including “300,” “Watchmen,” and “Sucker Punch,” so, naturally, he and Snyder have grown quite close over past 12 years since “300.” He brings up an incredibly important point that critics and audiences so often miss or forget when they watch or analyze a film: it was made by a team of hard-working people. Sure, they are following the vision of a select few, but everyone is showcasing their unique abilities, their work, and, more often than not, filmmaking is a “team sport.”
So, if you’re going to blame Snyder for the many failures in ‘Batman v. Superman,’ you have to also congratulate him on the successes, as well. And yes, for all its negatives, there are a few positives. They’re there. We promise. Just have to look hard.