如果英勇而乐于助人的超人和阴郁的“黑暗骑士”蝙蝠侠狭路相逢展开恶斗，你觉得谁会赢？这个问题是新片《蝙蝠侠大战超人：正义黎明》的一个基本设定。
It’s a safe bet to assume that such a movie will involve many adrenalin-pumping fight scenes. But Batman v Superman doesn’t aim to simply single out the strongest superhero. As its title suggests, the movie depicts the “dawn of justice”–or, in layman’s terms, the origins of the Justice League.
观众一定会认为这部电影里有超多让人肾上腺素飙升的打斗场面。不过《蝙蝠侠大战超人》并不仅仅是要角逐出谁是最强的超级英雄。正如电影名暗示的，它描述的是“正义黎明”——或者用外行的话说，正义联盟的起源。
If you’re familiar with comic book franchises, you’ll know the Justice League is to DC Comics what the Avengers is to Marvel. They are teams composed of each comic book brand’s top superheroes. Marvel – DC’s longtime competitor in the comic book industry – was the first to bring its superhero team to the big screen. DC’s films, by contrast, have focused on specific characters, like director Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.
如果你熟悉美漫系列，你一定知道，正义联盟之于DC漫画就如复仇者联盟之于漫威。两大战队囊括了各自漫画品牌中最顶级的超级英雄。DC公司在漫画产业的老对手——漫威公司第一个把超级英雄战队搬上了大银幕。相反，DC公司则把注意力集中在几个重点角色上，比如克里斯托弗•诺兰执导的《黑暗骑士》三部曲。
Nolan’s films in particular garnered both critical and popular acclaim. Some critics felt that, in their wake, the Batman franchise was too sacrosanct to be re-launched. You can imagine how much pressure director Zack Snyder felt when Warner Bros then asked him to helm a series that would weave together the storylines of both Batman and Superman, a superhero equally beloved. Batman v Superman was Snyder’s first attempt to bring the DC Comics universe to the big screen, and over the next four years, more films will follow. They include Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman and ultimately a two-part Justice League film.
诺兰的电影赢得了评论界和观众的双重口碑。有些评论家甚至认为《蝙蝠侠》系列神圣不可侵犯，任何翻拍都是亵渎。可想而知，当华纳兄弟邀请扎克•施耐德掌舵一部交织两个同样深受喜爱的角色——蝙蝠侠和超人故事情节的影片时，他承受了多大的压力。《蝙蝠侠大战超人》也是施耐德首次执导改编DC漫画的大银幕作品。在接下来的四年里，还有几部DC漫改电影会上映，包括《X特遣队》、《神奇女侠》以及两部正义联盟电影。
“You’re making a movie, but it’s actually connected to that guy’s movie and that guy’s movie,” Snyder said at the Batman v Superman press conference.
导演施耐德在《蝙蝠侠大战超人》的新闻发布会上说：“你是在拍一部电影，但事实上这部片子既要涉及这个人的电影，又要铺陈那个人的电影。”
To make these interconnected films work, each character should be distinct and strong, because nobody wants their favorite superhero to be another superhero’s sidekick. The Batman v Superman movie has attracted its share of criticism for its segmented, slow-burning start, but it is reasonable to assume that Snyder is laying the groundwork for the larger series, at the expense of his own film’s coherence.
为了让这些电影相互衔接，每个角色都要有独特的个性和超强的能力，因为没人希望看到自己喜爱的超级英雄成为别人的跟班。因为影片前半部分的碎片化情节设置和缓慢的节奏，《蝙蝠侠大战超人》已被不少人诟病，不过如果设想施耐德牺牲了自己电影的连贯性，为之后大量的系列电影做铺垫，这似乎也是合情合理。
Despite Batman v Superman’s tepid reviews, it’s too soon to say the DC universe is not as good as Marvel’s. If anything, Batman v Superman has established itself as distinct from the buddy comedy shtick of The Avengers. Its dark imagery and morally ambiguous characters defy our preconceptions of what a superhero should be. Both Batman and Superman have their own idea of what justice means, which leads to their epic fight.
虽然《蝙蝠侠大战超人》上映后反响平平，但现在就断言DC宇宙不如漫威宇宙还为时尚早。只是《蝙蝠侠大战超人》选择了和同类电影《复仇者联盟》完全不同的风格。它暗色调的影像和亦正亦邪的人物挑战了我们为超级英雄预先设定的形象。因为蝙蝠侠和超人对正义的理解不同，这才导致了他们的世纪对决。
“They aren’t perfect paragons of moral virtue. They’re more like us, which is to say haunted and messy,” said Bill Hunt, Editor-in-Chief of The Digital Bits.
DVD信息资源网站The Digital Bits的主编比尔•亨特说：“他们不是完美的道德模范。而更像是和我们一样的普通人，会困惑，会纠结。”
