Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice books dissect the movie
By now, most critics and super fans have seen Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Reviews for the movie were pretty harsh, fans defended the film with fervor, and then The Boss beat the blockbuster out of the box office last week. Regardless of how you feel now about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it took chances and peaked curiosities and expectations around the world.
I managed to get my hands on two complementary books taking a microscopic look at the DC movie, and it’s kind of insane how much work went into crafting characters and designing the world. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me, but Zack Snyder and crew really put their hearts into every corner and concept that went into Dawn of Justice. For both fans of the new DC franchise (and yes, Batman v Superman is jump-starting a DC cinematic universe much like Marvel’s Avengers movies) and fans of movie making in general, these two titles from Titan Books are definitely worth picking up and flipping through.
Decorate your coffee table with the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: The Art of the Film and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Tech Manual books. Take a peek inside of both after the jump!
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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: The Art of the Film
After seeing so many of these “art of the film” books, I’ve noticed the format is pretty standard across the board. Most dedicate consecutive sections to the primary and secondary characters followed by closer looks at gear/accessories and scenery. In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice there are plenty of familiar faces to go through, and a majority of the book is spent revealing backstory and character design for each character that got more than a few minutes of screen time (ranging from concept art to storyboards and movie photographs). Depending on how you feel about Zack Snyder’s DC world, you’ll either appreciate or gloss over the characters. The production of the movie saw quite a bit cut form the final film, and Jena Malone’s character was completely removed from the Batman v Superman theatrical cut and is nowhere in the book, so it’s understandable that there’s this much information provided for such a cornucopia of characters.
It’s pretty cool to see sketches and concept designs in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: The Art of the Film that evolved into a final on-screen realization. Not surprisingly, especially after we’ve already seen a Superman movie, there’s a lot of Batman in this book. For the most part, fans and critics seemed to agree that Batman was the best part of the movie, so I’m sure more Batman in book form is appreciated.
Again, I’m just impressed at how much detail, design, and dedication went into bringing this thing to life. There’s a lot going on here, and the book probably could have been twice the size and still have more bits and pieces worth probing into. I suppose that’s why a tech manual was also released (which I take a look at below), and in all honesty I think I enjoyed the tech manual in all its intricacies more than I did this standard format art of the film book. That said, the art book still sits nicely next to others of its ilk on my bookshelf, and it’s a great complementary piece to the movie for fans who can’t get enough.
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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Tech Manual
Now here’s the real meat and potatoes of the Batman v Superman world. The Tech Manual from Titan Books for Dawn of Justice is impressive, but it owes the content to the movie and production crew. There’s literally pages upon pages dedicated to gadgets, gizmos, and costumes that are only seen for seconds on the big screen, and multiple page spreads go into detail showing us all the intricacies and hinges that make the bigger, more prominently featured props work. Seriously, I was surprised to see a huge photo of the Batbrand (only spotted and mentioned briefly in the movie) along with instructions for how the thing works and why it works. It seems like everything on display, much like Christopher Nolan did with his movies, was designed to not only look good but also work practically and intelligently.
Like The Art of the Film book, Batman kind of hogs the spotlight in the Tech Manual, but he definitely uses the majority of gadgets and engineered accessories in the movie. Plus, as we see, Batman takes advantage of his utility belt and all the guns and grenades he can modify to go head-to-head with Superman, and it’s kind of great to see everything up close.
Usually you’ll get a small section of the above-mentioned art book that’s dedicated to a quick pass over of all these accessories, but the Tech Manual is cover-to-cover diagrams, details, and close-ups. Various iterations of icons (above) as well as color combinations and even material breakdowns are shared in all their little swirls and hard edges. Impressive is the word I keep going back to, but I’ve flipped through this Tech Manual twice now and can’t get enough. Even if you didn’t like the movie, or if you’re on the fence about Snyder’s take on the DC universe, you’ll appreciate everything in this book from a movie magic vantage point. There’s just so much to digest and dig into.
Just look at that embroidery/pattern/whatever the hell that is on Superman’s suit. I can’t help but think that kind of detail and artistic addition gets lost in the chaos on screen, so I’m torn between appreciation and overkill. Someone probably put hours upon hours into making that thing, and it’s only a very small piece of an enormous artistic puzzle. Now think about everything else surround Superman’s character, throw in fully-realized concepts and designs for Wonder Woman, a glimpse of Aquaman, Doomsday, Lex Luthor and his lab, and the entire Batman collection, and that’s a lot of work for very little screen time.
That’s what the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Tech Manual is for though. More than the art book, the Tech Manual really gets under the veneer and CGI shine of the movie to give us a good look at the dirty, meticulously crafted practical effects and props. Sure, there’s some CGI diagrams and multi-colored blueprints in there as well, but it’s the touch-it-and-you’ll-believe-it accessories that I couldn’t get enough of while flipping through the pages. If you had to choose between The Art of the Film and the Tech Manual, I’d suggest the Tech Manual. If you can’t get enough of Snyder’s world and the new Batman/Superman cinematic universe, it’s worth picking up both books and adding them to the collection.