My Simple Analysis on ‘Save Martha’ Scene in “Batman V
Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition (2016)”
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| 'The Fight Night' |
There are so many controversies
surrounding this movie. In fact, this is one of the most controversial superhero
movies of all time. I personally love this movie, tho. I think it’s an
interesting take on The Man of Steel, Superman and The Caped Crusader, Batman. Directed
by Zack Snyder, the man behind “Dawn of The Dead (2004) and “300 (2007)”, this
movie came out in 2016 and has since caused so many controversies among
criticss, audiences, and fans alike. On this article, I will talk about one particular
scene that is so infamous it’s still discussed to this day as I write it. This
is my own personal take on this matter
and is an honest opinion. I’m open to any perspective so feel free to dicuss!
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| The infamous 'Save Martha' scene |
The infamous ‘Save Martha’ scene
begins at the end of ‘The Fight Night’, in which Batman battles
Superman and it ends up with them fighting in an abandoned building. Superman’s
dying. Batman is on top of him holding a Kryptonite spear, ready to kill the
Man of Steel. As Batman scratches Supes—that’s another nickname for Superman—with
his Kryptonite spear in the face, Superman says the infamous line “You’re
letting him kill Martha!” This stops Batman form killing him. Batman looks so
confused. He freezes. He replies in his confusion, “What does that mean? Why
did you say that name? WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?” Superman responses by saying
“Save Martha!” Then we’re shown the flashbacks of adult Bruce Wayne (Batman’s
alter ego) visiting his parents graves and younger Bruce Wayne witnessing his
parents murdered before his eyes in an alleyway. At the end, we see Lois Lane,
Superman’s love interest, approaching the two of them and protects Superman
from Batman’s rage, saying, “It’s his mother’s name!” repeatedly while posing
as a human shield for Superman. This is when we know what prevents Batman from killing Superman. Their mother
shares the same name, Martha (Batman’s is Martha Wayne and Superman’s is Martha
Kent). He thought Superman was talking about her mother, while in fact he
mentioned his own and begging Batman to save her. We then see Batman goes to
the rescue.
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| The Death of Martha Wayne |
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| R.I.P |
This is where
the controversy surfaced. Some people think this is a great scene, or even a deep
one and is a good redemption arc for Batman, while according to others this
scene is so rushed, that Batman wouldn’t have ceased his angered just like
that. Despite any controversies tho, I personaly think this is a very good
scene. An interesting take on Batman’s redemption arc. Here we see a broken
Batman: he lost his soldier and son, Dick Grayson a.k.a Robin who was murdered
by The Joker, which we can see his Robin suit in a display in Batcave; he was
in Metropolis when Superman fought General Zod (watch “Man of Steel (2013))”, destroying
nearly half of the city and killing hundreds of people including his friends
and workers; and in ‘The Battle of Day and Night’ where Superman widened his
wound by mentioning what he thought was his mother’s name. He abandoned his
famous “no killing” rule, no hesitation in killing his enemies. Batman stops
killing Superman as soon as he heard that name.
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| Lois Lane saves the day! |
I think Zack Snyder and everyone involved
in the script-writing department has done a great job with this scene. I see it
as Batman, who is broken and in his darkest time of his life, gets his eyes
opened, not because Superman’s mother shares the same name as his, but more to
the fact that Superman himself does have a mother, just like he did. For the
record, the reason why Batman hated Superman and decided to challenge and even
kill him was that he thought the world is in grave danger with Superman in it. All
this time, he always saw Superman as an undestructible, ruthless being and an unstoppable
mass-killing machine. He’s held his grudge towards him from the beginning. Since
the moment mankind was introduced to Superman in “Man of Steel (2013)” to the
moment in where
he, as does the rest of the world, thinks that Superman killed innocent
civilians. It was what encouraged him to steal the Kryptonite rock from Lex
Luthor, makes it his ultimate weapon to use against Superman.
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| Lois Lane protecting Superman |
This ‘Save Martha’ scene is great
because here, the desperate, broken Batman realizes something he would never
think of. Something that would change him and turns his life immediately. That Superman
HAS a mother. A human mother just like other people does. That Superman isn’t what
he thinks he is. He isn’t some ruthless killing machine, he’s just an outcast
who’s still figuring out his place in this harsh human world. Half of the world
won’t accept him, the outsider. They decline his existence. Little did they
know that Superman is just like them, nothing less nothing more. He’s got his
own problems, he suffers from existential cirisis, and most importantly, he ‘s
got a mother. A mother who loves him just like your mother and mine love us. He
even has an amazing woman who loves her no matter what he is, Lois Lane the
Pulitzer-winning journalist. He’s no different than us. This is what changed
Batman. He finally sees what’s true and that, after all this time he’s been
wrong and naive. Superman mentioning his mother’s name, Martha, reminds him of
what he is. He had a mother and father, just like Superman does. And that all
these loses and tragedies have made him what he’s preached against: an
unstoppable, ruthless killing machine. He IS his own enemy, not Superman. He
had to mention his mother’s name because he knows that Batman will stop him
form what he’s done. This event opens his eyes, changes his perspective towards
the Man of Steel and helps him sees the world with the new one.
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| Martha Kent held captive by Lex Luthor's henchmen |
At the end of the day, we see Batman,
who, despite still killing the thugs who held captive Martha Kent in a
warehouse mercilessly (oops! But seriously, the ‘Warehouse Fight scene’ is one
of the best fighting sequence in superhero genre), then changed into a newer
Btaman. He saves the city, battling Doomsday who almost kill him and then saved
by Wonder Woman (she’s got the most badass entrance I’ve ever seen, along with
a mood-boosting music thanks to the incredible Hans Zimmer!). He helps Martha
Kent pay all the bills from Clark Kent (Superman)’s funeral, who was killed by
Doomsday. And then we’ll see him again in the movie “Justice League (2017)”,
as a fresh Batman who is willing to make
an ultimate sacrifice to stop the conquering force that’s threatening the world
along with the Justice League. He’s changed. He’s been redeemed.
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| Here it is: the famous 'Warehouse Fight Scene'! |
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| Bruce Wayne |
I know many people dislike or even
hate this scene, trust me I really do. But this is merely my personal opinion
on this scene. We have our own preferences aaand this, this 'Save Martha' scene and the
entire movie is a really great journey for me. And with this, I end this
article: if you want to know more about this matter, go give this movie a try!
Curup, Indonesia March 30st, 2019
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