Everything you said is thrown into the bin the second we learn that he physically intimidated the President by promising him more if he didn't comply. "But it was just a tiny cactus". Ha... ha... ha... laughing my ass off James Gunn. Very funny. Very Superman-ish. And if you start to actually think of how it happened it gets even worse.
Using fear tactics is exactly what Gunn's Superman is doing, not Cavill's.
Supernan is not exactly praised for doing that. Hes criticized by the closest person he has. That is near the beginning of the film, the scene with Lex is toward the end. Hes not shown as being entirely in the right there, his actions are shown in uncertain context. That we later find out the president is an evil puppet doesn't really change that he has a responsibility to consider how it comes across when he does use force.
There is a character arc here and there was a behind the scenes done showing James and David discussing this scene because David had criticisms of it too. James argued they should keep it in because its not just call telling lex this stuff. Hes reaffirming his own stance and his own existence to himself after his faith in himself was shaken. Because, as the movie shows us, he was sent to earhr to be EXACTLY what lex sees him as, and it was only by luck that he managed to evade that message snd grow up to be like that.
This shakes Clark's entire foundation on why he does what he does. So when he's telling lex this hes reminding himself why he's not like that despite what he was sent to earth to do.
Keep in mind he also tries to use fear tactics on Lex when krypto is taken. It again blows up in his face. Every time he does this in the movie it doesn't work out in his favor. In the end, superman defeats the enemy on his own terms.
The thing a lot of people don't get is that while BvS is set in a pretty dark world, Superman himself isn't dark. He is that hope we love, sure it's not put right into our face with a big monologue, it's more subtle but it's still there
Yea, no. Superman himself in the movie says "No one stays good in this world." There is no recovery point from that either where he realizes he was wrong for saying that. Lex brings him to his breaking point by capturing his own mother. Then he gets defeated by Batman. Then BATMAN, not superman saves his mother. Then Superman dies fighting Doomsday.
The movie comes across more as a refutation of hope, than one that acknowledges the value of it. Superman is at every turn thwarted, harmed, taken advantage of, tricked, and devastated any time he tries to show any hope in the movie.
In Gunns superman, its the thing that grants him his victory.
With Gunn, everything is easy, everything is taken as a joke (the biggest example of that is Hawkgirl killing the president and then a cut to a doliprane to simulate his fall, wtf is this shit for real?) and that's why I think Cavill was way more hopeful.
You can't really convey hope without a minimum of contradiction to bring it to light otherwise it's just seems flat, empty and unearned.
But there is that contradiction in the movie. Its there. Yes, Gunn is lighthearted at times, and thats not going to be for everyone. But what Gunn gets right is why this character works and why he is THE model of a superhero. The contradiction needs to be overcome, and superman needs to be the driving force behind that. In man of steel we are told hes an ideal to strive towards. But the movies don't treat him like one. They treat his virtue as ripe for corruption, and prone to constant failure. Its my biggest issue with Snyder movies. And I dont think they are devoid of any hope; but the hope surrounding superman in those movies is shown from an aloof, human perspective. We are shown human nobodies revering him like a god. But how does superman view himself? Does he share that view? Does he see himself as a figure of worship? Itd unclear. Hes written as distant, aloof, unsure. It just doesn't come together for me.
