I know, too, that where the Japanese had their kaiju eiga, films about "strange beasts" or "monsters" that are sometimes heroes, sometimes not (and always destroying cities either way), we developed superhero movies about "strange beasts" who are sometimes heroes, sometimes not, and always destroying cities. In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (hereafter BVS), there's a moment where Superman is referred to as a "monster." Batman is called that throughout--often by the very people he's helping. I don't think director Zack Snyder did this on purpose, though I do think it doesn't matter what Snyder intended. What he's done with this film is create the perfect monster for us in 2016. BVS is the most unpleasant, unsettling big-budget action/adventure movie to hit the friendly neighbourhood cineplex since Spielberg and Lucas's film maudit classic Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. (Cementing the connection, there's even a scene where someone gets "Mola Rammed.") Batman (Ben Affleck, fantastic) is a psychopath; Superman (Henry Cavill, fantastic) is a sociopath; Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot, well-cast) is Short Round, the only decent person in the whole damned thing and something of a caricature, a sketch of an idea of virtue. Take that as you will.