The “stupid, stupid, stupid” movie Bruce Campbell hated with a passion
Bruce Campbell isn’t only a cult B-movie star but an opinionated cinephile who has shown no fear in expressing his opinions, especially when it comes to superhero movies.
Less an actor and more a god among fans of horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and cult cinema, while he is perhaps best known for his role as Ash Williams in The Evil Dead franchise, he has also headlined many projects that are popular among these niche fandoms, and has remarkably been able to keep trying new things throughout the later stages of his career.
One of the reasons that cult audiences have such an affinity for him is that he’s the antithesis of what a traditional ‘Hollywood leading man’ may supposedly look like, as, despite having all the charisma in the world, he often chooses to take on goofball and character parts that allow him to be as eccentric as possible. As an admitted horror buff, his willingness to star in the strangest scary movies imaginable has given him an odd sense of integrity.
One of the benefits of being outside of the mainstream Hollywood system is that Campbell is free to speak his mind when talking about other people’s work. Considering the unusual feud he’s begun with Ben Affleck, it’s not all that surprising that he has festered a deep hatred for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which he called a “stupid, stupid, stupid concept”.
“Never should’ve been made,” he said, adding his two cents, “Superman, who can like, make the world go backwards with centrifugal force. Batman can’t do that. Superman can frickin’ fly. He’s the ‘Man of Steel’. All he has, one hand on Batman’s oesophagus; the story is over, so they spent a lot of money kidding themselves.”
There may not have been a more underwhelming blockbuster film in the last decade than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which immediately became a laughingstock moments after its release. While reviews for Zack Snyder’s previous DC film, Man of Steel, had been mixed at best, the latter was such an illogical, tonally incoherent mess that it caused hesitation for the rest of the DC Extended Universe’s upcoming slate.
Campbell’s criticism, regarding the central conflict, was one of the biggest issues with the film, where Henry Cavill’s Superman, who could level entire buildings in the previous film (which resulted in its own controversy), is beaten senselessly by Batman in one of the silliest fights that was ever intended to look serious. That this was a Batman who was played by Affleck may have only incited more rage on Campbell’s part.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was clearly intended to serve as the DCEU’s means of catching up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which had already proven itself capable of sustaining crossover events.
Ironically, it is also a film with two flagship superheroes fighting against each other, which debuted less than two months before Marvel released Captain America: Civil War, centring on a similar feud between Chris Evans’s Steve Rogers and Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark; based on its significantly better reviews and better box office performance, it would seem that most people agreed with Campbell.
