As I have mentioned before I liked the acting overall specially the new cast additions. Cavill is good but not the best Superman, his acting skills to the approach seems harmless but contained to 3-4 faces.

The flaws in the story are just TOO much to ignore. RT really nailed this with this consensus. There is a powerful story behind BvS but the execution and even screenplay are not upto the mark.

I'll go with 4/10 (and that's all because of the actors)

Eh, I was mostly entertained. But there were so many moments where I was frustrated, infuriated, rolling my eyes, cringing, and bursting out laughing. That Martha thing though...

My face went from



To



One of the most absurdly stupid moments ever.

Oh, and I'm probably lying again about this being it for now, but the ending. The whole formation of the Justice League is based on a FEELING Bruce has? A feeling.

Fuck you and your lazy storytelling.

Okay, now I think I'm done.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a solid, at times electrifying, at times exhausting superhero drama. Its Herculean duty as a big-budget product—it must play as a sequel to Man of Steel, introduce a new interpretation of Batman, and lay the table for an entire Justice League cinematic universe—definitely results in too-big-to-fail bloat, particularly during the third-act mêlée against computer-generated ogre Doomsday (a chaotic sequence which grows downright numbing save for the participation of Wonder Woman). It is an unwieldy picture with an unusual tempo—a few scenes crash into one another rather than transitioning with grace—but it is also full of sensational imagery and well-honed performances, particularly Ben Affleck's aging, jaded Bruce Wayne and Jesse Eisenberg's twitchily proselytizing Lex Luthor, my favorite live-action interpretation of this character to date.

B

I think the scene later with Luthor in jail explains a little about why Bruce thinks they will have to team up.

Luthor says:

Um, no.

Seems clear a lot simply went over your head.

Its the exhaustion and frustration of the product clearly not meeting your high expectations. That's the reason I enjoyed the movie MUCH more in my second viewing.

A few comments:

- The Kevin Costner scene screams cutting-room floor.

- I was seriously into this film until Doomsday showed up. This portion brings it down a notch. It is such a rote way to unite Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. After around two hours and 10 minutes, Snyder gives into numbing destruction porn for the climax. The fact Doomsday is such a blandly conceived creature does not help. He strikes me as an inferior version of the cave troll from The Fellowship of the Ring fifteen years ago.

- The scene with the computer files (i.e. "Say, a folder of potential post-credit sequences") is cool, in my opinion, but a tad oddly placed. It just pops in right before Batman and Superman start fighting, slightly sacrificing the momentum generated by Superman's fear for his mother. I am excited to see more of Aquaman.

- I am not completely sold on Gal Gadot as a lead actress, though she is sexy and striking here. At a few points, she seems to be losing her battle with the English language, resulting in a slightly garbled delivery.

- Awesome Batman. Awesome Lex Luthor. Seriously. Bow down.

- The re-purposing of Man of Steel's controversial third act is clever. However, the, "Oh, they have landed in an uninhabited part of this major American city!" lines land with a thud later.

- I love the shot of the Bat-mobile careening into and under the water. A bit of a Joel Schumacher shot, but in a neat way.

I could have taken this and improved upon it greatly. It still is good on its own.

Oh, and Batman's whole desert-warfare fever dream is...wow. It is absurd and out of place and creates this dynamic of, "WTF? Did this movie drop acid all of a sudden? I am confused," but it is also hypnotic and memorable. I am glad Snyder indulged what seems to be a whim: what if Batman was in a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic Gotham? It is worth it for the visual impact.

Clear it up you condescending little shit.

Hey Jmart for that particular scene I just explained why the feeling in my post above.

Yeah, that scene sucked and was uber random. Snyder always does this, he is so awkward and in need of replacement ASAP.

Yeah, I know. And it means more than a veiled threat from behind bars?

After second viewing, I'm convinced the desert nightmare was a glimpse of an alternate universe from the Flash.

Agreed.



Good call. That scene would have worked wonders in the post-credit sequence. Would have generated a good buzz at the end of the movie.


I thought she did fine even though her entry wasn't particularly well handled.



I LOVED Affleck's take on Batman. Eisenbery was great in some scenes and not so great in others particularly disliked the rejection scene with Holly Hunter. But he would be a VERY powerful Luthor in later episodes ofcourse Spacey felt much more conniving.



Agreed.

I still think the whole cast was aces, the writing outside of the blatant THERE'S NOBODY AROUND SO WE CAN DESTROY STUFF was mostly sharp and leagues better than MOS.

I mean its better to be prepared than act later. I think this has more to do with how Batman wasn't ready for battle with Doomsday and he thinks for a bigger threat he would need more help specially with Superman gone (for now). This is the reason I feel Batman's running from Doomsday worked in the movie (though as I mentioned I would have liked him to do a little more towards the end, something more smarter).

Yep. Keep Lois alive and Supes doesn't got crazy. That scene paid off for me when he says to Lois that she's his world (which actually sounded much better in the film than it did writing it here).

I was worried that Lois/Supes scene during the fight would be as bad as the kiss scene in MOS... But it was so much better written. I assume Terrio toned that down, lol.

Okay. That works.

I think the scene could've used a Batfleck speech though.

That's interesting because since it was discussed earlier here and some of the reviewers mentioned it I carefully re-watched it in my second viewing and felt it could very well be something Flash could have done and later appeared to Batman in the dream. They would definitely not be able to show the rest of the cast in this movie.

Still that sequence didn't do much for the movie but it was REALLY well shot and added the much needed action in the movie. Snyder clearly wanted some action sequences in the otherwise only narrative first 1 and half hour which is why I think he added these Batman dream sequences.

That was probably one of my favorite parts of the film, though it felt completely out of place. It was a great teaser for what's to come. I wished it was real though.

Overall, I'd probably give this a B-. One of my biggest problems with the film is the character of Batman. While Affleck does really great work here, Batman is shown branding and killing people, and I wasn't convinced that the character reached such a point as to become cruel in a way. I know there's a brief conversation with Alfred, but are we meant to believe that the destruction of Metropolis led to Batman becoming this way? Not very believable.
That brings me to another issue, and that's the motivations behind the big fight. Again, I was not entirely convinced that they actually hated each other, or were angry at each other, or whatever.
Overall, I do think the whole film needed tightening in terms of editing. The pacing was way off in parts. The final fight was fun, but I wish there was more of a contrast in the cinematography. Sometimes it's just hard to make out exactly what is happening and it's hard to enjoy when everything is so damn murky.

They talked about 20 years making them criminals and not just Metropolis destruction.

I do agree that the titular fight was unjustified and there wasn't any misunderstanding developed either. Lex's manipulation also felt forced. Also Superman could save Lois anytime but when clearly Martha Kent was working in Metropolis he couldn't do the same? Plus he already knew the identity of Bruce, could have just called him or texted to say give me one hour to fight you. I need to "save Martha from Luther" and that "yes my mother's name is also Martha same as yours" now please help me. Alfred easily found her so I don't see how it would be difficult for Superman to find her with his vision.

I get that. I just think there should have been something more. Something like the murder of the love of his life or the Joker killing Robin. There's not enough of an impetus to show what led to the character to kind of lose his moral compass, and I think there should have been.