A fine addition to the Batman/Superman cinema franchise

Rating: 8/10 (27 March 2016)

In no way does "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" deserve the 29% rating it currently has on RottenTomatoes.com. While there are always critics who dislike big-budget special effects films set up for big box office, the degree of dislike among credible fan- oriented writers, such as Hitfix's Drew McWeeney and AICN's Quint, truly baffles me.
BvS deserves a place among the best of the Batman movies. Maybe not as great as "The Dark Knight" or "Batman Begins," but arguably it's better than "The Dark Knight Returns."
Over the course of 75 years, we have seen the comic-book Batman in many incarnations. In BvS we get the Batman from Frank Miller's watershed work, "The Dark Knight Returns," played brilliantly by Ben Affleck. Without going over the top, Affleck communicates all the rage and frustration of a man who sacrificed his life fighting crime only to conclude that 1) it made very little difference; 2) cost the lives of those closest to him; and 3) never quieted his demons. So, if you didn't like Miller's Batman, you may not like BvS â€“ fair enough. But you can't say that the film betrays certain literary origins of the character.
More to the point, I think Zack Snyder expertly transfers the Miller Batman and his environment onto the screen and superbly integrates Superman into it. My greatest dread was that Snyder would botch this. Happy to say, Snyder does not impose "Watchmen" onto BvS. Without spoiling too much, I can say that by the end of the film, the values and virtues that have been an essential part of the Superman and Batman mythos from 1938 are validated and affirmed. Snyder does not spit on years of history for his own purposes.
As a result, BvS makes "Man of Steel" a better film. It delivered on my hope that the huge toll of death and destruction in that film's third act would be critical to BvS. BvS makes no attempt to retcon things. Lots of people died or were horribly injured in the Metropolis battle and the camera does not pull back.
There's no need to point out that Snyder's Superman is not the Superman of the Christopher Reeve films, nor Bryan Singer's curious add-on, "Superman Returns." Snyder instead chooses to emphasize the alien aspect of the character. Henry Cavill takes a lot of heat for being flat and humorless, but his performance is not in his lines of dialogue, but the way he carries himself; by the way he conveys dignity and physical invulnerability along with a subtle underlying vulnerability that stems from the awareness of his alien nature. Cavill deserves more credit that he's gotten.
Also, Warners and DC should be commended for the way they are approaching their properties. While Marvel decided to set all their films and TV shows in the same universe and continuity, DC has opted simply to tell stories. So we get BvS and eventually Justice League in one storyline; "Gotham" in other; "Arrow," "Flash and "Supergirl" in another; and the Nolan trilogy is still another. Not sure where "Suicide Squad" will fit, but DC's saying it doesn't matter. If you, as an audience are unhappy with one type of interpretation, we're not afraid to give you another right alongside.
*Mild spoilers follow*
There are a few problems with BvS, including the ending, which may have some fans rolling their eyes â€“ but I think it serves the story. If you're the honest originalist that I like to believe I am, it's nothing that hasn't happened in the comic book.
Jesse Eisenberg never really finds the character of Lex Luthor. At times he seems to be channeling Heath Ledger as the Joker, even though Luthor, as a character, was never that insane. His motivations are never really clear, and, as far as his destructive plans go, he seems to turn to Plan B before he knows the outcome of Plan A. However, there's nothing in his performance that is so cringeworthy that will keep me from rewatching. (cf: Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy).
And indeed, future films are teased, but not to point of distraction that some say. Diana Prince/ Wonder Woman is used well. It is not a two-and-a-half hour trailer for the next movie.
So, yes, BvS is getting unfairly slammed. I think it's a fine addition to the Batman/Superman cinema franchise. I welcome other viewpoints from knowledgeable fans.