BvS had potential, but it hurts itself

Rating: 8/10 (25 March 2016)

I like to rate movies on 10 different aspects all leading up to a final score, because I feel sometimes reviewers forget how much goes into making a film.
Direction: 0.7/1 - Zack is by no means a perfect Director, but he does some neat things I enjoy, the opening credits showing the death of Bruces' parents reminded me of the opening to Watchmen, and another neat thing to mention is the slo-mo bullet casings hitting the ground in that scene were also mirrored at the end during Clarks' funeral scene.
Script/Story: 0.5/1 - Not much to say here, too much going on, no resolve regarding how accountable Superman should be for collateral damage, which is where the story and motivation for Batman began, and it just doesn't get resolved. Everyone would still be asking "what should Superman do?". It also focused a bit too much on setting up JL rather than focusing on its own story. The Doomsday/Death of Superman was WAY too early.
Performances: 0.9/1 - Affleck, Eisenberg and even Irons carried this for me, Cavill and Adams were pretty good and I was pleasantly surprised by Gal Gadot as well but I will have to see more.
Cinematography: 0.9/1 - Fantastic. Less (or not any that I could notice) of the shaky/zoomy cam thing from MoS and much more precision, I love the way you were always looking up at Supes and down at Bats, really putting the line between God and Man. Couldn't really fault much here.
Sound/Score: 0.7/1 - The sound was great, quiet when it needed to be and loud and apparent when it also needed to be. The bone crunching and mech sounds during the showdown was awesome and the Batmobile sounded fierce. Now regarding the score, I loved the mix of Zimmers' MoS work and classic sound and the vibrant electronic sound JXL brought to the table, it was great, however I felt like at times the music would come out of nowhere (with too much volume as well) and the music wouldn't always fit the particular scene either. I had listened to the soundtrack a bit before seeing the film and some pieces didn't end up accompanying the scenes I had pictured in my head. This was mostly for some calmer scenes though, it fit pretty well with the action stuff.
Set Pieces: 0.8/1 - The Batcave was incredible! Really loved its modern look and it looked like a real playground for Alfred too. Wayne Manor looked desolate and forgotten and I want to know the story behind it being abandoned by Wayne. The building where Batman has Superman on the ropes with the Kryptonite spear looked creepy and looked exactly like the place you wouldn't want to be cornered by Batman. I also thought the Lexcorp headquarters was very sleek and modern, fitting with this Lex character.
Costume Design: 1/1 - Can't fault it, Superman looked great again, WW had a good modern look and stayed faithful to her classic comic look, and this is the best Batman suit on film to date, SO BADASS!
Editing: 0.4/1 - The biggest let down of the film, scenes are so uncomfortably sewn together, whether you're jumping from location to location, character to character or sub- plot to sub-plot. Unfortunately it makes some scenes feel unnecessary even, like the Knightmare scene (even though it was badass). This section definitely needed work though and its even more disappointing considering the filming wrapped in December 2014, that is a lot of time for editing!
Visual Effects/CGI: 0.7/1 - Pretty decent, whatever CGI was used on Batman vehicles was great and Supermans' abilities looked great. Batmans' mech suit looked amazing, just unreal and was animated really well during the fight. Doomsday wasn't perfect looking but he looked better than I expected after the trailer footage.
Fight Choreography: 1/1 - BATMAN V SUPERMAN, the actual fight was amazing! I loved all the fight choreo in this film and how it differed, Superman vs henchmen, Batman vs henchmen, both at their most accurately effective, then mirror that with the brute force and power during their fight, Batmans mech suit made him slow but gave him the protection he needed and his gadget use was great. The scene with Batman standing over Superman was intense and my favourite moment (and a good resolve for their differences). The Trinity vs Doomsday was great and I love the way WW held him down with her Lasso, paired with Batmans Kryptonite grenade and Supermans spear to bring him down. Really great fight scenes in this movie, a special mention to Batman taking down the warehouse from the 2nd floor; brutal and brilliant.
So all that being said, my combined rating is 7.6/10.
I don't really know how much this measures up to what I predicted the film being like before its release, because I had a lot of doubts/worries, as much as I defended it. Batman v Superman is by no means a bad film and is by no means a great film, its a good film though. It has glorious moments and not glorious moments, I was hoping it'd be a bit more fleshed out and focused on itself, rather than the upcoming JL movie, and it does enough to hurt itself and stop me holding it in similar regard to films such as The Avengers and The Dark Knight, but I was entertained and wowed enough to want more, and I'll certainly be back for more. The DCEU is underway guys, slowly but surely, and we are living in the golden age of comic book movies so we should all feel lucky.