Great To Look At, Not Much Under The Surface

Rating: 5/10 (25 March 2016)

I will start this by stating this is not a bad movie.
For me, this personally lacked character development and substantiation to really get me involved in the film. I really did enjoy how Batman vs. Superman DOJ connected the destruction of Metropolis in the final scenes of Man of Steel to this film. Taking this into account helps to establish Bruce Wayne's (Ben Affleck's) view point of how Superman (Henry Cavill) could be viewed as a force of power that, without some form of restriction, would ultimately continue to lead to destruction and chaos. The opening scenes of DOJ, depicting Batman's tragic origins and Bruce Wayne's heroic attempt at rescuing Wayne Enterprises' employees from the ensuing destruction that is brought by Zod and Superman, are meant to establish the emotional importance and driving force of Bruce Wayne's motives throughout this film. The last lingering word's of Bruce's father, "Martha", again are meant to resonate throughout the film for Bruce.
Sadly, they do not. This all gets lost when we are quickly transported to the desert in a situation that's hard to decipher and fully understand until about 2/3 of the way through the film. This is a scene that having a full understanding of is crucial to the development of the DOJ story.
After this we are sped over to Bruce and Alfred (Jeremy Irons). These two really lacked any kind of connection, and I did not believe for once that the fatherly and mentor bond that should exist between Alfred and Bruce was ever present. Bruce spends most of his portion of the film nonchalantly floating through his dialogue without any sense of urgency or purpose that is driving him. This is the case for Superman as well as he reaches to find the deep emotional connection to his feelings associated with the struggle of being Superman and dealing with the aftermath he leaves in his wake.
Lois Lane (Amy Adams) does do any excellent job in her supportive role as she attempts to console Superman and help him realize that, in spite of unintended consequences, he is ultimately a force for good. It's just hard to believe that Superman (Cavill) ever actually felt a deep internal struggle to begin with.
Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) was just over-the-top in his forced performance of portraying a character meant to be mentally disturbed with idiosyncrasies that are reminiscent of how many of us acted for weeks after watching Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight.
Overall, the cinematography was excellent and action was very well done. The physicality of many of the scenes was very gripping and intense. The lack of emotional support the cast had to complement this, simply left me wanting more.