Batman V Superman - A View of the Film and a Review of the Reaction

Rating: 10/10 (28 March 2016)

My commentary regarding Batman v Superman is as much about the reaction to the movie as the movie itself. The movie is excellent. I hold a lifelong affection for DC and thought the film was excellent. My wife holds affection for me and hence came to the opening but couldn't care less about DC and thought the film was excellent.
If you love DC comics you are likely to really enjoy this film. Zack Snyder has presented something that is faithful to the comics, almost reverent at times. He is no cynic, far from it. Much of DC, especially latter years, is dark and the film has this edge. I followed the film easily, I thought perhaps because I know so much about the DC universe. I didn't find it negative or humorless. But you know what, my wife did not find the film confusing or disorganized. It wasn't. She didn't find disturbing or excessively dark. It wasn't. Yet these are two major criticisms that have been repeated over and over within reviews of the film.
The acting was very good. Particularly Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot. However, there were not any cringe worthy portrayals and I believe that both Henry Cavill and Jesse Eisenberg hit the mark they aimed for and that these criticisms have also been extreme.
So the critics. What to think?
Well, there was definitely a siege mentality. It was excessive. I think that the movie will gravitate over time to a much better place, critically speaking. I already note a softening from some critics in subsequent articles. There is too much difference between the critics and the viewing audience for there to have not been something behind this.
My theory? It is Marvel, or should I say Disney. I think that the phenomena of Comic Book films is still one which we are reckoning with and that the conservative formula that Disney has used to date has hit a mark not only with audiences but critics. It is safe. I think that DC, or should I say Warner Bros, has not abided by the rules written so far. The Marvel films with relatively strong critical approval are nowhere near proportionally that much better than the Man of Steel or Batman v Superman films. Critics are unhappy with Warner Bros not following the formula, seemingly attempting to elevate Comic Book films to a loftier or at least a different place than Disney has taken their films. One major critic seemed most perturbed he couldn't take his young daughter to the film because to him and many others that is what these movies should be about. No more, no less.
I am not sure that another film will find that place that the Dark Knight found between the entertainment of a comic book and the quality of an exceptional film but DC is trying and in particular, Zack Snyder, is trying. I am pleased that, to date, the viewing audience has seemingly been influenced little by this critical reaction. There is room for different approaches. In fact, it is great that, just like in the comics, Marvel and DC are different. I just don't remember so many people being so angry about it when I was a kid.