Audience vs. Studios: Dawn of Anger

Rating: 3/10 (22 January 2019)

I once liked this film if not loved it. Maybe it was the fan of superheroes and comic books inside of me, because this movie is a pile of dog feces.It is only the 2nd film of the DCEU, and its critical failure resulted in fans of DC comics and other audiences to be conflicted upon the films that would come out, where their stories would occur in this fictional universe. Here are some why this movie is not a 100% misfire, as well as reasons why this movie is still awful.
Pros:

Some good and okay performances, with Ben Affleck being a pretty good Batman for the most part. Gal Gadot is an awful actress, but I thought she was a good choice for Wonder Woman.
Despite some problems with the CGI, the visual effects and action sequences are pretty good, with great choreography, decent visual effects, and massive spectacle.
It has some good philosophical ideas, such as when the film talks about the difference between god and man, and discusses about how it would be like to have god-like abilities and have society hate you, simply because they do not fully know you.

Cons:

Jesse Eisenberg is obviously a terrible choice to play Lex Luthor. He is goofy, annoying, and over-the-top. He is does not seem intelligent, diabolical, sophisticated, and criminally-charming like the Lex Luthor that many Dc fans love as a character.
Henry Cavill seems like a good choice for Superman, but he gives a bad performance filled with no charisma whatsoever. I feel like it is not his fault, because the script he is given to work with is awful, it seems impossible for Cavill to give a good performance.
There are characters who feel like they do not have enough screen time and they seem pointless to the story, such as Alfred, Perry White, and Martha. Wonder Woman is especially a very pointless character, and she serves no purpose in the story. I feel as if her inclusion in the film is only to make DC fans pay money to buy tickets to see this piece of garbage.

-There are many hilariously atrocious and logical inconsistencies. From Lex pissing in a jar and sending it to Senator Finch, to the infamous "Martha" moment, the film has it all.

Lois Lane is a partially intriguing character, trying to discover the truth about the massacre in Africa, and uncovering mysteries with the culprit being Lex. However, her character is completely useless in the third act, when she thows away a Kryptonite Spear, only to bring it back, resulting in her drowning, then get saved by Superman, which leads to him being knocked out by the radiation of the Spear.
The plot and execution of storytelling is really bad. The movie spends an unnecessary amount of time building up potential sequels and spin-offs, and it does it in the laziest way possible. An example would be the clips of Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg that Bruce sends to Diana, which felt lazy and hilariously stupid. In other times, the film is very confusing when you try to analyse the plot, with moments like Batman's dream sequence of an post- apocalyptic world. It especially sucks that some scenes are eliminated from the final product, making the plot unorganized and confusing, and that you need to buy the ultimate edition in order to fully understand the story. Even then , there are unexplained plot points, such as how Lex knew that Bruce was Batman, and how Clark was Kal-El/Superman.
Its treatment of DC comics source material is awful. The movie burns through future films worth of good materials by rushing and misusing comic book stories such as The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman. It is obvious that these guys are trying to play catch-up with Marvel. The characters that I adore are given awful alterations, where it does not feel like Zack Snyder and others involved in this film cared about them, and wrote them in a way that make them unlikable. Batman is a killer instead of a person who appears to be a brooding jerk, but also has compassion for others, and has a moral code to not kill anyone, like the original Batman. Superman, is a depressed man with no charming personalities, and he does not exhibit qualities of compassion, truth, and justice, like the original Superman. In addition, the film feels dark and gritty, leaving no sense of hope or existence of a joyful moment, which makes this world that the film has built even more uninteresting.

Overall, I obviously do not recommend this film, its it awful, inconsistent, and even though it has some positive aspects to it, they are overshadowed by the numerous issues it has.