Good actors, great action, bad storytelling

Rating: 7/10 (25 March 2016)

I liked Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, I even liked Man of Steel, but I just can't bring myself to love Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Sure, it was epic, it was grand, the effects were awesome and the actors played the characters well, but all of that was not enough to make a great movie. A great movie for me is still, primarily, a great story. The story needs to be told clearly and should not drag. Non-chronological storytelling is fine, shifting POV is fine, leaning on points for dramatic effect is fine, but confusing the hell out of the audience and allowing them to zone out during the movie isn't. If you asked me what the story of Batman V Superman was about now, twenty minutes after I walked out of the theater, I can tell you about how it started and how it ended, as the whole middle hour and a half of the movie completely lost me. The pacing of scenes was illogical, dragging at times and jolting at others. The dialogue was sometimes wooden, sometimes over the top and mostly mediocre.
The best part of the movie, apart from the classic Snyder imagery, was probably Ben Affleck's Batman. The performance was very convincing and grounded, while being absolutely kick-ass. Alfred played by Jeremy Irons was also great, complementing a broken and weary Barman perfectly. Alfred was also arguably the only source of humor in the whole two and a half hours. Henry Cavil as Superman lacked the sort of depth Ben Affleck brought to his character but gave an acceptable performance. Gal Gadot looked stunning as Wonder Women and her action sequences really shines, but her playing Diana Prince involved her looking hot and speaking about 10-15 lines. Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor was passable by my standards, even if most critics are all panning his performance. Sure, it was over the top insane, but he pulled that off well, any dissatisfaction should probably be directed at the character setting and script.
As I have said, only the beginning and end of the movie captivated me. The ending of the movie especially, with its non-stop PG-13 violence (as in no blood, but still pretty brutal), was shot amazingly by Snyder. The ending also offered an unexpected twist, the only thing about the movie's plot that trailer 2 didn't reveal. Throughout the movie, visual effects and each individual frame was beautifully composed, the CGI looked great and the 3D was epic, especially for the explosions. However, pursuing the "dark superhero" tone, the whole movie was blue tinted and gray scale, so don't expect any sunlight in the frame.
All in all, this was an OK story told badly by a bunch of good actors with great visuals. Still worth a watch if you're a superhero fan or DC fan, but don't expect a masterpiece like The Dark Knight and definitely don't expect the Marvel-esque, self aware superhero family affair.
General impression: 7/10 Pacing: 3/10 Story: 6/10 Performance: 8/10 Visual: 8/10