Batman v Superman represents the worst results of studio interference

Rating: 2/10 (27 March 2016)

With the success of Disney/Marvel's Avengers series, WB is scrambling to compete with Disney by prematurely launching a Justice League franchise with Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. The studio heads don't realize that the best thing they can do is just get out of the way and allow more creative minds to take control of the series. But money is the most important factor, and they employed the most creatively bankrupt puppets to make a by the numbers movie: Director Zack Snyder, who doesn't seem to know how to pull a story together, and mediocre writer David S. Goyer, who only seems to make good movies when he teams up with Christopher Nolan. Co- writer Chris Terrio wrote Ben Affleck's Argo, but it's clear that studio interference stifled his talents.
The movie begins with a flashback to Batman's origin for the umpteenth time – where his parents are murdered outside of a movie theater. Then it quickly cuts to the battle of Metropolis in Man of Steel, where we see an older Bruce Wayne, played by Ben Affleck, ordering his office building in Metropolis to evacuate. Unfortunately, not all of his employees could get out on time.
Batman's rage over the deaths of his employees and the destruction of Metropolis leads him to believe that Superman must be killed for the safety of the planet. It's an adequate motivation at face value, but it's really stupid when you think about it. Superman was clearly the good guy in the fight from Man of Steel and Batman's rationalization of his own desire to kill Superman is illogical. In a scene from the trailer, he tells his butler Alfred that if there is even a one percent chance that Superman could have ill intentions, he must be destroyed. One percent? That's his threshold? That's just nuts. There are several governments on this planet that have the ability to destroy the world many times over, and I don't see Batman pushing for their destruction. Batman basically has a xenophobic reaction to Superman, and that makes for a boring conflict in my opinion.
Superman has his own story independent from Batman. Superman is facing some kind of congressional inquiry into Superman's activities. People are suspicious that he is in fact the one responsible for the crime that he stops. It kind of reminds me of the suspicion around Spider- Man in those movies. You know, the kind of suspicion that some people always have in movies when a superhero comes to town, but it really has no basis in reality? Still, the question of whether Superman should fight crime is a good one – it could have been the basis of an entire movie. Unfortunately this interesting subplot is underdeveloped, making it the least interesting aspect of the movie.
Right under Superman and Bruce Wayne's noses, Lex Luthor is trying to buy off politicians and gain access to the government's Kryptonian ship from Man of Steel as part of a plot to pitch Batman against Superman because nothing can go wrong with this convoluted plot. Oh, and Wonder Woman pops up because she's looking for a photo that Lex Luthor stole from her. Literally.
I can't explain this mundane plot any longer because it's making my head hurt. To sum it up – all of these plots and characters are underdeveloped, and the movie basically keeps cutting back and forth between each individual plot as if it thinks it's hooked the audience. Obviously, it didn't hook me.
Affleck is good as Batman and I wouldn't mind seeing him in another movie if Zack Snyder is not involved. Wonder Woman's appearance at the end was a clear crowd pleaser based on the reaction from the audience I saw the movie with, but I thought her presence was unnecessary and I found her acting robotic. Cavill is a good Superman but he's given absolutely nothing to work with here.
For me this movie was a two and a half hour bore. The worst movie I've seen since Transformers 2. I won't see any upcoming movie in this franchise in theaters unless the reviews get significantly better.