4.5/10

Rating: 4/10 (23 March 2016)

I won't sugarcoat my opinion in this review and I will get somewhat nasty in some points, but believe me when I say that these words pain no one more than me, because I wanted to love this film with all my heart. Yet this is a real disappointment. It is everything I feared it would be, but prayed for it no to be. This is actually one of the most frustrating films I have seen in a long time, because for every reason you are given to enjoy and admire it, you are handed another two to get turned off, and this gets worse the more and more the film goes on.
Unfortunately, there are no two ways around it, this is Zack Snyder all over again and his difficulty in storytelling which we find once again here. It definitely helps that the screenplay is actually solid and probably what saves this movie from the disaster it could have been. Yet, Snyder, does not manage to make this into an organic film. Now, of course there is some blame to be given to the studio for overloading this film to the point where it would seem impossible to make it coherent, but I have to admit that this is not the central problem the film has, even if it could have done with something less.
The problem is simply the chaotic and boring story we are handed and even worse, how some of the characters fit into it. There is so much that is unclear, left unexplored, but even more so, character motivations that shift uncontrollably and leave you scratching your head repeatedly. Moreover, there is a collection of the worst superhero film clichés all tied together into one sweet package that by the end of the film almost got me to the point where I felt insulted in my intelligence. The whole last hour is a preposterous third act mess that really screws up what up until then was a quite decent film, even if it lacked momentum and most importantly the struggle of the two title characters which is repeatedly sidelined in favor of subplots and intrigue that frequently result aimless. Not to mention the whole ending which goes on for eternity with an emotional dryness. Basically the film does not flow and ends up being a mess.
There is some insight to what the film is trying to put forward, some of the thematic undertones manage to emerge occasionally and put forward a collection of scenes that actually carry some gravitas. But unfortunately that is undermined firstly by the fact that the movie never, ever delivers on its title promise, but even more so by the fact that any storytelling or emotional momentum is overwhelmed by bad character development, a little too much spoon feeding to the audience and worst of all a CGI orgy that gets worse and worse to the point where the screen is exploding and you have absolutely zero investment in what is going on. Not even some of the usual visual goods Snyder brings to his movies manage to truly emerge here because of the mess that is constantly going on in at least one of the various filmaking components.
There are still things that can be enjoyed, Zimmer and Junkie Xl really do something special here. It might be a little too much of what we expected, but still there is no denying how much their music elevates a lot of stuff. Henry Cavil remains a great Superman ad Ben Affleck is inspired casting. Gal Gadot is surprisingly good for what she has to do. And overall the first hour of the film actually had something going on, the point is that as soon as it starts stretching and overstating its welcome, other than not delivering much emotional beats or pay off, you start to phase out more and more and the film never picks up again, instead getting worst.
I know that everyone on the planet will go see this film and I am not saying people shouldn't do that. I felt personally that the film really let me down and was an indicator of many things wrong with the genre.