A film that starts off promising but turns into a Justice League commercial

Rating: 5/10 (1 April 2016)

I'll start off by explaining what I liked about this film before dwelling into why I was so disappointed.
Many scenes in this film are visual masterpieces. The cinematography in this film, especially the first half, is nothing short of amazing. Snyder's unique style of directing fits well for what this film is trying to be and the camera-work shines in many parts of the movie and doesn't feel as overwhelming and exhausting as Man of Steel did. This movie, despite being dark and grim in tone like Man of Steel, is a bit more visually colorful than it's predecessor. The score wasn't very bad either, it wasn't quite memorable but it blended seamlessly in this movie.
I enjoyed Ben Affleck's performance as Batman. Although, there are things I didn't like about the character of Batman in this film, Ben did a good job with what he was given. He was way better than I expected him to be. I was one of those people who threw a giant hissy fit in 2013 when it was announced that he would play The Caped Crusader. I was proved wrong. I think Ben added more depth to his performance than any of the other actors in this film. Cavill did a great job as well, I think he did good with the lines he were given especially since some of the lines (Superman's especially) are just terribly written. I did not enjoy Eisenburg as Lex Luthor. I felt like he was over the top and ridiculous for a movie that's trying to keep a dark, dreary tone.
The main problem with this movie is the writing, the story structure. It felt like a mess. A lot of the scenes without action were just bland, boring, dreary and filled with dry dialogue. I was hoping to see Batman and Superman duel it out (they hardly trade blows). I wanted to see more than just two great heroes fighting but also the clash between two battling ideologies and philosophies held by these heroes being driven with a powerful story. The film tried, but it was handled so poorly. It felt like 2 stories crammed into what could have been one great story between Batman and Superman. This is because they are setting up the Justice League,but at this point it feels rushed and undeserved. I could have done without the Superman's death, Batman's nightmare sequences, Wonder Woman, many of the Lex scenes that took away from what could have been a great Batman and Superman centered movie.
Batman's turn around (the "Martha" scene) seemed rushed and out of place, it was a great idea with a terrible execution. The writers knew to get Batman to turn you would need to reach his heart and by doing that you pull the "parents death" card. It just felt so halfassed here and it made no sense at all. Made worse when Lois comes in with her pointless exposition explaining that Martha is his mother. The film's tone overall is dark and depressing which makes the (few) humor lines seem very out of place. The pacing doesn't do the film a favor either, there were some parts where the film felt like it was dragging.
Snyder seems to be under the impression that a dark and gritty tone means realistic but writing well developed characters with understandable motives and good dialogue is what makes stories seem real, Regardless of the type of universe they are in. Snyder and Co. didn't do this, so they compensate for their poor writing by making everything dark and grim; giving the visual impression of a realistic looking film. Realistic comes from developing a character to the point where the audience understands their values and beliefs, and the motivations for taking any action are well understood. But more often than not, the film focuses on too many other things when it should be focusing on the titular characters more.