An Under-appreciated Artistic Comic Book Film Unlike Any Other

Rating: 5/10 (29 March 2016)

I LOVED it, but not in the way I thought I would. Yes, the cast was great -- especially Ben Affleck's Batman, which is the best and most accurate Batman to date -- but there's more to this film than what the trailers made it out to be. In all actuality, it's better to go in with zero expectations and see the story unravel on it's own because its surprisingly thought provoking... Listen, this film works really well for those who love to really look in depth behind the major and wonderful themes of whether power can be innocent and radical religious views in our modern society. But just because it has depth and requires a lot of thinking, does the film stand well on it's own? I believe very much so!
People today like to watch films and let everything about the story be handed to them, but some of the best films force the audience to thinker deeper (i.e. Blade Runner, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, etc.) However, when a comic-inspired film does this, it's off putting to the audience because they expect the usual "easy" entertainment. This film is very dark and it's not your popcorn-entertainment -- and some fans of DC had problems with the direction this film took because of generally how much more brutal it was than the original source material at times. But at the end of the day, it's important to think about whether it worked or not... Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice challenges the audience to understand the characters by diving into their complex psychological profiles to explain why their motives and actions are the way they are. Without paying attention to the visual storytelling Snyder presents in his beautiful shots and the smart but quick dialogue, this film will fly over your head.
Am I say it's perfect? Not at all. Was it to me? In ways. A lot of the complaints though from critics generally are personal preferences rather than whether a choice within the film was functional. At times, I found the film to have odd transitions and cut some scenes with great potential too short. Yes, some scenes can confuse the audience because one or two of them relay too heavily on the sequel (the Justice League film) to explain it, but they still serve a great purpose for the film. At times too, though I loved Snyder's use of "compressed" dialogue and large visuals to tell the story, it would've been nice for some expansions on ideas or scenes to further show the audience what happened, how it happened, and why... I think because of these sometimes strange edits, some petty plot holes are left unexplained -- but are either not important, left open for future DC films to tackle, or may possibly have been cut and will be in the director's cut with 30 extra minutes of footage.
Though I think the film had weird cuts and a few scenes with wasted potential, everything the audience needs to understand about these characters and the story is all at hand -- especially when giving it deep thought. I wouldn't say these flaws though ruined the joyful experience for me or burdened the film too much. Instead, I firmly believe people's issues with this movie stand on their specific expectations not being met and preferences they had in mind. But a mindset like this is harmful to any film because then we'd never enjoy any of them... Like I said before, many will be disappointed because the film isn't really part of the title says. Rather, it was used more to bring people in to see the film, but I still think how it made sense and was true to the characters and their nature. (In case you didn't know what part of the title I'm talking about, I'll give you a hint: it's the first half of the title.) This upset a lot of people -- and so did having to think through the "why's" and "how's" of the film -- because it wasn't what some of them hoped to see, but it doesn't mean it didn't work. I honestly believe the criticism of this film lied mostly on preference.
Go see the film for yourself and be the judge. Don't let the critics or others influence your thinking. Like any other film, go in with a clear mind with no expectations and figure it out for yourself. In the end, liking or disliking a film is all about preference.