Messy, pretentious but also entertaining and memorable.

Rating: 4/10 (5 April 2016)

The best aspect of the movie is definitely the portrayal of Batman. Ben Affleck nails the role both as Bruce and as the caped crusader, by exuding a refined and mature charm as the former and a terrifying angst and urgency as the latter. What is more, his whole physicality and fighting style is as true to the source material as you could hope; it's like an Arkham video game brought to the screen! Brutal and methodic to the core, it will leave no Bat-fan unsatisfied.
Many viewers were disappointed by the fact that he kills in this movie and it would be nice if we got a bit of dialogue of why Batman finally broke his basic moral code, but at least we get a hint of what might have drove him to that point from the painted suit you can see during the trailer. Was it a sidekick's suit? Was it Batman's? Who painted that? The movie doesn't answer that, but you're free to speculate
Another good aspect of the film has to be the fast pacing. Truly, I cannot understand how someone can get bored by it. The movie throws so much at you that you can get bored at any minute! Just look at the trailer and tell me that not a million things happen in this film. It is undoubtedly overstuffed. And an overstuffed film can never get boring, at least not on the first viewing.
The last positive is definitely the action scenes. With the exception of the too-much-lens-flare-and-shaky-cam Batmobile sequence, the action scenes are great. The main fight between Bats and Supes is epic and seems like it's been torn out of a comic book, while the final fight with Doomsday might have an overabundance of CGI and EXPLOSIONS, but is nevertheless entertaining and enthralling.
As for the bad aspects, well, there's a whole list. The main problem has to be the weak motivations behind the characters' actions. Superman is basically against Batman because he is a violent vigilante. Well, so are you Supes! The Senator (and the government) is basically against Superman's actions, thanks mainly to an attack he did on South Africa(?) to save Lois Lane, ignoring the fact that the killed men would have bullets in them, something that shows Superman didn't kill them.
There are two ways in which Snyder could have shaped these characters better: a) create different, stronger motivations and reasons for their actions or, b) point out the irony in Superman's hatred for Bats, making Supes seem like a man who abuses his power AND actually make the whole "we built a statue for Superman after he damaged half the city, but now we hate him just because the script says so" plot play out like a political game rather than an actual disapproval of Superman's action.
Lex Luthor has some daddy issues and thinks Superman is a god-tyrant he must kill, because daddy used to obey to tyrants during parades and daddy used to beat him and now little Lex has to kill God.what? His motivation is truly muddled and doesn't help us, the audience, to understand him as a human. He supposedly is against God (Superman) because, if there was a God, he would help him when his dad abused him, but at no point do we see the struggle he has. He is just quirky and nerdy all the time, showing little of the pain and torment he supposedly goes through.
The only one with a strong motivation (that nevertheless needed more time to be fully fledged out) is Batman. He actually is the only one we can understand, since we see through his own eyes the destruction of Wayne Tower, his eventual anger and distrust of Superman. Should they have used more of that? Hell yes, but in a film where everyone else's motivations are as strong as a sponge, Batman's reasoning stands out with ease, thus making him the only character you will be able to root for.
On to the plot, Luthor's master plan is convoluted, making little sense (he wants Kryptonite, Batman steals it, he kidnaps Superman's mother to make them fight and kill each other, but it seems he had planned creating Doomsday from the beginning!). The stupidest thing has to be the reconciliation between the main heroes. They basically stop fighting because their mothers have the same name. I'm sure the intention was to make Batman realize that Superman has a mother too, and that by killing him, he would be another Joe Chill who separated a mother from her child, but the way they center around the fact that "Martha" is the name for both mothers is melodramatic at best. It seems like a soap-opera, sadly.
And that whole "I kidnapped your mom" plot point ruins the emotional weight of the whole clash and thus, the film itself. Batman and Superman aren't fighting because of different ideals. No, they're fighting because the latter wants to save his mom. Only Bats has an actual reason to defeat Superman, but after the reconciliation, the whole thing seems more like a minor misunderstanding rather than an ideological fight.
Also, Snyder should back off with the endless symbolism. No more shots of people touching Superman like lifeless robots, no pathetic cry- faces of women who point at him in the sky, no Bruce flying from the pit he fell with Bats surrounding him. Either make a symbolism somewhat subtle and clever or don't make any symbolism at all.
Another problem has to be the dream sequence of Batman; yes, it will play a role in the next films, but it is absolutely useless in the narrative body of the film. Maybe it's time for DC to learn how to make a great stand-alone film and then worry about the sequels.