BvS: Beautiful and fun, but brought down by hype and empty plot

Rating: 1/10 (4 April 2016)

Ever since 2013 when this movie was announced, people, including me, have been waiting for this one movie to come out. With trailers, news, and TV spots, the comic book audience was hyped up, ready to witness the beautiful hero versus hero sold in the marketing. Of course, if you were part of this very large group, you already know the pain of anticipation. So without further ado, here is one of the many reviews of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Eighteen months after the events seen in Man of Steel, BvS is connected to MOS very well with an amazing scene connecting the stories of Bruce Wayne and Superman together. Zack Snyder addresses the controversy of Superman's battle with Zod by setting the viewer into Bruce Wayne's story during the time. However, after that scene, the lead up to the fight between Batman and Superman is way too complicated and prolonged. The two stories of Batman and Superman feel like two different movies that got edited together into the same movie. Like many people, I was waiting for the connection between the two to be mind-blowing and amazing. However, the connection was very anti-climatic and once it came, the fight was just thrown into the movie. The story behind "the greatest gladiator match in the history of the world" lacks charm and attractiveness, heavily bringing down the movie's plot and mood. However, given that this movie's storyline was more fit for a darker mood like it had in MOS, BvS gives heed to a more dismal cinematic universe, compared to the bright lights of the MCU.
After the heavily dragging lead into the fight, the fans finally get what they want: Batman versus Superman. What the trailers, TV spots, and anticipation fed them a sample of had now come to the big screen. Let me just say that what they had been fed with for years had really paid off. For I experienced the most spectacular fight between the two. Between Superman's underestimation of his opponent and Batman's ruthlessness, the two go at each other in a striking performance of pure action and excitement. However, one downside to the fight is that Superman never really feels fully engaged into the fight and more into fighting Luthor. Obviously, this had to be so because of the way that the plot was driven, which was to see Luthor as the enemy and not the two at each other. (Also, I find that Lex Luthor's reason for making them fight was very lacking and didn't show as a master plan as it should have). However, as the trailers had sold, I was let down by the amount of hatred for each other and instead felt a Superman calming down his younger brother Batman's tantrum. So, yes, the fight was well coordinated and aggressive, but it never felt aimed towards each other, but to someone else. While the art of fighting each other may have been beautiful, without pure reason of anger, the entire fight feels useless and just something to fish audiences into something a lot less amazing.
In my opinion, this movie's strongest point is it's action sequences, particularly the warehouse scene. The scene is just so Batman. It relates closely to the brutal fighting of the Arkham video games and the slender, fluid movements in the comics. The entire scene shows the hard of the entire crew and how much they put into making that scene. As awesome as it was to have Batman shred through that warehouse, I think letting Superman ripping apart the building and take out Martha would have been more logical and time-efficient.
One of the main things that people are talking about is Affleck as Batman. Personally, it's great to finally have a gritty Batman not new to the game, as most previous movies have shown the story of an angry Bruce Wayne wearing the suit of the caped crusader for the first time. The madness shown in his eyes, the old hatred towards criminals, and the feeling that Bruce's hope of a pure city of righteousness and justice is slowly fading away. This part is especially shown when Superman is shouting Martha's name and Batman shouts back, "Who's Martha?!" To me, this shows his madness and his insanity from the battle he's been through for years. Affleck offers these dark characteristics to the audience, something that none of the past portrayals have shown before. However, for a graphic Batman to be portrayed well, there has to be a fine line between Batman and a Batman that kills. Unfortunately, Zack Snyder crosses this line with the use of murder and guns. Even if Batman is killing people with a gun, this lacks the image of Batman and his desire for justice because of his desire to kill in a dream. Overall, I liked Affleck's performance because it gave a view into a differently darker Batman, but also straying away from the classic symbol.
Every scene that Wonder Woman was in gave me hope. It gave me hope that next year and the years to come, there will be an amazing universe led by portrayals like this. Gal Gadot's performance completely stole the show, and her final fight scene with Doomsday was phenomenal. The teases to other Justice League characters is also led well into the movie and soon into bigger appearances. Obviously, Superman's fate is going to play a key role in the Justice League movies, which led to the Flash's warning to Bruce.
Overall, Batman v Superman was a fun, good movie to watch, led highly by its effects and action, but falling short on plot. I think this was mainly a result of over anticipation, but it is a good lead into future DCEU films.