Not a great movie, but better than what most people are saying

Rating: 7/10 (29 March 2016)

With all the bad reviews, I was prepared for the absolute worse. But guess what? The critics got it so wrong.
This was not a great movie. It was a good movie, well put together and pretty well written. If you go into it with preconceived ideas of how bad DC is doing their movies (and I had some of those) and compare them to Marvel's amazing cinematic universe, then you can easily be disappointed in what is going on this movie. But if you take this for what it is and actually WATCH what happens, you get a very solid representation of the DC superheroes in a modern context. For example, I heard bitching about Batman using guns and knives, killing people, etc. yet none of what Batman did in this movie was inconsistent with the Batman I know from the comics I've read and other movies. He doesn't "use guns" in this movie, he appears to follow the same rules of engagement any police or military would (such as being shot at first before reacting with deadly force) and he goes way out of his way to NOT kill people. Where he legitimately goes off-the-rails is when he brands two criminals with a "bat brand" and it is clearly stated during the course of the movie that this is an extreme action he's been engaged in because he's been mentally/emotionally losing it since the incident from the first Superman movie.
There were also some complaints about Superman not saving people and acting only in his own best interests, yet it's obvious in the context of the movie that he is doing a whole lot of saving and people are very grateful for him doing so. Just because it happens off camera doesn't mean it's not happening. Meanwhile, the story moves forward that this movie intends to tell, about the conflict of Mankind to accept someone like Superman amongst us and I thought it got pretty real about that. Some critics come down so hard on what Superman was or was not doing, they miss some of the broader questions being raised, such as do we deserve to even have someone like that amongst us? Do we deserve Superman in the first place? Mankind is so petty and quick to judge and hate, should someone like that with such superpowers even bother with us? There's a lot more that could be said on that particular argument but when Superman receives the brunt of the blame because he's not doing what "we" think he should be, it kind of proves the argument's premise right there.
As for the movie itself, it was entertaining, well made and actually had a lot more thought put into it than I think many viewers are seeing. If you watch this movie closely, there are tons of easter eggs and details throughout that show a lot of planning being done for the DC universe. It's a darker and harder universe than the Marvel universe, but it's got its own sort of legitimacy because they are trying to do something different with their superhero movies. There were some complaints about scenes that didn't make any sense, didn't belong in the movie, etc. I think those complaints were just plain wrong and made by people who just aren't following what is going on. This movie does require that you think about what is happening or you could get lost. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. If you are the kind of person who needs everything spelled out for them in exposition, then this movie probably isn't for you.
Just to say it plain and straight, Wonder Woman is awesome in this movie. Very powerful - like Superman powerful - and there is so much back story and earlier shenanigans she gets up to - tons of foreshadowing that definitely have me very interested in seeing the Wonder Woman movie when it comes out. And as for strong female characters - if she hadn't shown up than certain bad-ass male superheroes would have had their asses handed to them badly and things would have gone into extinction level for Mankind as a whole. So I think they are doing Wonder Woman right in this one.
All of the production values are top-of-the-line, the actors do great and I had no problem with the direction. The ONLY exception - and this is a big one - is Lex Luthor. Jesse Eisenberg is channeling a sort of Mark Zuckerberg/Joker hybrid in this movie, not Lex Luthor. This was basically a total waste. I felt these were the only places where the script was not well thought out and disappointed. Luthor's plans were evident by the end as having influenced everything that happened during the course of the movie, and that played to his supposed genius, but his on-screen moments were just...weird. I thought they could have done a LOT better.
So, if you are willing to not listen to some of the critical nonsense and give this movie a chance, I think this movie can be very entertaining and interesting and, in its own way, a fun experience. That's my take on it. Enjoy!