Why did you say that name?!?!

Rating: 3/10 (2 April 2016)

Director Zack Snyder has proved to be the Kryptonite of this new DC universe. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is classic Snyder: visually adept yet narratively and thematically senseless. With two of the most compelling and popular characters in the world, numerous questions about purpose and responsibility are aimlessly wasted. Throw in resplendent amounts of religious and political imagery, and way too many dream sequences, what we're left with is a sad mishandling of what should be a powerful and (ahem) entertaining film. The opening is fantastic, as we watch Bruce Wayne and others reel from the disasters perpetrated by Superman in Man of Steel. Unfortunately from there, things go downhill fairly quickly, as story clichés (Kryptonite) and lame coincidences (Bruce and Clark's mom have the same name! Wow!) fill a convoluted plot. Worst yet, this "action" film is overstuffed with unending amounts of ethical speeches and monologues in place of actual character connections. DC's desperation to right their own wrongs in the destruction in Man of Steel becomes embarrassing ("Luckily that island was deserted"). Even when we aren't being lazily spoken at or having our emotions ineffectively manipulated, the set-pieces are largely insipid and boring. As for the pluses, Affleck is great as Batman, giving a unique turn as a sloppier, older, and angrier Dark Knight. Also, for the very little we see of Gadot's Wonder Woman, it creates an excited eagerness for her stand-alone film. However, BvS as a whole has less in common with its positives than with Eisenberg's poorly-casted Lex Luthor: frantic, ill-thought, desperate, and truly awful.