Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Disappointment

Rating: 3/10 (1 February 2017)

First things first I want to clarify that yes I am a Marvel fan and that I cannot stand the character of batman (blame the fanboys) but I gave this movie a go because I actually want the DCEU to do well, I really do and with two of the biggest names in comic history this should've been one of the best movies of 2016...it was anything but that. The plot was very bland and somewhat predictable in some places despite some great visuals throughout and plenty of potential and it suffered from what I was afraid was going to happen; the movie focused too much on batman, Superman had fewer lines in his own movie than Spider-Man had in his brief 20-30 minutes on screen in "Captain America: Civil War" which is kind of embarrassing and makes Superman more of a cameo character than Spider-Man for their respective movies. Now despite my dislike of the character, I have to say Ben Affleck did a good job as batman he was certainly easier to understand than Christian Bale even with the voice changer in his costume, Henry Cavill again does a good job as Superman (despite his lack of lines) and Gal Gadot is of course on top form as Wonder Woman which certainly has me interested in her solo film coming out later this year. But while there are good casting choices there are bad and Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor was exactly that, he was totally miscast he was so bratty and unlikable which has never been the case for me with Luthor, Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey's portrayals actually left me liking them when I should've hated them because they were the villains which is how I always saw the character; he's not an in your face kind of villain he's charming and cunning much like Loki in "Avengers Assemble" or Moriarty in the "Sherlock" TV show. I have seen the extended cut of the movie also and that alone has bumped up the score to 3 stars because while it makes the film better it doesn't blow me away. As I previously said, with two of the biggest comic book characters ever in the same movie fighting this should've been a great second entry into the DCEU and be on par with "Captain America: Civil War" but it fell flat and truth be told it feels like the only people who adore the movie and give it 10 stars are younger kids, hardcore batman or DC fanboys because when it comes to the best comic book movies of 2016, BvS isn't even in the top 3. I can only hope "Wonder Woman" and "Justice League" restores faith in the DCEU otherwise they are doomed to mediocre theatrical releases and extended cuts released on DVD and Blu-Ray