Visceral, Spectacular Mess

Rating: 5/10 (30 March 2016)

I am a very big fan of Superman, but this movie was a let down despite the hype.
Ben Affleck's portrayal of Batman was not bad. Except for one problem; his version of Batman was written to be a rather irrational one. Batman in the comic books as well as in games and animations have always been known to be a brilliant detective and a mastermind strategist. Ben Affleck's Batman however, blindly hates Superman and was completely unaware of Lex Luthor's manipulations or his criminal activities until the third act. His is a far cry of the character we know as fans. Also, unnecessary repeat of his parents' death. We've seen it more times than Spiderman's Uncle Ben.
Lex Luthor came across as a discount Joker, more than a cunning power hungry capitalist. His is an evil Mark Zuckerberg slash Jack Nicholson's Joker. Jesse Eissenberg's portrayal of Lex Luthor was in short, disastrous. Lex Luthor has always been known to be eloquent, intellectual, conniving and most of all, a man to be feared. Most of all, Jesse Eissenberg's immense animosity for Superman came across as baffling. In fact, there wasn't any known motivation nor a strong reason to begin with.
The pacing of the film and story were confusing and sloppy right from the get go, jumping from scene to scene without clear connections, as though it was all put together hastily. As a result, you'd actually be left scratching your head from confusion and frustration if you weren't a comic book fan.
Zack Synder also decided to kill off Jimmy Olsen in such poor manner, it's as though he decided to insult the fans. Most of all, none of the audiences would even know who Jimmy Olsen is, until you read about it online.
Doomsday looked a lot more like some monster from The Lord of the Rings or a Frankenstein Ninja Turtle. In fact, inserting Doomsday into the story is really a poor choice, despite the awesomeness of the entire fight scene. I loved how Zack Synder's Doomsday actually has Solar Flare, but such a famous villain could have been utilized for another installment. However, I understand that the writers and Zack Synder wants to have Superman go through a journey similar to Jesus Christ, to make Superman sacrifice his life for the greater good in order for mankind to truly appreciate him and then eventually resurrect him ala' bible style, elevating him to hero status, somewhat similar to Christopher Nolan's Batman.
Speaking of which, Superman's death scene was very disappointing. If they had truly displayed his battle with Doomsday with respects to the source material, I would have applauded.
Warner Bros and DC could have done better, but in a desperate bid to catch up to Marvel, they decided to just smash everything together and squeeze out whatever they can instead of setting a steady pace. The entire movie would have done better if the story had focused on the differences between Batman and Superman's ideologies without bringing in unnecessary elements to accelerate Justice League. They should have explored Superman's identity as Clark Kent, but the filmmakers instead turned Clark Kent into a sloppy reporter. A complete insult to his character and personality. Amy Adam's Lois Lane was underused and underrated.
I will however, praise the filmmakers' vision of Superman and the exploration of themes close to our hearts. They've set the superheroes in a modern world under the threat of terrorism and power abuse, where every action has real consequences and effects. I appreciate how they decide to make Superman a character who is still struggling with his role in society and finding out what really makes a hero. Henry Cavill's Superman may seem to be dark and brooding, but Superman in the comics also had his pit falls and moral dilemmas. He wasn't always Superman.
A few other good things about this film is their clever nod to Frank Miller's, "The Dark Knight Returns". Superman catching the bullet only to release the weaponized Kryptonite, Batman's armor, the sonic cannon and most of all, Superman's revival from a shriveled corpse after a nuclear strike.
Overall, Batman v Superman is a watchable mess. Will not even spend a cent buying the DVD release.