A Bad Place to Start From

Rating: 4/10 (25 January 2018)

For DC to get their cinematic universe started with the introduction of more superheroes, they decided to begin with a rivalry between Batman and Superman, two of the most beloved comic book characters of all time. To say the least, this movie is a mess. Why? Well... Ben Affleck is a terrible Batman, it's boring as hell, the story is extremely convoluted and takes multiple viewings to understand, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor is quite possibly the worst casting decision of all time, it tries way too hard to be dark and edgy for its own good, they didn't make it clear enough that Batman was pushed over the edge, it has plot holes the size of the hole in the ozone layer, they completely wasted Doomsday, and the ending was just a massive insult to comic book fans everywhere. Perhaps the most egregious thing was the movie's trailer (attached to the Force Awakens, for everyone to see), which was loaded with spoilers. Here we see the two of them teaming up with Wonder Woman to fight Doomsday. First off, in a movie literally called Batman V Superman, showing them teaming up constitutes a massive spoiler. Second, Doomsday is known for one thing and one thing alone, so if you know the comics, you knew what was coming months before the movie came out. It's not the worst movie ever, and it does have some upsides. While Affleck's portrayal of Batman wasn't very good, he made an excellent Bruce Wayne. The beginning, where it's the ending of Man of Steel from Bruce Wayne's perspective, was pretty cool.
But to start a universe, like what The Avengers did, this was not nearly enough. Even though Man of Steel isn't exactly the best comic book movie, a good movie that brought multiple heroes together is what could make the DCEU more enjoyable. Alternatively, a solo Batman movie that made it clear the Justice League was coming together would have done the trick. I know it was only 4 years after Dark Knight Rises, but unless those movies were going to be brought in to the DCEU (which wasn't going to happen anyway), they would have needed to reboot Batman again. What should have happened was a solo Batman movie that introduces Diana Prince (but saves her action for her own movie) that hints at the Justice League coming together, then Wonder Woman, then Justice League. Sky's the limit from there.