Too rushed, looks cheap, no heart :(

Rating: 5/10 (19 February 2018)

I'm afraid to say that this isn't the film I was expecting and it's not as spectacular as it was billed to be. I am not a hater of this film, nor am I a lover of this film - it's an average film which acts as a vehicle to get DC films on the map a little more, but doesn't do it with the spectacular grandeur that it could have done.
Billed as the film to break Marvel Studio's successful grasp on Hollywood this had a lot to live up to, and I'm afraid it didn't work. The film felt rushed and cheap - which is a surprise as millions of dollars were spent on this. It felt like Warner Brothers desperately wanted to join the superhero party while it was hot and as a result HAD to put something out straight away, regardless of it was ready or not. It followed a familiar pattern set up in action films in general, FTR not just Marvel film patterns. It seemed to tick off cliché after cliché as if it was a formula for instant success. What this film missed, was a heart (and a better plot, better delivery, more thought...etc). I didn't feel engaged or part of the ride, being a comic fan for many years I can easily say there is more depth to a drawing on a piece of paper than there was in the characters here. It was a lacklustre showing and it was such a pity as there was soo much potential to be had.
The thing that made me angry, more so than the predictable plot and outcomes was the overuse of CGI. I understand that we are in an age where CGI is massive, done properly it can make a film brilliant, but done badly it can make a film look cheap and rushed - and unfortunately this fell into that later category. It was that obvious when CGI and green-screening had been used that it was actually off-putting to my enjoyment of the film. I have read some reviews on here which absolutely nailed it true to form; saying that the villain in this looked like he had been lifted straight from a computer game, saying that Superman looked artificial due to the CGI, saying that they believed the back grounds in Errol Flynn swashbuckling pirate films from years of yesterday were more believable. I can't agree more with some of these sentiments.
I really didn't want to nit-pick with this film for fear of starting an avalanche but there were scenes in this where I was thinking "oh come on, give me a break". For example, the "where is everybody" factor. To many times through this film there was a big action sequence, yet not one random person was there, nobody in the background, no police or military presence, nobody. Millions of pounds of damage, and only a handful of people in shot and they all happen to have lines in the film. WTF - "where was everybody"??
Before I start nit-picking anymore I'll conclude...
Did I hate the film? Not absolutely, it still was a brainless action film. Did I love this film, not by a long way. I'm afraid the best I can give this is 5 out of 10 - I've seen better films on the SyFy channel and I'm afraid that this is where I can see this ending up in a few years' time.