Take note that for this review, I will include spoilers as to show my reasonings for this film. So if you have yet to see the film, I strongly urge to stop reading this right now.
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Abbreviated as BvS, the premise of the movie is a series of events that pit two of the most iconic characters in superhero history against one antother. Around 3/4 of the movie or even more is all just to set-up this fight and why it should happen. By the aftermath, it sets up the events of the other DC movies that were announced way back. That's essentially it.
I will say that the actual fight between Batman and Superman is average at best. I don't think the fight can be made any better, honestly, except maybe if they let the fight happen a lot sooner. You see, I actually got really, REALLY, bored by the middle of the film and I was thinking out loud "Just get to the damn fight, already!". It just seems that the lengthy runtime for the movie was made for its own sake. I will agree with the critics saying the plot is a mess because there's just too many scenes that simply doesn't contribute at all to setting up the fight.
And then there's the issue of the set-up itself pertaining to Batman and Superman. What I find so jarring is that the movie removes certain aspects of the two. It's strange that these two people, being incredibly smart, ESPECIALLY with Batman's case being 'the great detective', yet they never got to learn each other's true identities up UNTIL the fight itself! And Lex Luthor happens to know their identities for a very long time, which allowed him to set-up the fight in the first place!
And speaking of Batman, besides being not so much as a great detective, despite the movie addressing he's been fighting crime on Gotham for 20 years (and do note, he's never EVER called 'Batman' and the name is only mentioned once), this Batman isn't afraid to kill people, directly or indirectly. Now, Batman has indeed killed people before in the comics, but this movie puts the killing aspect front and center, in an effort to make Batman a bit of a heel in pro-wrestling terms when it comes to the fight against Superman. Again, Batman not being 'the great detective' in the film means he couldn't figure out the entire fight was orchestrated by Luthor himself.
As for Wonder Woman, despite her being all over the place in the trailers and ads, she doesn't really do anything in the movie other than being a Deus Ex Machina in the final fight. The movie never explained what in the world she is there for other than 'just being there'. The cameo appearances of the other Justice League members doesn't contribute to the plot either and is a waste of movie runtime.
Other problems I have with the film, the killing off of some secondary characters. While these said characters aren't named, it was clear from their appearances who they are and even the credits confirmed their identities. I'm referring to Jimmy Olsen and Mercy Graves, who are killed off needlessly.
And then the final fight itself, which pits the Holy Trinity of DC against Doomsday. For those who don't know, Doomsday gained a reputation as one of the few, if not the only DC character that actually KILLED Superman during "The Death of Superman" arc from the comics. And while the final fight was indeed a REALLY great fight, it plays out exactly like one would expect from the comics. And when you know Superman will be back in Justice League, it makes his death in BvS not only meaningless, but totally deprived of any emotional feels from the viewer with regards to his death. The final scenes just drags this on as though it implies you should be saddened by Superman's death, but you're not because you know he'll be back in Justice League.
Therein lies another problem. After Doomsday, the next major antagonist has to be someone that provides a much GREATER challenge to Superman than what Doomsday has ever done. That's quite a tall order, considering this is Superman we are talking about. Again, this is DC sticking it up to Marvel. Where Marvel's Infinity War brings in Thanos. DC will obviously throw in Darkseid.
The movie does have some very good parts, however. Aside from the fight against Doomsday, I really enjoy Superman's struggle to be accepted by society because of his powers. This struggle, done within the movie's timeframe, is much better written and presented than in CBS's Supergirl series, and it also reflects the similar problem Saitama has in One Punch Man of not being taken seriously as a hero because of his powers.
I also enjoy Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal as Lex Luthor, as he seems more psychotic than cunning. And by psychotic I mean classic Joker-level psychotic. It does deprive him of being cunning like in the comics and the animated series. Then again, the Lex Luthor in the movies was never cunning to begin with.
BvS isn't as bad as the critics say it is, but it could've been a lot better if they made the movie shorter and removing the unneccessary scenes, so the set-up wouldn't be so boring. So in spite of all its problems, it is still worth the price of a movie ticket, or on home video if you want the 'R-rated' version with additional scenes. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a 3 out of 5.
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