The movie’s tone is overall dark and moody. The movie feels like as if it is attempting to emulate the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy by trying to be more grounded and realistic. This is ineffective due to the fact many of the heroes in this movie are not Batman. When looking at Superman in the comics and cartoon representations, he is seen as a beacon of hope and he represents the best of humanity. But in this, Superman is seen as more selfish, and gives off the feeling that he is only saving people because it would be what his father wanted.

Batman is likely one of the biggest highlights of the movie, Ben Affleck does an amazing job playing a more experienced Batman who has experienced some extreme situations during his 20 years being a crime fighter. Wonder Woman (played by Gal Gadot) had incredible stage presence even though she is in the movie very briefly. Her screen time is incredible and when she is in battle she is amazing being able to hold her own against the main antagonist. Overall the main heroes in this movie are great. My only complaint has to be how underdeveloped Superman is. He feels like he’s just there for the big plot points, and his motivation to fight Batman just feels like lazy storytelling.

The movie reaches for greatness but just falls short. Batman, in this movie, is incredible. His action sequences are brutal and intense and you love every minute of it. The big movie fight between Batman and Superman is crazy and feels like it just leaped from page to screen, with both heroes going at it like Tyson and Holyfield. The far out comic references in the movie that would make the average movie goer scratch their head but for comic book fans it was a great treat.

A couple weak points had to be Lex Luthor, portrayed as socially awkward tech wiz kid; it just came off as weird and unneeded. Lois Lane served her purpose as a noisy reporter who is willing to put herself in danger to get a story. However I felt that throughout most of the movie she played damsel in distress, but in the first movie, she was strong and could hold her own when things got tough. Lastly, the superhero cameos were missed opportunities. Usually in other comic book movies cameos are a great treat for fans and movie audiences to get excited about future movies, but in BvS they felt lazy and unsatisfying.

Overall “Batman V. Superman Dawn of Justice” is okay. There is a ton of fun to be had in this movie with its amazing action sequences and visual style. But the flaws can be distracting at times. I would say that this movie is for comic fans who are invested in the DC universe but for the average, day-to-day person, who doesn’t have a background in comics, you could easily get lost with all the information.

Overall: C+