Scoring
We polled our entire team and ranked every DCEU film across six categories. We weighted each category based on their overall value to the success of the movie.
Plot - 25%
Character Development - 20%
Villain - 20%
Action - 12.5%
Intangibles - 12.5%
Supporting Cast - 10%
Overview
Film: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Release Date: March 25, 2016
Reception
IMDB: 6.5/10
Rotten Tomato - TOMATOMETER: 27%
Rotten Tomato - Audience: 63%
Box Office
Opening Weekend: $166,007,347
Gross US: $330,360,194
Gross Worldwide: $873,634,919
Trailer:
Plot
Synopsis: Fearing that the actions of Superman are left unchecked, Batman takes on the Man of Steel, while the world wrestles with what kind of a hero it really needs.
Analysis: The premise starts off strong as this Batman and Superman clearly have differing ideals. On the one hand, Clark is like a puppy: inexperienced, finding his place in the world, trying to be a symbol of hope for humanity, still pees on the carpet every once in a while, and chooses to see the good in people. On the other hand, Bruce is like a grumpy cat: older, has been through plenty of hardships, scratches you as you walk by just to be a dick, and has a more cynical view of the world. Two powerful beings with clashing brands of justice were sure to collide.
Then just when you think everything is progressing fine, they throw in one of the greatest twists in cinema history...Superman's mom and Batman's mom have the same...exact...first...name. What are the odds?! This plot device was the perfect way to abruptly end all of the philosophical differences these characters had established over the first half of the movie.
On top of that, the plot is unnecessarily convoluted because they got a bit ambitious, with this being only their second movie, in teasing future characters, movies, and storylines, some of which we will never even see. I wonder how many chickens Warner Bros. counted before they realized none of them hatched.
Grade: 5.0/10
Character Development
Analysis: The characters suffer a fate similar to the plot. They thought about developing these characters, but any prospect of that went out the window after the fight between the Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel. It is a Zack Snyder movie, so what do you expect?
Grade: 4.2/10
Villain
Name: Lex Luthor
Bio: CEO of LexCorp. Amateur basketball player. Jolly Rancher aficionado.
Evil Plan:
Plan A: Make Superman appear dangerous and evil by creating destruction wherever he goes, forcing the government and the public to turn on him.
Plan B: Set up a Celebrity Death Match between Batman and Superman and hope that Batman kills Superman with the Kryptonite that he took from LexCorp.
Plan C: Recreate an ancient Kryptonian monster by combining his blood with General Zod's corpse in the genesis chamber of his old ship. Hope that said monster will obey him and kill Superman.
Analysis: Technically, Lex won since Superman was killed in the end. It pays to have back up plans to your back up plans. However, Jesse Eisenberg's awkward Zuckerberg-esque performance ruined the character and the movie in a lot of ways.
Grade: 3.7/10
Supporting Cast
Clark Kent - Claims Plaintiff's Cat Wanted to be Rescued Out of Tree
Hello Darkness My Old Friend
Lois. Lois. Lois. Lois. Lois. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Mama. Mama. Mama.
Say My Name - Destiny's Child
Dobby
It's Sterile and I Like the Taste
Guys and Gal
Perry the Platypus
Mr. Boombastic
Weekend at Zod's
Zombie Kid Likes Turtles
Analysis: Ben Affleck silenced the haters with his Batman. Unfortunately, the movie still sucked, it just wasn't because of him. I also wanted to give a shout-out to Jeremy Irons' Alfred who had a great dynamic with Batfleck. It's a shame when great castings and performances are wasted in garbage films. At least this got us excited for Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman solo movie.
Grade: 7.1/10
Action
Analysis: Did you think we were going to pick the Batman/Superman fight? We might have if they didn't show the best parts of it in the trailers and if the whole thing wasn't ruined by the Martha fiasco. The Batman warehouse scene, on the other hand, was shockingly brutal and raw. Although fans are divided on the decision to have Batman kill, our staff is divided as well, we can all agree that this fight was epic. Batfleck really got to show off his size and physicality and the scene was shot beautifully. Batman also took plenty of bullets and wounds, making it feel much more real and making it easy for the audience to rally behind the character as he pushed through it all.
Grade: 8.4/10
Intangibles
Analysis: Seeing The Trinity come together on the big screen was a big nerd moment and it would have been exciting to see the clips of the other future Justice League members if this movie didn't kill a lot of the hype and hope for the franchise.
Grade: 4.3/10
Best Moments
No One Makes Me Bleed My Own Blood
New Outfit, Who Dis?
Final Score
Analysis: The bottom line is the trailers looked amazing, but the movie couldn't deliver. After Man of Steel was a solid origin to build off of, DC decided they had to catch up to the MCU in one fell swoop and they crashed and burned as a result. Although DC has made a few good solo movies since, the overarching story and connected universe weren't able to recover from this misstep.
Grade: 5.1/10
Image Credits: Warner Brothers
