‘Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice’ Review Roundup: Critics Underwhelmed With Ben Affleck As Batman

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which Ben Affleck makes his debut as Batman and Bruce Wayne, is not receiving a lot of praise from film’s top critics.

Batman v Superman, with Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill back as Superman and Clark Kent, opens with the complete destruction of Metropolis – where Man of Steel left off. Bruce Wayne, who is down on the ground while Superman is “saving” the city and leaving a ton of casualties, begins to view Superman as more of an alien menace than a supernatural savior. Eventually, sinister villain Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) brings the two together for a showdown for the ages in which Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) eventually gets involved.

Batman v Superman Reviews

Few critics found much to like about Batman v Superman – and those who enjoyed the movie liked different aspects of what it has to offer. Some reviewers thought Affleck’s performance was lacking, while others found it a bright spot in the film – the same with Eisenberg’s debut as Luther. While director Zack Snyder’s dark take on the superhero world was appreciated by a good sum of critics, others have tired of the grim self-seriousness of Snyder’s handling of the genre.

Check out a roundup of reviews below:

“So “Batman v Superman” is kind of dopey and plays out some laborious plot twists in the DC narrative at unnecessary length, but as I’ve already said it largely kept me entertained for two and a half hours, which is not nothing. Snyder’s intense, obsessive artificiality yields numerous striking images, and the supporting cast around the leaden central duo of Affleck and Cavill (and the dancing electricity of Eisenberg) is excellent, especially Irons, Hunter, Laurence Fishburne as the cantankerous editor of the Daily Planet and Scoot McNairy as a disabled and disgruntled Bruce Wayne employee.” – Andrew O’Hehir, Salon

“All that gloom. All that slow motion. All that talk. This kind of subtext-made-text is the superhero comic’s bread and butter, of course. But a filmmaker must make this stuff work onscreen by expressing those ideas through images and words that will linger in our minds. And for all of Batman v. Superman’s chatter, not once does it give us a line half as evocative and memorable as The Dark Knight’s “Some men just want to watch the world burn.” The movie’s not bad, but it doubles down on its least interesting and potent elements at the expense of those that actually work. In the end, the film is as forgettable as the dime-store philosophy that fuels it.” – Bilge Ebiri, Village Voice

“They should have called it Batmeh v Supermeh. Running 153 minutes, with a swollen budget of $250 million, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” is pure overpriced, overproduced, overlong pulp. It is an interesting idea of a film created by people who have no earthly idea how to do it, a quasi-epic without a thimbleful of wit, style or rooting interest in either of its leads. The respected Christopher Nolan is one of the producers, but this film is to his “Dark Knight” trilogy what a black velvet Elvis is to the Mona Lisa. This dour, dead-on-arrival film throws the feel-good glory days of American comic books on a funeral pyre.” – Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” begins and ends with a funeral, which is fitting for a movie that plays like one long dirge. Dreary, overproduced and underbaked, this nominal showdown between two of comic-dom’s most mythic superheroes serves as a grim reminder of just how bad “Man of Steel” really was…. Director Zack Snyder returns to those questionable core values in a film that replaces genuine intrigue and suspense with a series of confounding red herrings, tossing out solemn observations about men, gods, martyrs and saviors while invoking such hot-button issues as terrorism, drones and immigration.” – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, rated PG-13, is currently in theaters.