Nate Richard’s review published on Letterboxd:
I've never felt more conflicted on a movie in such a long time. Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice did have some AWESOME moments, but at times it also had some moments were I found it hard to hold back my laughter. I adored Man of Steel, so for me at certain moments in this movie it felt like a punch in the gut. Then after those certain moments the movie would help me get back up, pat me on the back, and then give me some ice cream. There's so much to love in this film, but there's also so much not to love. My score could change at any moment. It could go up or it could go down.
Ben Affleck is the quintessential Batman. He completely kicks ass in this film and gives us a different kind of Batman that's more brutal than we're use to seeing. Affleck is also quite the solid Bruce Wayne as well. Gal Gadot is such a badass Wonder Woman and almost steals the entire film. We don't get much, but what we do see, makes me extremely excited for future roles for her. Henry Cavill is even better here than he was in Man of Steel and shows much more charisma.
Jesse Eisenberg on the other hand, is quite the mixed bag. At times Eisenberg nails it, but more often he just feels flat out silly. There's certain moments in the movie where he didn't feel as menacing as I would've hoped. Scoot Macnairy is probably one of my biggest gripes with this film, maybe it was the script, but his character completely just fell flat for me and at times laughable.
The screenplay is another incredibly weak aspect. The saddest part is that I had incredibly high hopes for it since it was written by an Academy Award winner. The dialogue felt cringe-worthy and there's several subplots that just feel unneeded. Overall it just feels very uneven.
Zack Snyder's direction is hit and miss. There's an over-abundance of CGI and slow motion sequences. I did appreciate how the action was handled and for the most part it was fun. I also had a blast seeing all the Easter Eggs.
The actual Batman v. Superman aspect of the film was AWESOME. The actual fight sequence, while short, was just as entertaining as I had dreamed it would be. I also liked the buildup towards the rest of the DCEU. It honestly got me even more pumped for the other movies more than I was before.
Overall I just feel very conflicted on this movie. I wish I could've loved it as much as my friends and everybody in the theater. I'm glad the audiences are loving because despite me not being crazy about it, I really hope it succeeds. I can't wait to see the rest of the DCEU, just hopefully this is what Iron Man 2 was to Marvel.