Warning: Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice Spoilers!!! 
What a film! Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice set out to accomplish 3 main things. Whatever is said about this film, it was well acted, beautifully rendered, and a huge comic book adaptation. Consider quickly, what it was supposed to do…
This movie’s primary purpose was to set up the DC Cinematic Universe- As a true fan, Zach Snyder intended to answer the age-old question of who would win in a fight, Superman or Batman.
- Obviously, this film needs to make money.
1. What is Coming?
We saw them… Arthur Curry (Aquaman), Barry Allen (The Flash), and Vic Stone (Cyborg) had brief cameos in this film. The movie is preparing the world for the Justice League. With Wonder Woman as a primary player, Batman and Superman fighting, and Flash coming back in time, we are ready for a broad universe. All of these elements combined with the real world understanding that Lex Luther already knows who all of these people are is excellent movie making, but the most important aspect of the universe building was the introduction of the main villain.
DC seems to be building towards a world in which Darkseid of Apocalypse comes to Earth to conquer it. Darkseid is THE villain of DC Comics. The literal god of Chaos from the “Jack Kirby Era” of comic books is not only more powerful than most heroes and villains, he is basically unstoppable.
This film set Bruce as having dreams of the future as induced by the time travelling antics of the Flash. In these visions, Batman is seen standing over a desecrated planet swarming with Darkseid’s minions (para demons). In the first shot of this world, the OMEGA Symbol is carved into Metropolis Harbor (see image). This is Darkseid’s calling card.
Moreover, it seems that if Bruce had not prevented this future by saving Martha Kent, 
Earth would be host to fuel centers called “Fire-pits” for Darkseid’s reign. Upon first viewing, this future seems to be undone by Bruce’s saving of Martha, but it should be noted that Flash’s warning was aimed at ensuring the uniting of the Justice League, not the saving of Martha. The act of intervening for Klark’s mother may or may not have been the incident Superman references in the vision of the future (the woman in question may have been Lois.
All this to say that we know now of the villains, the heroes, and the danger the future holds for this universe. This alone makes most viewers sure of their need to see this film which introduces so many things to the DC Cinematic Universe.
2. Who Would Win… Batman vs. Superman: The Greatest Battles (Collected)
The main question begged by this move, though, was not sales, or even preparation for a series of films, but the first 
on-screen representation of this timeless battle. We highly recommend you take a look at the “Superman Vs. Batman: The Greatest Battles” paperback trade. The issues contained in that volume are summarized below.
The film displayed a defeat of an emotionally compromised Superman by a motivated Batman. This is usually how fans of Batman set up the playing field of the battle, but Zach Snyder did not hold any preparation punches. Like a detective movie, we saw all the elements Batman needed to win. We saw the actual prep Batman took to defeat Superman.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #4
Winner: Batman
Year: 1986
Reason for Battle: Superman agent of the State
Winner: Batman
Year: 2003
Reason for Battle: Poison Ivy takes control of Superman
(Movie note, Lex Luther also uses Lois Lane Falling to get to Superman)
Winner: No One
Year: 2014
Reason for Battle: Hallucination
Winner: No One
Year: 2011
Reason for Battle: Fictional scenario by two children
(Movie note: imagery for kryptonite spear found in an early panel of this story)
Winner: No One
Year: 2011
Reason for Battle: Invasion of Para-Demons causes tensions between these two characters who have never met.
(Movie Note: These stories are creating a lot of the lore behind the Justice League Movie)
3. Why the Negative Reviews?
Before I address the first two aspects, let’s take a look at the critical review of this film, and how the revenue relates to these reviews. The internet is a buzz with Batman Vs Superman reviews. Ben Affleck had a visible moment of disappointment upon hearing about these negative reviews (one of the internet’s newest meme’s). Why then, are so many just as satisfied with the film? Where is the main source of the negative reviews?
The source of much of the negative flack is Rotten Tomatoes. Here, the movie review website gave this film only 30%. The source of the negative flack is two-fold. Primarily, multifaceted stories get bad reviews (See The Amazing Spiderman II). But this movie is too big to fail.
Imagine the amount of people that will see this film simply because it is a fight between Batman and Superman and features Wonder Woman. As a comic book fan, I highly recomend you watch this movie as 12 comic book issues back to back.
What is to Come?
We look forward to watching these films with all of you! This world will be a lot of fun!
Rotten Tomatoes is an aggregator site. Meaning that no matter who owns it, it can only reflect what critics have written on other sites. The audience score is another matter, but easy to explain, considering that it started by more than 90% and then started to slide down. That it didn’t fall faster, well, I guess there is an explanation: Phantom menacing. It’s an holiday over here, so I had time to watch and a read a lot of reviews and my conclusion is that:
1. A lot of reviewers are hesitant to give this a truly low score, because they don’t want the wrath of the fandom on them, so the go for the middle ground.
2. Many people were so hyped for the movie that they cling on everything good in it, working hard to overlook the obvious flaws. There is a lot of phantom menacing going on.
I guess it will take some time until the hype and anti-hype died down, but there is no need to look for conspiracy theories. This is a fanbase not being able to come to terms with the fact that the movie they wanted so badly to be good being a hot mess.
@Swanpride Thanks for the great response. I have yet to see it and I was never really hyped to see the film to begin with. By the time I get to see it it will be when it is released for home viewing, but this is what happens when you have young kids. Hopefully everything will have died down and I can enjoy the movie for what it is.
I totally get you…I will certainly watch the movie one day, but when I go to the theatre on Monday (the first opportunity I had to do this since the Christmas holidays), I will pick Zootopia instead. And when I finally get around to watching B v Superman myself it will either be at home or with a couple of friends on a beamer. This way I will at least not have the feeling that I have wasted my money, and if it is good after all, well, Warner Bros certainly doesn’t need my ticket to vote for doing more of those. I don’t get that impression that this movie it Ant-man, which was worth watching on the big screen for the impressive effects alone.
I am with you on Zootopia. When it comes to Disney vs. Warner it is a no brainer. The problem with BVS is Snyder is such a hit and miss. I hope Warner Bros. does not screw up Suicide Squad. This one is looking good, but Leto has me worried.
I worry about this when the movie hits…for now, I look forward to Civil War. This one at least should be good, though I am not interested in the X-men movies (I have lost track of the continuity ages ago) and am very worried about Doctor Strange, because of the writers they picked.
I too look forward to Cap. If it is anything like Winter Soldier we are in for a treat. X-Men looks weak, but the hold out for me is Rogue One.
I am struggling to manage my expectations concerning the Winter Soldier. With the X-men franchise, I let the fans have their fun with it. One day they will do a variant I like, I am sure.
Thank you guys for the great discussion, when you see the film, you will realize the issues are 90% pacing. The acting, the dialog, the concepts, and the honor done to Frank Miller make this movie incredibly comic book in style. It may not hold up to critical acclaim, but I would never say it is a waste of money. There are a lot of “fresh” reviews on rotten tomatoes and I hope the negatives are, as I have read so far, based on the interruptive visions of the future
Well, some say that it is “entertainingly bad”. Which, I guess, I would consider a recommendation if I had only “bad” or “mediocre” movies to watch as an alternative.
I think the most common complains are the choppy editing, that the movie apparently smashes two different comic books together in a nonsensical storyline and that Lex Luther is annoying. The only positive thing everyone is agreeing on is Ben Affleck as Batman, though not necessarily on the way this Batman was portrayed.