10) Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
Perhaps the most divisive film of the year, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice has split critics and audiences alike right down the middle. While it does have its fans, and those fans will defend it vehemently (arguing that it’s becoming a cult classic), the general consensus is definitely one of disappointment. Zack Snyder’s colossal superhero showdown was a failure on almost every level, fumbling hard what could have been one of the best superhero movies of all-time.
Where to even begin with this one? The lack of fun? The dark, grim tone? The under-cooked villains? The nonsensical plot? It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong here because quite frankly, very little of the film works. Ben Affleck’s performance as the Caped Crusader is solid and effective, but that aside, there’s not a whole lot here that’s worth your time. Batman V Superman, while an undeniably monumental risk in the arena of superhero filmmaking, is also a catastrophically failed gamble, a mess of devastating proportions.
Our very own Isaac Feldberg said it best in his review:
The biggest problem with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice: its bombast is devoid of meaning, its plot is monstrously incoherent, and, given that, in terms of it functioning as actual cinema, the film is entertaining for perhaps 10 minutes out of its 153. This is, in the end, a superhero movie muffled so completely that it feels lifeless. The plot is atrocious because Snyder isn’t focused on it nearly as much as he is establishing a narrow, confining tone for WB and DC’s now jeopardized world. And that miscalculation should – if there’s any real justice in this sorry situation – prove as ruinous to the future of the studio’s superhero slate as it does to this bloated, banal, and block-headed whiff.
