If you want to get a decent handle on how a particular person feels about one of the most hotly-debated, talked-about, and polarizing blockbusters of the 21st Century, all you need to do is whisper “Martha” in their ear and wait for a reaction. Seven years on, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice remains capable of causing incendiary debate at the drop of a hat.
There are plenty of vocal supporters – including director Zack Snyder – who’ll defend it to the death for being an ambitious deconstruction of the superhero mythos, while there are just as many ready and willing to blast it for being overlong, overstuffed, not as profound as it thinks it is, and an altogether disappointing meeting of two genuine pop culture titans.
The movie’s legacy is as divisive now as it ever was, especially with the SnyderVerse chatter still rumbling on in the background. It made $873 million at the box office but was still deemed an under-performer, while a Rotten Tomatoes score of 29 percent makes it the DCU’s second worst-reviewed installment ever, while the Ultimate Edition is vastly superior but still too long to be considered for a theatrical release first time around.
Warner Bros. actively despised the film if writer Chris Terrio is to be believed, with the scribe claiming that the higher-ups intentionally sabotaged the end product through several nefarious channels. It’s longevity that counts, though, and seeing as Dawn of Justice is currently riding high as one of the most-watched features on the iTunes global charts per FlixPatrol, folks are still willing to give it a shot regardless of which side of the battle line they fall on.