Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Warner Bros. | Release Date: March 25, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
44
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 51 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
31
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonMar 24, 2016
As potential blockbusters go, Batman v Superman is neither as stupid nor as stupendous as it might have been. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMar 23, 2016
Batman v Superman lacks the levity (forced or otherwise) of a typical Marvel Universe entry. But Snyder's superpowered epic does have a sense of import and grandeur about it. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 22, 2016
When it sings, “Dawn of Justice” is a wonder. When it drags, it still looks good and offers hints of a better scene just around the corner. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 22, 2016
Better than Man of Steel but below the high bar set by Nolan's Dark Knight, Dawn of Justice is still a colossus, the stuff that DC Comics dreams are made of for that kid in all of us who yearns to see Batman and Superman suit up and go in for the kill. Read full review
75
USA TodayBrian TruittMar 22, 2016
BvS will please those either waiting for the two main players to lock horns on a movie screen, or those who've just been pining for Wonder Woman forever. And for the nerdier crowds, a fleeting glimpse at other superheroes hints this is the Dawn of something potentially sensational. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMar 23, 2016
The director, a strong technician whose slam-bang emphatic, occasionally operatic style seems made for comic book adaptations, has been well-served by an adept script co-written by Chris Terrio (an Oscar winner for Ben Affleck's "Argo") and David S. Goyer, which raises a number of interesting issues. Read full review
70
VarietyAndrew BarkerMar 22, 2016
Snyder has set a Sisyphean task for himself. That this very long, very brooding, often exhilarating and sometimes scattered epic succeeds as often it does therefore has to be seen as an achievement. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 23, 2016
Once Batman v Superman hits its stride, most viewers will feel equal parts pummeled and immersed. Snyder is a master of the dark spectacle and he pours it on starting around the movie’s midpoint.... Still, although viewers may be riveted at times, the net experience isn’t much fun. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 23, 2016
This is a comic book epic with a lot of fat and flab around the edges. But the fights are shorter and more involving than the “Transformers” cluttered clashes of “Man of Steel.” Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzMar 22, 2016
There are a few brilliantly realized moments, the acting is mostly strong despite the weak script (Affleck and Cavill are both superb—Affleck unexpectedly so), and there's enough mythic raw material sunk deep in every scene that you can piece together a classic in your mind if you're feeling charitable; but if you aren't, “Batman v. Superman” will seem like a missed opportunity. Read full review
60
SalonAndrew O'HehirMar 23, 2016
This movie isn’t nearly as terrible as I was expecting, largely due to Snyder’s OCD-level attention to the visual details. And, yes, due to Wonder Woman (played by Israeli actress Gal Gadot), who brings in a badly needed dose of “Dragon Tattoo”-style female energy. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMar 23, 2016
This is a movie that, to its detriment, takes itself very, very seriously for most of its running time. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 23, 2016
Yes, questions regarding violence and mayhem are drowned out by violence and mayhem. Such is the superhero life as directed by Zack Snyder. There is no problem that can't be solved with a cranium-rattling explosion or two. Read full review
60
Total FilmMatt MaytumMar 22, 2016
While Batman v Superman has no trouble quickening the pulse, it’s less effective when it comes to making you care. Read full review
60
The GuardianAndrew PulverMar 22, 2016
It’s tough to take all the hardcore emoting seriously, particularly as the emotional heavy lifting is designed to be done by the occasional maudlin line in brief pauses between the explosions. For a film so concerned with its characters’ inner lives, there’s a fundamental disconnect going on here – enough to make you yearn for the lighter touch of the Marvel films. Read full review
60
EmpireNick de SemlyenMar 22, 2016
There are moments that make the whole enterprise worthwhile, and introduces an intriguing new Batman. But it’s also cluttered and narratively wonky; a few jokes wouldn’t have gone amiss, either. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyMar 22, 2016
I get that this mano a supermano story line is a sacred text among comic-book aficionados, but Dawn of Justice doesn’t do the tale any favors. It’s overstuffed, confusing, and seriously crippled by Eisenberg’s over-the-top performance. Read full review
55
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeMar 22, 2016
That face-off between two comics legends becomes but one in a series of big things bashing into other big things, which is what Snyder and writers Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer mistake for storytelling. The trio do manage to cough up an acceptable number of ooh-that’s-cool moments, and fans who will be satisfied with those will be satisfied with those, but any other ideas and characters the movie might offer get lost in the rubble. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 23, 2016
It plants a flag for a new corporate entertainment franchise and it will make international containerships of money, so does it matter that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is joyless and incoherent? Probably not. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovMar 23, 2016
Of course, the film is critic-proof, but as a longtime comic book (and film) nerd, I can say with some surety that Snyder has crammed too much of a great thing into his film, resulting in a super-slog that has just too much of everything. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChristopher GrayMar 23, 2016
A sequel that functions as origin story, apologia, and harbinger of a second expanded universe of overpopulated action bonanzas. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanMar 23, 2016
I recommend “Batman v. Superman” to anyone who thought director Zack Snyder showed too much restraint in “300,” who felt “Man of Steel” whisked by too briefly or who wondered how Ben Affleck could be made to seem one of America’s most animated actors while clenching his jaw as tight as a Christmas nutcracker. Read full review
50
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMar 22, 2016
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice was supposed to settle a fanboy debate older than Adam West. Instead it raises another: Is being a superhero really this much of a drag? Read full review
50
Village VoiceBilge EbiriMar 22, 2016
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. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickMar 22, 2016
While “300" maestro Snyder puts together some very striking scenes — which may be enough for many fanboys — they never really cohere into a whole. He literally throws in the kitchen sink in a film that frantically introduces characters and concepts while never clearly establishing the rules of the DC Comics universe. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMar 22, 2016
This huge, unwieldy movie is busy and overcrowded. Read full review
42
HitfixDrew McWeenyMar 23, 2016
I’m not sure how a filmmaker whose work normally speaks to me as clearly as Snyder’s does could deliver something that feels this confused, this impersonal, and this corporate. It is a confounding mess of a movie, and while there are individual sequences that I enjoyed as isolated moments, it is almost breathtakingly incoherent storytelling. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Mar 23, 2016
Batman V Superman takes a title fight kids of all ages have been speculating about for decades—costumed titan from the cosmos, meet costumed vigilante from the city—and invests it with all the fun of a protracted custody battle. Read full review
42
ConsequenceMichael RoffmanMar 22, 2016
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice isn’t a film. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour movie trailer. Better yet, it’s one of those videos that pop up on screens before a ride at Universal Studios, where all the actors speak to you and keep hinting at bigger things to come — you know, like a ride? Basically, it’s everything the SEO-friendly title promises — and more. Read full review
42
The PlaylistRuss FischerMar 22, 2016
Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice is an extraordinarily odd, idiosyncratic movie that presents aggressive, even warlike concepts of Batman and Superman without entirely justifying the eccentric visions. Read full review
42
IndieWireEric KohnMar 22, 2016
Rather than focusing on a cataclysmic showdown between pop culture's most famous men in tights, Zack Snyder's flashy, cacophonous follow-up to 2013's "Man of Steel" is basically one long teaser for the next installment. Read full review
40
The New YorkerAnthony LaneMar 28, 2016
The winner, on points, is Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), who crashes the party and leaves them both dumbfounded, not least because she has the wit, and the wherewithal, to confront evil while wearing a conical bustier. Read full review
40
CineVueBen NicholsonMar 24, 2016
Everything looks incredible, but the players are all just ciphers for ideas that Snyder lacks the wherewithal to execute. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMar 23, 2016
There’s enough going on to keep you watching — and, as I said, to keep fanboys wowed by the scale of the production and pretension. But most people will leave feeling drained and depressed, wondering how a studio can get away with withholding so much. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Mar 22, 2016
It's all angst and no adventure, a lot of fury and little fun. Read full review
40
TimeStephanie ZacharekMar 22, 2016
Batman v Superman lunges for greatness instead of building toward it: It’s so topheavy with false portent that it buckles under its own weight. Read full review
40
ScreenCrushMatt SingerMar 22, 2016
In Snyder’s formulation, protecting the world from evil isn’t a gift or a calling; it’s a burden. And that feeling is reflected in the movie itself, a burdensome 150-minute slog about two men fighting over who is in the right when both are very clearly in the wrong. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMar 22, 2016
No major blockbuster in years has been this incoherently structured, this seemingly uninterested in telling a story with clarity and purpose. Read full review
40
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganMar 22, 2016
Gorging on bombast and self-importance, swamped by its own mythology, Batman v Superman is loud, sprawling, and distracted. The action jumps around almost as fast as a man can fly, but nowhere near as smoothly. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyMar 22, 2016
The villain here, Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor, is so intensely annoying that, very early on, you wish Batman and Superman would just patch up their differences and join forces to put the squirrely rascal out of his, and our, misery. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfMar 22, 2016
If there’s any justice, dawning or otherwise, at the multiplex, audiences will reject Zack Snyder’s lumbering, dead-on-arrival superhero mélange, a $250 million tombstone for a genre in dire need of a break. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzMar 24, 2016
The film might be pretty to look at, but narratively speaking, it is a disaster. Read full review
38
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenMar 23, 2016
Many decisions...make “Batman v Superman” a joyless slog. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 22, 2016
Snyder is not without skills, or ideas, but when a critic finds himself at odds with almost every aspect of a director’s visual approach to material like this, material like this becomes pretty joyless. Read full review
37
Washington PostAnn HornadayMar 23, 2016
Strip away the trite character beats, rote plot points, random dream sequences and other narrative padding, and “Batman v Superman” comes down to the actors, their characters and whether they can sustain interest over the long haul. The answer is yes, if they wind up in the hands of filmmakers blessed with authentic imagination rather than serviceable technical chops. Read full review
36
The VergeTasha RobinsonMar 23, 2016
Batman v Superman addresses Man Of Steel's problems in words without learning anything from it in tone. Instead, the new film doubles down on the grimness, the ugliness, and the indifference to human life. Read full review
30
The New York TimesA.O. ScottMar 23, 2016
It is about as diverting as having a porcelain sink broken over your head. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 23, 2016
“Batman v Superman” is an insanely long and convoluted action movie, made worse by an air of importance. It’s dispiriting and visually bland. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 23, 2016
Spasms of highfalutin philosophy, and howlingly pretentious dream sequences, serve only as the thinnest of veneers for incessant action in one of the most assaultive movies ever made. Read full review
16
The Film StageBrian RoanMar 23, 2016
It is a movie ostensibly about consequences that never lingers long enough on its own story to consider that the things happening in the narrative present ought to have consequences as well. Very little matters; very little makes sense. Read full review
10
SlateJonathan L. FischerMar 23, 2016
To put it delicately, this comics fan hated Batman v Superman with the fury of a thousand red-dwarf suns. Blunt, humorless, and baffling, it collides the brutish directorial stamp of its director (he of 300 and Watchmen fame) with the most shameless instincts of our latter-day superhero franchise bubble. Read full review
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