10 EXACT Moments Movies Self-Destructed

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice certainly had its fair share of problems leading up to that epic, mid-film fight between Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill), but it was surely worth sitting through all the convoluted writing and tedious subplots for the titular epic showdown, right?

Though the fight's pretty fun for a few minutes, it's over before anyone watching is ready for it to be, and more to the point, it slams into a brick wall in the most jaw-droppingly dumb, anti-climactic manner possible.

Just as Batman grabs a Kryptonite spear and is ready to finish Superman off, Superman shouts "Save Martha!," referring to his mother.

Given that Bruce Wayne's mother is also named Martha, this initially confuses him and, once Lois Lane (Amy Adams) explains the situation, forces Bruce to realise that Superman isn't quite the anonymous alien interloper he'd dismissed him as. Like him, he had a mother, get it?

The psychology of this idea isn't all bad, but the execution? Dreadful.

First and foremost, why would Superman just refer to his mother by her first name rather than "my mom" - it's a clumsy contrivance because writers Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer evidently couldn't think of another way to end the fight without one of them dying.

The scene was met with immediate ridicule from fans en masse, and so many years later remains a crushing example of how one godawful moment can turn one of the coolest ideas in blockbuster cinema into a risible trainwreck.