5. It's Trying To Set Up Way Too Much "Cinematic Universe"
Remember the curious case of Iron Man 2? Instead of ensuring that the movie had its own proper storyline in place, Marvel Studios jumped the gun and pretty much rendered "Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Movie" disguised as an Iron Man sequel. The film tried way too hard to create a sense of it being part of a huge cinematic universe that it lost its own identity; it felt like a big mess. Well, from what fans have glimpsed this far, Batman v Superman certainly has a whiff of the Iron Man 2 about it. Whilst Marvel have since learned their lesson with regards to the mistakes that they made on that sequel, Warner Bros. don't appear to have heeded the warning and are doing everything they can to reprise its flaws and oversights. Which is another way of saying... just look at how many individual elements Batman v Superman is potentially going to try and set up in a single film! Batman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, Cyborg, Aquaman and (if the rumours are true) perhaps even The Flash and Doomsday. That's not even taking into account secondary characters like Alfred Pennyworth and Mercy Graves, who are both new to the DC Cinematic Universe. It makes you want to fall at Warner Bros. knees and beg them to slow down. And yet it's already too late for that: in its attempts to establish too much mythology, the film will fail.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
