I’ve always preferred the darker tone of DC films over the more light-hearted style of Marvel, so with James Gunn directing this, the shift in tone is not surprising. In this film, Lex Luthor calls Superman stupid, and to be honest, he kind of has a point. It takes Superman far too long to realise that Lex is the one feeding instructions to his enemies, including his own clone. Despite Superman’s reputation for intelligence and super-hearing, neither of those traits are shown here. He comes across as slow to react and is repeatedly saved by others, or even by his dog. That's not very 'super of him. At times he feels more like Shazam than Superman. And then there is Lex, a supposed criminal mastermind, who lets his girlfriend take selfies anywhere and have access to information that will destroy him. Several plot points feel lazy or overly convenient. For example, it is a major coincidence that Rex Mason/Metamorpho, has his baby in the cube directly across from Superman. Even more conveniently, he is the character placed in a cell with him. These choices feel like shortcuts in the writing rather than thoughtful developments. The story is also highly predictable, which makes those moments even less effective. We see almost nothing of Clark Kent too. Something else other Superman films have balanced a lot better. Lex crying after being caught felt completely out of character. For someone as cold and calculating as Luthor, that kind of emotional breakdown did not make sense. Then there is Lois, who is somehow able to fly an aircraft simply because the controls are described as "intuitive". It comes across as a lazy explanation to move the plot forward. The overall story is one we have seen many times before. Superman once again shifts from hero to villain. His foster parents appear briefly just to deliver a short emotional speech. The relationship with Lois follows the same familiar beats. He ends up fighting himself, just like in Superman III. The Fortress of Solitude is ransacked again. Since the Christopher Reeve era, it feels like Superman has not evolved. It is as if the writers and studios believe each new film exists in a vacuum, forgetting what came before. It's a shame Man of Steel wasn't able to have been built upon. - Although if I know Hollywood, they probably would've just had Lex as the enemy there too. The one major new element here is that his real parents are revealed to be evil, which I'm still not sure about. In the end, it just feels like another superhero movie taken from the assembly line. I generally prefer superhero films with one hero, not an ensemble, and prefer the darker themes of Man of Steel and other DC entries that aim to be more grounded than ones filled with pocket universes and 300-metre tall frogs. Moments of tension are so often undercut by a joke (usually from Superman), that it breaks the immersion. It only reinforces my view that darker, more serious superhero films are more effective. They just feel more grounded." In all of the other Superman movies, I can recall more memorable action scenes. In this however, there is nothing coming to mind that was that eye-catching. He stops things falling on humans or animals multiple times but that's about it... Despite the many negatives, I was pleasantly surprised by David as Superman. I also thought the casting choices overall worked well. The film is entertaining enough for a decent rating and it's visually strong, even if the story leaves a lot to be desired. It has a lot more plot problems than the hated on Dawn of Justice, and while people love to call that over-complicated, it doesn't talk down to the audience like this one. The more I've typed here, and thought about the movie post viewing, the more I feel like I should go lower than my gut feel of 3/5, but I'll leave it for now.