It has been since like...the first five or so pages that I actually made a comment on this thread and on this movie. I stated back then the movie would almost definitely be polarizing, I didn't expect to care for it due to my hang-ups with Man of Steel, and generally figured that if you end up liking it that's cool but I anticipate not enjoying it.
Second trailer rolls around and that sentiment...has not really changed at all.
There are things I like in the trailer. I actually kinda like Affleck's Bruce Wayne, and I like this Lex's personality. I'm unsure on the former's Batman and sorta wished the latter was a different character (since he's pretty stuck in the "evil business guy" spot as a result) but I enjoyed what I saw of them.
There was more I wasn't fond of, though. I agree that it feels as though the movie's bloating itself here. It reminds me of Amazing Spiderman 2's bloating of villains, so the pacing might not be the smoothest, and the introduction of other opponents in the trailer sorta undermines the selling point of the movie, that being the titular battle. I'd be more okay with the Doomsday fight if they didn't just straight up advertise it, really; that's more the advertising campaign's fault than the film's but it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Same with Wonder Woman (and the implication that she shows up out of nowhere doesn't really help much).
I'm also not fond of the framing of the fight. I don't know much about The Dark Knight Returns which this apparently takes inspiration from but from what I do know (mostly it being explained, seeing panels, and seeing chunks of the animated adaptation), that was a fight built up over maybe a decade of tension and planning, while this seems to take place not long after Man of Steel. There's a lot of character between it and that's part of what makes the battle so memorable. It's not just proof that Batman can beat Superman, it's a dramatic fight between two old supposed allies who've grown apart and have finally reached the point where it shatters. It was also following the perspective of the underdog of the battle (and yes, Batman in this context was by far the underdog and had to rely on a lot of strategy to overcome Superman and what he stands for), thus adding another layer of tension. It's a battle framed brilliantly and with tons of tension. And take that from somebody who never expected to ever compliment Frank Miller.
The fight here...well, assuming Doomsday comes after that, we've basically been spoiled on the results. It's basically going to amount to nothing aside from an introduction. It's two strangers meeting, one being angry at the other, and then they fight and eventually team up. I guess with the Justice League movie being planned there's not much else that COULD happen, but it'd be nice to at least not show the resolution in the trailer. I do think that they MIGHT plan for Batman to beat Superman and leave him in a blue screen of death where he ponders his own mortality and the weight of his actions, which would be at least somewhat neat, though not without its own problems; Batman had literally a decade to plan his victory in the comic from what I know, after all. But it'd be something. But regardless, spoiling the results definitely removes a layer of tension from things. Also, given that I'm actually not fond of Man of Steel's fight scenes (the choreography is fine and dynamic, but I HATE the camera direction, it moves too much and lacks clarity, it just became white noise of zooms, shakes, and shrapnel for me), I can't say I have the highest hopes going in for the battle itself. Taking inspiration from DKR I'm fine with, but it should be noted that there's a lot more to that fight than the battle itself, and that's where you REALLY want to draw the inspiration from. A fight is a fight, but proper tension can make a fight MORE than just that. Whether or not this is more than a fight has yet to be seen, but it's setting itself up as...well, just a fight.
And then I have nitpicks like that I'm not fond of this Clark Kent (compare to Christopher Reeves who actually looked and acted like a natural guy as Kent; here he just...sorta feels like Superman in glasses, which yeah he is but a physical performance can pack a big punch), I still don't like the obvious Jesus symbolism, and I still don't really enjoy Snyder's style in general. So...yeah, still not really feeling this one.
I'm not going to say the movie will definitely 100% be bad. I said before that it'd be preemptive to speak in absolutes on these matters, and as little as I like this trailer I still stand by that. A lot of this is still speculation based on what I know and what I anticipate. And I still anticipate about as much polarity in opinions as Man of Steel had. I expect, for the most part, the people here who are confident it will suck will still think it sucks and the people confident it will be great will still think it's great, with a few outliers whose expectations are betrayed in either direction. Of course, it's entirely possible I'm wrong and it could be received a lot better or worse, but that's just the nature of speculation. If this turns out to impress me, I'll happily eat my own words and enjoy the film, but for now I'm still not particularly excited or expecting a particularly interesting film. But that's just me, so who knows.
