"The conscience of America died with Robert, Martin, and John."

On screen, Perry White doesn't dwell on the legality of Batman's vigilantism and also has Clark adopt a similar perspective:

"In America, politicians being assassinated has become the norm, and ordinary lives are even less valuable. We shouldn't scrutinize Batman's extrajudicial actions against criminals too much."

"The police won't help in time, so the media should advocate for what's right. Perry, the Daily Planet was founded with principles."

"You could say that in 1938, but it's not 1938 anymore. Public welfare projects no longer hire people, and a bushel of apples isn't worth much."

Film critics are scribbling away.

They're truly enjoying this; the implicit elements in the film are like puzzles, exciting them to uncover the answers.

Take this segment of dialogue:

1938 is the year Superman was born in the comics, symbolizing "Truth, Justice, and the American Way."

But in 21st-century America, so-called truth and justice no longer hold the power of discourse. Welfare programs once focused on supporting the lower classes are now neglected.

"The conscience of America died with Robert, Martin, and John" refers to the 39th U.S. President Jimmy Carter's speech:

"We still believe our nation is governed by ballots, not bullets—until John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated."

And this line: "Can he just click his heels three times and go back to Kansas?"

It references Dorothy from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz clicking her heels three times to return to Kansas.

And Clark is from Smallville, Kansas.

Perry repeatedly jokes about Clark's origins, mocking him as a country bumpkin, a farmer. The earlier "Good morning, Smallville!" also carries this connotation.

Film critics are thrilled, but that means the audience is uncomfortable. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ noveⅼfire.net

Zack Snyder seems to place exceedingly lengthy setup before every battle. Though the fight scenes are spectacular and the special effects are grand, the audience often can't muster much interest, as if hypnotized by those long segments of setup.

The key issue is that these setups secretly carry too much hidden meanings, which don't significantly advance the plot.

This leads the audience to feel the fights in the film are too abrupt, forced into happening, and then abruptly stopped.

From the audience's perspective, perhaps the only highlight in the film is Wonder Woman's pair of straight, firm, perfectly round long legs?!

Martin, however, could sense that whenever Wonder Woman entered a fight, the lethargic atmosphere in the theater would suddenly perk up a bit.

He instinctively turned to look toward Gal Gadot's seat.

And saw that she was also glancing at him with sparkling eyes.

Catching Martin's look, their eyes met, and Gal Gadot gave him a mysterious smile.

Martin immediately received the message she was sending—Tonight, let's have sex!!!

"The redcoats are coming, the redcoats are coming! You and your listening posts on the road warned us, 'one if by land, two if by sea'," on screen, Lex Luthor excitedly declares war on Superman for humanity's "independence."

During the American Revolutionary War, because British soldiers wore red uniforms, forming lines that resembled red coats, Paul Revere used "The redcoats are coming!" to warn civilians of British raids.

In Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Paul Revere's Ride praising this hero, "one if by land, and two if by sea" similarly served as a warning of British attack.

Superman saves civilians during a fire on Mexico's Day of the Dead. People in skeleton costumes surround Superman, attempting to touch this deity with their fingers, and Superman's expression gradually shifts from a smile to sorrow.

Sofia says in surprise, "In Day of the Dead customs, there's a ritual of 'killing the god,' and before his death, Jesus experienced being jostled by the crowd during the 'Via Dolorosa.' This scene hints at Superman's death, doesn't it?"

Martin smiles and nods, "Pretty much."

Sofia's surprise only grows. "Killing the protagonist—Director Zack Snyder really dares to shoot it!"

"As I said before, his ambition is too great. He's filming Superman as Jesus," Martin says.

He continues, "Zack Snyder is trying to use visual ideas to depict Superman's dilemma—the more people he saves, the more his actions resemble miracles. But this godlike moral sensation keeps accumulating on him. This situation easily becomes: if someone can hover in the sky, how can you not rely on him to solve all your suffering? But Superman doesn't want that. He's just a farm boy from Kansas who only wants to do the right thing. But people demand more from him."

"He wants to express human greed and Superman's innocence but forgets that the audience is human. Can such a heavy, restrained, and self-reproaching plot elicit any sense of pleasure? I don't think so."

After over 2 hours, the film reaches its end.

The final battle begins.

The screen perfectly replicates the scene from Excalibur—Doomsday's bone spike pierces through Superman's body. Superman grips the spike impaling him, pulls himself closer to Doomsday, endures the pain, and thrusts the Kryptonite spear into Doomsday. This scene concludes the King Arthur motif.

Sofia says, "It's too messy. So is Superman Jesus or King Arthur?"

Martin frowns and says, "Batman's presence in the final battle feels too weak. He can only shoot a few sneak attacks to draw some fire, then run away. It doesn't match the setup earlier."

He then nods, "You're right, it's indeed too messy. Zack probably started with Batman opposing Superman to express mortal resistance against a god, but later it turned into the god saving himself. I can only say he really loves Superman too much."

"Honestly, this film piles too much onto Superman from start to finish, while only giving Batman a few things in the first half. As for the others—ha ha, they're just extras, including Wonder Woman."

"Look at this imagery—isn't this damn well The Lamentation of Christ? Mary is at the center of the painting, grieving for Jesus. St. John in bright red robes kneels to Jesus's left—Lois throws herself onto Superman's chest, weeping for him. Bruce looks on with guilt, believing he failed him. The background even has a cross and thick smoke, but a beam of light pierces the fog, illuminating Superman and Lois."

Then Superman's funeral—the scene of thousands paying respects, the horse-drawn carriage pulling the coffin, and the flag-draped coffin imagery—makes Martin shake his head. This is damn well imitating Kennedy's funeral scene.

It's simply over-the-top.

Finally, during the burial, the priest Daniel Lyon's eulogy directly quotes Isaiah: "The dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead."

Alright, this is telling everyone Superman will resurrect like Jesus.

Clearly, Zack Snyder wanted this film to look more epic, but he also wanted to please the audience. His indecisiveness made it neither here nor there.