Why the hate

I'm watching it right now (directors cut), and it's a genuinely good superhero movie.

I think the main issue is that most people have seen the original theatrical cut, which is a butchered mess, and was ravaged by studio-enforced and ratings-inspired edits. The theatrical cut was very problematic, and was a fairly weak film. (Although it had it's moments.)

Less people have seen the Director's Cut (which runs about 30 minutes longer and has many key scenes that were removed from the theatrical cut). The DC is a significantly stronger film- it feels more "even" and "complete", it is better developed and flows a lot better. I firmly believe if the Director's Cut was the version released in theaters, the film would have a stronger reputation, because it's a pretty darned good film.

And FURTHERMORE, this is my signature! SERIOUSLY! Did you think I was still talking about my point?

I think it's overall OK rather than bad but the playground scene was dumb, Affleck is pretty uncharismatic (which audiences would have especially disliked back in 2003 with all the tabloid attention) and the style feels too Batman-ish rather than its own thing.

Too many Ben Affleck haters out there unfortunately.