I always was familiar with the cold hearted businessman that was Lex Luthor from the DCAU entries of Superman TAS and JL/JLU; so I’m not a big fan of how Lex Luthor was portrayed in the Donner movies. Aside from his nonsensical plans, Luthor was more of a wise cracking comedian complete with an annoying bumbling henchman. But at least Gene Hackman had charisma.
Jesse Eisenberg does not, and only compounds the problem by aping Donner’s dreadful Luthor. The jokes, the odd verbal tics, the “trying hard not to sound like an arse” schtick; it all came from Richard Donner. It’s bad enough trying to copy a bad interpretation without the force of Hackman’s magnetic personality to pull it off, it’s especially bad when BVS: Dawn of Justice tries so hard to be the darkest and most nihilistic of all the DC movies ever, as well as distance itself from the Donner movies as much as possible. You’d think Zack Snyder would go for a more accurate Lex Luthor, instead he’s the comic relief. Luthor sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the grittiness of everything, and nothing in a way that’s amusing. And if 1978 Luthor had bad plans, this Luthor makes the Donner version look like a genuine criminal mastermind in comparison.