Pitting two of comic book’s biggest icons against each other should have been a smashing good time, and although Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is far from a complete failure, Zack Snyder’s superhero epic is mostly a letdown.

Man of Steel is one of the most divisive comic book movies of all-time. There are those who love the modern take on Superman (I’m one of those people), then there are those who thought it was too dark and untrue to the character. Whether you liked the film or not, Warner Bros. saw the $668 million worldwide gross as enough to not only make a sequel, but to start their own DC superhero universe, much like what Disney and Marvel is doing with their characters.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the first of many planned DC cinematic universe movies, takes place roughly right after the events of Man of Steel. There is great debate as to whether or not Superman is a hero or a powerful alien that needs to be put in check. One of those who believes he needs to take responsibility for his actions is Bruce Wayne, who spends his nights beating up thugs in Gotham as the vigilante, Batman.

That is the rough setup for this massive, two and a half hour film that not only covers a lot of space in terms of plot, but characters as well. As mentioned before, this film is not only setting up the conflict between Batman and Superman, but also establishing the larger DC universe.  Characters who we will be seeing in future films are briefly introduced in a shoehorned fashion, something that will not only confuse many moviegoers, but make them roll their eyes as well. 

This is one of the key problems I had with the movie: it’s Batman fighting Superman. This is almost every geeks dream. This should be easy to get down and also be a little fun. Instead, Snyder and company give us an over convoluted plot with numerous characters and almost no fun.

One of the more controversial casting choices of the last couple of years was when Warner Bros. announced Ben Affleck will portray the Dark Knight in Batman v Superman:Dawn of Justice. Those who worried can rest easy: Ben Affleck is a great Bruce Wayne, and a pretty solid Batman. He nails the psychological complexity of Bruce Wayne, and although physically he does enough to get by, I thought it was ultimately a great casting choice by the filmmakers to go with Ben Affleck.

Jeese Eisenberg as Lex Luther was one of the main worries I had going into the film, but overall he worked for this movie. Lex’s unstableness is portrayed really well by Eisenberg, but some of the intimidating moments did fall flat.

The last of the new characters I want to mention is Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. There has been a lot of talk about the Amazon princess because she has never been on a big-screen before, and although she doesn’t steal the movie, she is still pretty cool. She is not in the movie enough to make a giant impact, but Snyder and company do a nice job of using her effectively.

Something that Snyder does not do effectively, however, is his action scenes. There were many who criticized the over-the-top violence in Man of Steel, while I did not necessarily agree with that, I do think he goes overboard in this film.

The actual fight between Batman and Superman is pretty well done, but the other action scenes fall flat because of Snyder’s love affair with CGI explosions and destruction. Again, I thought it worked in Man of Steel, but in this go-around, it is just too much and gets numbing. The final battle is sensory overload in the worst possible way.  

My overall thoughts on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice can be summarized with this analogy:

If someone were to come up to you and ask, “Do you like water?” You, as a human being, would say yes. They would then lead you to a fire hydrant, unscrew the cap, and stick your face in the spewing water. Sure, you like water, but too much of it all at once is not enjoyable.

Sure, I love comic book movies and Batman and Superman, but this amount of that kind of stuff is too much to handle in one sitting. It not only gets exhausting and numbing, but it’s just not enjoyable. Do not mistake this of me saying, “I like Marvel movies more because they are more fun and lighthearted,” because the fact of the matter is that I loved Man of Steel, but this movie just did not work for me.

Another point that should be made is that this movie is impossible to fully grasp in one viewing. The number of characters and plot points can be overwhelming at times, especially when you add the over-the-top action, and although I will be seeing this movie one or two more times in theaters, it’s not a good sign that a comic book movie needs multiple viewings to be fully understood.

There are certainly good parts of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but as a comic book moviegoing experience, it is a small letdown in my eyes.    

GRADE: C+