Fearing the actions of Superman are left unchecked, Batman takes on the man of steel, while the world wrestles with what kind of a hero it really needs.

It’s such a surprise that a film like Batman v Superman, announced three years ago and over 3 years in the making, fails to live up to films like Deadpool and Mad Max: Fury Road, movies that took a lot less longer to make and marvelously paid off. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was unfortunately a huge disappointment. The action is at times awesome and the directing is somewhat appreciable, but the movie’s unfocused and confused narrative and story make it a complete mess. Zack Snyder is generally a fantastic director, as he has put some incredible scenery to film with movies like Watchmen, Man of Steel and 300. Here, he decides to put his style over any substance, especially in the first half, where the movie feels empty and overdone. The first act constantly flashes through scenes without connection to the rest, and often confuses with its many conflicts and minimal substance. Ben Affleck managed to deliver as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The rage within him felt so real, and he also rocked as a badass caped crusader. Henry Cavill wasn’t anything special in his returning role of Superman, and Amy Adams wasn’t any good, either. Jeremy Irons was great as Alfred and definitely delivered. Gal Gadot worked as a badass Wonder Woman, who has some great action scenes with Batman and Superman. Jesse Eisenberg did not work for me as Lex Luthor. He wasn’t miscast, but he was too over-the-top at times and was hard to stand. Lawrence Fisburne felt shoehorned into the cast for the sake of reprising his role, but unfortunately does not feel relevant here.

It’s hard to believe that with such high expectations for so long, the only thing about this movie that impressed me were the action scenes. The plot takes too long to become interesting, and by the time it does, it all feels so familiar and emotionally flat. The first act is filled up by a bunch of scenes that hardly connect, and never stick with you. There are always these conversations about the hero the world needs, and how corrupt power can be, and although the messages Snyder tried to convey through dialogue could have been interesting, they instead end up repeating themselves too often. The first act also requires a lot of patience, as it brings in a huge plot line about capturing terrorists without getting to what we actually want to see, Batman and Superman knocking each other out, until later. The movie is shot very well, and the score from Hans Zimmer is phenomenal. The action is pretty awesome, so if you want to go see this movie just for the action, then you should, but be aware that the good action doesn’t start until about an hour through the movie. The excitement rises to a high level at the third act, but either way, by then there is nothing unpredictable or emotionally powerful that happens. The movie often gets too caught up in trying to set up the rest of its movies that it forgets to bring a good story within its own film. Almost every moment in this movie involving superheroes feels so focused on teasing something that is yet to come, and at a point towards the end does that get very frustrating. There is much to appreciate about Zack Snyder’s directing in the film, but it often does not work in some scenes, especially the movie’s introduction. There is nothing in this movie that is worth going to the theaters to see that hasn’t already been given away by the trailers, unfortunately. I really wish we would have gotten a solo Batman film starring Ben Affleck and Jeremy Irons this time around, as that would have been a much more awesome and less complicated film to have released in the new age of DC.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a huge disappointment, with no interesting story or messages within, but has some great visuals, score, and action. If you want to go see this film for some epic action toward the end, then you should go see it, but I was one of the people looking for an amazing underlying message within the movie, and instead I got a dull philosophy lesson followed by an enormous gladiator fight. It is so busy setting up the next films in its franchise that it ultimately did not fill my expectations with what I wanted from the two most iconic superheroes in America finally on screen together.