Rating: 2.5 out of 5

I had high expectations for this movie, given all the hype surrounding it. I was let down. It was overhyped, overfunded and underwhelming, smeared with useless, abstract dream sequences. Although each actor gives an incredible individual performance, none of them mesh well together, providing awkward chemistry on screen.

The story takes place two years after Superman (Henry Cavill) battles Zod, shown in Man of Steel. Now, after seeing him destroy a city, Batman (Ben Affleck) feels as though Superman has too much power and must be put in check.

To put fears to rest, Ben Affleck does a fine job of portraying Batman. However, he doesn’t match Christian Bale’s past performances. This movie not only had to follow up on Zack Snyder’s previous Superman in Man of Steel, but it also had to match the brilliant portrayal of Batman from Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. It does neither. It completely sets aside the moral code of Batman that Nolan set up and seems like an uninspired cash grab, set in place to keep DC fans resilient against the constant stream of Marvel films.

The highly anticipated duel between Batman and Superman doesn’t actually happen until an astounding 90 minutes into the movie, and when it does, a simple conversation could have settled the brawl. Some of the serious moments are laughable and the comedic grabs are few and cheap.

There were, however, some incredible moments that managed to slip through the rubble of this movie. Gal Gadot’s long-awaited portrayal of Wonder Women stood out as exceptional and the CGI techniques made cities crashing to the ground seem like live footage.

Although it may soothe diehard fans’ itch for two emblematic DC characters to be pitted against one another, no regular moviegoer should get too excited over this grimy comic book adaptation.