Zack Snyder loathes Superman just as much as the Bat of Gotham does. His two-film mauling of the Son of Krypton has been been far worse than anything dealt out in this movie’s brawl.

The second, important installment in the burgeoning DCCU is often little more than a lumpy bag of ideas. Some good, others terrible, but all so weighty around the throat they threaten to asphyxiate any story outright.

Aided by a Miller-inspired Batman, things remain thrilling until a preposterous final act; so giddy and incoherently told, Snyder’s cheeks might as well have been bulging with gobstoppers.

Dawn of Justice is perhaps not the Batman/Superman film we deserve, but it’s the one we have right now. This chapter has just enough spark to light the universe fuse.

RATING: 3/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Holly Hunter, Scoot McNairy

DIRECTOR: Zack Snyder

WRITERS: Chris Terrio, David S. Goyer 

SYNOPSIS: 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.