Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is a visually stunning, ambitious film that does some things right, but, for the most part, crumbles under the weight of its own grandeur.

Its plot is confusing and hackneyed, its characterizations are puzzling, and the script tries too hard to give the audience a lead-in to 2017’s Justice League: Part One.

One of the positives in this movie is the portrayal of Batman / Bruce Wayne by Ben Affleck. Affleck does an excellent job of playing an older, more experienced man, hardened by his past experiences and explicably weary of humanity’s new “savior,” Superman (Henry Cavill).

His take on the character feels fresh, harkening back to Christian Bale’s portrayal in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises and 1986’s four-issue comic run The Dark Knight Returns, which featured a disillusioned Batman returning to the streets and coming into conflict with Superman and the US government.

Another positive is Gal Gadot’s portrayal of Wonder Woman/Diana Prince. Although she is not featured as prominently as Batman or Superman, Gadot successfully plays a strong, mysterious character. Her appearance in full superhero garb during the final battle is one of the highlights of the film.

As is common in Zack Snyder films, the action sequences are stunning, and when Batman and Superman finally duke it out in the third act, it is truly spectacular.

For the most part, though, the film is a jumbled mess. It feels rushed, and, quite frankly, like a cash grab.

No character exemplifies this better than Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg). This Lex Luthor is not the calculated, experienced figure portrayed by Gene Hackman in the Superman films of the 1980s. Instead, this version is the recipient of a sizable inheritance. He is young, twitchy and awkward.

Deviating substantially from source material sometimes works in movie adaptations, but not in this case. Eisenberg manically stumbles through his performance. His Luthor is a two-bit version of the Joker with no real motivations for his evil actions.

It seems like Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer, who wrote this film, were so focused on reinventing a classic character that they forgot to make a believable villain.

I also took issue with Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and her character arc, which felt like it had no place in the film, and Henry Cavill plays a mediocre Superman. Despite nailing the physical resemblance, his acting range is lacking.

The excessively dark tone also has a negative effect on the overall film.

While I understand that Warner Bros. is trying to position the DC Cinematic Universe as the gritty, dark, more “adult” alternative to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this movie overreaches, resulting in some puzzling decisions.

Batman brands, maims and even kills criminals, which goes completely against previous versions of his character.  Additionally, there are a couple of vague, depressing dream sequences, Superman’s face seems to be in a permanent scowl, the color palette is drab and, apart from one scene, humor is very hard to come by.

I also took issue with the inclusion of so many crumbs that are supposed to whet our appetite for the coming Justice League movie.

There are some Justice League references which had little to no place in the film, and only made sense to readers of the comics, including a new villain and an e-mail opened by Wonder Woman, which might as well say “Justice League Setup” in big, bright letters.

It’s clear that Warner Bros and DC are trying to build up to a big, Avengers-style team up film without the benefit of time that their rivals, Marvel, had, but trying to squeeze all this setup into one film really doesn’t work.

The film would have been better off taking time to explain some of the motivations behind some of the characters’ actions and the consequences of those actions.

Snyder has said that a longer, R-rated cut of the film is coming out on DVD, so I hope that this resolves some of these issues.

As long as you don’t think about it too much, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is a somewhat enjoyable film, which, despite its flaws, is worth the price of admission if only to see Batman and Superman together on the silver screen for the first time. Somewhere hidden in Snyder’s monstrosity is a classic superhero film, but I just don’t see it.  Overall, I would give this a 5.5/10 rating.