BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (Rated PG-13)

At a recent press and promotional screening, a short introductory film clip to the highly anticipated “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” features director Zach Snyder asking the audience not to reveal plot details that could give away surprises.

I think we already know that Clark Kent’s alter ego is Superman and that the same is true for Bruce Wayne’s Batman.

As if the audience for this film is unaware, there’s a flashback to young Bruce Wayne witnessing the murder of his parents by a gun-toting thug.

If director Snyder had been serious about not disclosing some revelations or plot twists, then perhaps the trailers should have omitted the appearance of Wonder Woman for what looks like an epic showdown.

I don’t know if I dare say more. But what emerges from the premise of a superhero smackdown, staged like a UFC cage match, is almost a tedious affair given the talking and dream sequences that swallow a big chunk of the film’s running time of two-and-one-half hours.

Let’s face one immutable fact. The superhero franchise is impervious to criticism, at least in the minds of fanboys eager for the epic battle between the Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel that is promised by the title of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”

Henry Cavill is back again as Clark Kent/Superman, while Ben Affleck is new to the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Affleck, though, has already demonstrated a comfort level with being a masked superhero in the titular role of “Daredevil” more than a dozen years ago.

As far as looking good in costume, Cavill’s Man of Steel has the right feel of the righteous champion now coming under unwanted scrutiny by a crusading U.S. Senator (Holly Hunter) for his part in collateral damage during aerial fights with General Zod.

Affleck’s Bruce Wayne/Caped Crusader is developed as a more complicated character. Often brooding and coming across as bitter and vengeful, Bruce Wayne remains understandably upset that Superman’s showdown with General Zod resulted in the death of scores of employees at Wayne Industries’ Metropolis high-rise headquarters.

Given the mood that Superman’s reckless encounters with alien forces are proving to be far too destructive in Gotham, it’s interesting to note the growing concern, evidenced by Senate hearings and media coverage, that Superman just might be an undesirable alien who needs to be contained if not expelled from Planet Earth.

This feeling of national malaise is an interesting twist because all the while Clark Kent, working closely with his trusted colleague and love interest Lois Lane (Amy Adams), is using the front page of the Daily Planet for blaring headlines about Batman’s vigilante mistakes.

The maniacal Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) is occasioned to observe that the dawn of greatest gladiator match of all time would be the showdown, in his words, “between the Son of Krypton and the Bat of Gotham.”

Luthor is not a disinterested party to the coming mayhem. For his part, this billionaire madman is all too eager for a battle royale.

Eisenberg’s Luthor may be one of the most annoying, grating villains of all time. To no avail, I kept hoping for his early demise.

We’ve always known Bruce Wayne to be under the tutelage and care of the family butler Alfred. Here the role goes to Jeremy Irons, who’s serviceable as the trusty confidante, but seems okay but not fully appropriate, in terms of age at least, as the wise mentor.

Other notable characters appear to be shoehorned into the action. Laurence Fishburne’s Daily Planet editor Perry White exists only to bark orders to Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

Meanwhile, Diane Lane’s Martha Kent, the adoptive mother of Clark, figures in a small role as a pawn in the epic battle.

Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman holds the most promise, not so much as a pivotal character in this film but as a precursor of what is to come later. Other than the fact she looks stunning in a cocktail dress as Diana Prince, we learn little about her alter ego.  

Above it all, “Batman v Superman” may be more than a film devoted to comic book fantasy violence and mayhem, with plenty of explosions and destructions, a significant number of deaths, and a scary monster that emerges from a primordial toxic swamp.

The bonus points, though not fully explored to any meaningful extent, come with the moral ambiguity of the superheroes’ benefit to society, where one practices vigilante justice and the other, an alien being, represents a force not subject to the laws of the land.

The moral and legal questions get cursory examination from a Senate investigation, but director Zach Snyder’s “Batman v Superman,” a title that suggests a court case, is more interested in a dark, bleak world of violence, mayhem and brutal destruction.

No bright light will shine on the superhero conundrums, at least not now on Snyder’s watch. In fact, there is very little actual sunlight in “Batman v Superman,” considering that what is crucial here is the visual context of the dark sky and the dank, grim interiors of decrepit warehouse buildings where fights are staged.
  
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.