Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy by day, crime fighting superhero by night. Kal-El, simple reporter Clark Kent by day, Superman forever.

Two of the most well-known and beloved superheroes duke it out in an all-out battle royal. “Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice,” the sequel to the 2013 movie “Man of Steel,” features the aftermath of the devastating battle between Superman, General Zod and his followers that laid waste the city of Metropolis and surrounding areas.

The city is still grieving and rebuilding from the disastrous battle that attempted to exterminate the human race. Since then, the world has been heavily debating a question: Can Superman be the shining hero the world expects him to be, or will he bring about the destruction of mankind?  

That is the premise of the entire movie. Committees hear from witnesses about the heroics of Superman and debate on whether there should disciplinary actions taken. But the real question is how can you punish someone who has no allegiance to any country and answers to no one but himself and is, in a sense, indestructible and untouchable?

The movie opens up with an oh-so-familiar scene, the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. After leaving the theatre late at night, they are approached by a man with a gun who robs them of their money and Martha’s pearls. I believe I share this grievance with many other fans of Batman — I am tired of this scene. I understand this is the defining moment in Bruce’s life. It haunts him for the rest of his life — we get it. With this movie there are so many other appearances from other DC heroes and villains, the director could have taken a completely different route that would have played out better with the movie as a whole.

The set-up for the “greatest gladiator match in the history of the world” is far too stretched out. More than likely the main reason most people will see this movie is because of the promise to see two of the greatest superheroes, Batman and Superman, fight each other. But for the first 45 minutes, I was sadly disappointed. Most of the beginning sets up a new Batman, a version of him not seen before on the silver screen.

In the new version, Batman has been in the vigilante game for quite some time, around 20 years. He is more twisted than before and willing to take down the bad guys at any cost, even if it means killing. While Bruce is walking through the bat cave, you see the costume of his ex-sidekick, Robin, who appears to have been killed by the Joker earlier in Batman’s life. With the loss of his sidekick and friend, he must have come to the realization that it is easier to torture and kill  bad guys than it is to take them to prison.

Mr. Chris Joint, owner of Sandlot Sports Cards/ lover of comics, had this to say about the new Batman, “It was better than I thought it would be. – it’s not the best Batman but also not the worst.”

Meanwhile, billionaire/mad genius Lex Luthor is the main antagonist. Luthor is the CEO of LuthorCorp, the company started by his late father, Lionel Luthor. With Lex at the helm, he has a lot of resources he uses to do everything he can to show the human race that Superman is, in fact, not a god. Luthor, very emotional and narcissistic, has an overwhelming compulsion to expose Superman.

Now, onto the main event, the great battle sequence between Batman and Superman. Don’t worry. I will not spoil anything. By far, the best part of the entire movie, everything that has been built up thus far, has been worth the wait. After all the waiting, the battle begins, and it is everything I hoped for and more. The Bat of Gotham vs the Son of Krypton — with a few unexpected visitors showing up to the party, one of them Wonder Woman, aka Diana Prince.

Wonder Woman, one of the main characters in the movie, a strong, independent and powerful character, is, unfortunately, not given the screen time she deserves. She has little dialogue and absolutely no back story on where she is from or who she is.

Joint said the reason the movie did not shed more light on Wonder Woman was so she could have a separate movie that would delve more into her character.

Near the end of the movie, there is a conversation between Wonder Woman and Bruce Wayne. During this talk they discuss other gifted people whom they could get to join them. It was not directly stated, but this might be laying the groundwork for a possible Justice League movie. I and other fans are excited about this possibility.

Joint said, “The entire reason that they would introduce all these new characters would be so that they can make more movies.”

So be prepared for more DC movies in the near future. For now, we are left with the aftermath of “Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.”