Batman v Superman worth the anticipation?

Batman and Superman together on the big screen. It is a moment the geek in me has been waiting for since he was 7 years old.

The wait is over. When these two titans begin exchanging blows, it is a sight to behold, but there is a lot of ground to cover to get there.

Bruce Wayne is more than a little ticked off at Superman after the final battle in “Man of Steel” leveled much of Metropolis, including a certain high rise building owned by Mr. Wayne.

Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent, is also no big fan of Batman in neighboring Gotham. Kent sees the bat as a brutal vigilante hunting and (painfully) branding criminals, and wants to expose him in the Daily Planet.

In the middle of all of this is a brilliant, ego-driven Lex Luthor, played with a vicious glee by Jesse Eisenberg. He appears to be masterminding the downfall of Superman by pitting both icons against each other.

Luthor doesn’t want a super-powered alien in his backyard, and those “God vs. Hero” themes that were played with in “Man of Steel,” are still explored here, though not very successfully and with no real resolution. Superman often comes off as glum and morose. His mother tells him, “You owe this world nothing,” and even in his heroic feats, he seems to be clocking in and doing the job, instead of genuinely caring and wanting to help the people of Earth.

Ben Affleck’s Batman is a different story. He leaps off the pages of the comic book, and may be the best embodiment of the character in a movie to date. He portrays an older, veteran Batman, and is as tired and toughened as you would imagine a guy in a cowl would be after fighting crime for twenty years.

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman holds her own with the two leads, and looks to have no problem headlining her upcoming solo movie.

Director Zack Snyder composes beautiful imagery, and the fight between the two bigs lives up to the title. But the build-up to that battle feels a bit hollow, and there’s no time for a breather as we’re rushed into a CGI-fueled extended fight with another major threat to our heroes.

It becomes a bit numbing by the end, but sets up nicely for the Justice League movie that starts filming next month.

While Batman v Superman doesn’t soar, it certainly entertains, though moviegoers not enthralled by superhero sagas may be glancing at their watches as it clocks in at two and a half hours.

But it’s a flick that brings to life images this geek could only imagine, and has been waiting his whole life to see.