What is so frustrating about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – aside from the silly name – is that it contains so much that could make it a truly iconic superhero movie. But there is just too much going on.

In some respects, it is like when a child draws a nice picture of their dad then adds a moustache then a hat then an eyepatch and then a bazooka.

We have several strong superhero movies crammed together to become over-stuffed, muddled and in parts nonsensical.

There is, to identify just some of them: a Batman v Superman film, a dawn of the Justice League, a film where Superman comes to terms with the political implications of his powers and there’s a popcorn movie where Lex Luthor creates a monster to raze a city the ground.

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To make it fit, there are big plot holes and cop-outs (including a fortuitous moment where someone *ahem* cries for their mummy).

On top of that, director Zack Snyder falls foul of the same problem that blighted his 2013 Superman movie Man of Steel – too much wanton destruction, the affect of which is numbing.

But Batman v Superman is not a disaster by any stretch.

Many of plot strands are compelling. Ben Affleck is an intriguing Batman/Bruce Wayne and has the potential, given the right movie, to be the best to have pulled on cape and cowl.

Superman’s moral dilemma gives a usually dull character some interesting edge and the build-up of animosity between the two is actually well played.

The opening, which sets up Bruce Wayne’s beef with Supes by showing Wayne Towers destroyed and several people killed in the events that were the climax of 2013’s Superman film Man of Steel, is clever and particularly pleasing.

As with all of Snyder’s films, Batman v Superman is stunning to look at. Visually – and in terms of plot points and even dialogue – it harks back to comics such as Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.

And, despite what some reviewers have written about this film, there is some humour, particularly from Laurence Fishburne’s Daily Planet editor and Jeremy Irons’ Alfred.

Gal Gadot does not have much to do for much of the movie other than look pretty and mysterious as her dual persona of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman is introduced, yet she still manages to stand out and proves an equal to the blokes in lycra.

Despite its competing storylines, Batman v Superman is often absorbing, thrilling stuff.

It works best when it ratchets up towards its crescendo – action-wise somewhere in between the dumb, pointless Batmobile crash-up and the dull, pointless dream sequences.

And yet, for all its faults, this is still a must-see for comic book fans and just about cues things up nicely for the Justice League movies, keeping DC’s dream of a Marvel-rivalling cinematic universe alive.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (12A) is out Friday.

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