Batman v. Superman, Dawn of Justice was a grown-up movie with the visuals, but a child’s movie with the dialog.

The cinematography was spell binding and some of the best work I have seen on celluloid. But the plot, dialog and cheap tricks they used, sullied this masterfully shot film.

The Batman’s (Ben Affleck) dreaming sequences were an awkward and cheap trick to get us believing that Superman (Henry Cavill) was a nemesis. From the first shot, we are seeing a flash back, but they were not consistent and seem to devalue the plot.

Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) was brilliant in his insanity. But in plot points, so weak. In many scenes with Superman there was a thousand ways the man of steel could have stopped him.

My favorite character was Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) who was wonderful from start to finish. Lois Lane (Amy Adams) saved Superman right back at least three times. While Batman is dark, Superman is a teenaged girl wrapped in a 6-packed muscle Lycra package and a velvet cloak.

I wish DC Comics had studied the way Marvel does its superhero movies and established concrete rules of the “DC Universe.” The kryptonite was first fatal and then it was not.

Batman’s and Superman’s hatred for each other happened too quickly without proper provocation and their making up too instantaneous — “Save Martha?”

So many characters were not developed that could have been with 1 minute of dialog, it could have made for a much richer experience.

There are still loads of prodigious aspects to this film. Diane Lane has a few heart-warming and gut-wrenching scenes. Laurence Fishburne provides some good comic relief as Perry White, the head of the Daily Planet Newspaper. Jeremy Irons plays a most involved and cranky Alfred the butler.

As many problems as there were, I am still excited for the future of the DC Universe, specifically Wonder Woman. Another positive was, unsurprisingly, Hans Zimmer’s score.

I loved the way him and Junkie XL managed to weave in Superman’s theme with the new haunting Batman theme.

I honestly can’t believe I’m sitting here typing an average review for a film that’s one of my most anticipated of all time, but I am. There are plenty of moments of pure greatness here, but for every incredible scene, there’s an unnecessary or strange out-of-place scene and it went 45 minutes too long. This was pure sloppy film making. But you have to see it, right?

Teri Bayus is the Host of Taste Buds, shown on Charter Cable Ch. 10 and on Central Coast Now TV. Teri’s culinary erotic book, “Consumed,” is available at: www.amazon.com/Consumed-Teri-Bayus-ebook/dp/B016DW85PA.