Why I always root for Superman over Batman - CNET

I was essentially a walking Superman encyclopedia. It started when my dad brought home "The Official Superman Quiz Book." When I was a little older, I was checking out all the Superman books my library had on hand. Repeatedly. And of course I got the Underoos.

My younger brother and I became avid comic book readers and collectors. No matter what, we always made Superman a priority. As a kid, my brother wrote a letter to the editors of the Superman title that got published on the letters page, back when that was a thing. We bought every issue of the main Superman comics every month for a good 25 years.

And the movies? The first two with Christopher Reeve were my favorites. The third and fourth, well, not as much. I wanted to like "Superman Retus," but it didn't feel like there was a lot of actual action going on.

The current cinematic Superman, introduced in "Man of Steel," didn't feel very Superman-y to me, and I agree with my colleague Roger Cheng about the reasons why. It also seems to me like they're going with an alteate-reality version of Superman -- the kind DC Comics would publish as an Elseworlds book, where we get alteate takes on various DC heroes.

I felt obligated to see "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice," not just because I felt I needed to to have an opinion not based solely on the trailers, plot summary and ridiculous title, but also because, like I might have impressed upon you by this point, I like Superman, and hey, maybe they improved the things I didn't like in "Man of Steel."

So, what did I think?

Imagine listening to a breathless 6-year-old who has to pee really bad but first needs to tell you everything that happened during his day. That's how the movie's pacing feels.