The latest installment in a seemingly unending series, “Super Bowl LII: Patriots vs. Rams” had some massive shortcomings. With a whopping 3 hour and 16 minute runtime, “Super Bowl” offered a mixed bag of highs and lows.

My largest critique of the game was the record low scores, with a total of only 13-3 in favor of the Patriots. While most series only elevate the drama in attempts to rope in viewers, “LIII” replaced action with political intrigue in a failed attempt to create an engaging game.

Another integral part of the film — the so-called ‘Super Bowl ads’ — fell flat as well. In an era where the Super Bowl franchise struggled to book a musical director amid political issues, their ads also failed to deliver a political message despite a large platform due to their dedicated fanbase.

To its credit, “LIII” offered well put-together cinematography, pulling out all the stops to show every angle of the game, capturing the emotion on each character’s face. The sheer scale of the even was just as impressive as always, with scores of real audience members brought in to watch the event, which is filmed live.

However,  in an attempt to cover all angles, “LIII” still fell short, showing the same events over and over rather than cutting down on the excessive runtime. This ultimately led to a game that felt too sluggish to offer true entertainment.

All together, “LIII” offered a fresh story line despite its many predecessors (and the frequently recurring “Patriots,” However, this wasn’t enough to make up for the slow pace to which the Super Bowl franchise so often falls victim.

2.5/5 stars