By Adam Cutrone
Contributing Writer

Given the general box-office mauling that “Batman v Superman” has been receiving in the last few hours, waiting in line to enter the 400 capacity IMAX theater, I found myself more sullen and anxious than I have felt at most funerals. But once ushered into the packed theater, my worries were gradually stripped away with what I can only describe as a waning apprehension that slipped into a palpable sense of relief.

“BvS” picks up at the tail end of the events of 2013’s “Man of Steel”, the gritty Superman origin story that serves as the rocky foundation for the fledgling franchise to follow. We watch a salt and pepper Bruce Wayne watch in horror as the neighboring city of Metropolis is torn to cataclysmic shreds, at the hands of Superman and villain General Zod. Bruce quickly commands the first vehicle he finds and speeds straight toward the center of the carnage. For seemingly the first time in his apparent 20-year career, the caped crusader is massively overwhelmed and utterly powerless in a situation to help anyone.

“BvS” is a brooding tome that aims to draw a decisive line in the sand from the levity of its direct competition — Marvel’s cinematic universe (“The Avengers” and all of its subsequent films). Plain and simple, this world is much, much darker than any superhero film we’ve seen so far, and sometimes overwhelmingly so. There aren’t very many laughs or moments of actual joy in “BvS” but when you’ve got the creative minds that made 2009’s “Watchmen” at the helm, it’s hardly surprising.

But that doesn’t mean “BvS” isn’t enjoyable to watch. The cinematography of Larry Fong alone is simply sublime and well worth the price of admission. For example, the opening credits of the film beautifully depict the now infamous murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents, a scene that has been force-fed into every incarnation of the Batman character. However this adaptation is painted in broad strokes with a surgical precision that feels just as heart-wrenching as it ever did, without bogging down screen time with a narrative most people are already well aware of.

What I enjoyed right off the bat with this film (no pun intended) was that the DC film universe has done in two movies what Marvel is only just getting around to addressing after years of manufacturing hit after hit: Consequence. “BvS” directly addresses the massive collateral damage of its heroes and dares to hold them responsible in a somewhat realistic way. News teams and television pundits ramble on about the looming moral and existential crisis of an alien man living amongst us and pontificate the implications that come along with it. Like Ben Affleck’s Batman, politicians struggle with the sudden and terrifying notion that despite centuries of policy, militaristic and technological advancements, they are completely unprepared to deal with a situation of this magnitude.

The real triumph of “BvS” is, well, the B. “Criminals are like weeds, you pull one up and another one grows in its place. This is about the future of the entire world, Alfred. If this is the only thing I ever do, it may be the most important.” Paraphrasing a moment of Affleck’s Batman that seems to give the character a sense of purpose that often became muddled in the past. For all of its successes, I always felt that one of Chris Nolan’s greatest shortcomings in his iconic “Dark Knight” trilogy was Batman himself. Nolan’s films, similar to many Bond films, were only as good as their villain allowed them to be. We watched as a single man perilously took on evils and always managed to skate through by the skin of his teeth in a reactionary panic. Nolan’s Batman was, more often than not, morally and physically exhausted while trying his best to tamp down the evils of his city. And though Nolan and Christian Bale put together arguably the most successful interpretation of what a human Bruce Wayne would look like, it’s in Affleck’s Batman that an authenticity to the source material will leave you wondering why the caped crusader hasn’t been this exciting until now. Despite the fact that this Batman has clearly given up on his “one rule” that kept the body count in Nolan’s “Dark Knight” series relatively low, Affleck is a force whose use of stealth and brutal strength give him the borderline supernatural edge that fit snugly within the more fantastical set pieces of the film.

So why all of the hate? Over the course of its three- to four-year production schedule, the PR for “BvS” certainly did not do itself any favors. It seemed as if every six months or so there was a new reason to be furious at team Zack Snyder and how they were relishing the opportunity to destroy childhood dreams. Examples of which would be the announcement of bold casting decisions in Affleck’s Batman and Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor and in hiring Chris Terrio, the screenwriter of “Argo” to rewrite the script. But I believe the final nail in the coffin that sealed the fate of this film was in its marketing. The advertisements and trailers of this film sold it as a knock-down, beat-em-up between two mythical heavyweights that promised non-stop action bathed in matte black, dirt and grime. Instead the film plays out like a slow-burn thriller that patiently unfolds into the gladiatorial death-match that we ached for. However, when these moments of action finally did come, I found myself wishing again that I hadn’t watched any of the trailers due to the fact that a number of surprises would have been so much more powerful had they not already been exploited in the marketing.

“Batman v Superman” is a beautifully constructed film that suffers from a few storytelling missteps that serve more as temporary tangential distractions rather than directorial meandering. The film is dark and brooding but not without merit or completely devoid of heart. The irony of a critic instructing his reader to “not listen to critics” is not lost on me but I really do believe this film deserves its fighting chance. And if only to illicit a reaction from its audience, whether it be good or bad, is what makes films like this so interesting in the first place which is a lot more than I can say about the innumerable forgettable films of its direct competition.