This is the film, like Disney/Marvel’s “The Avengers,” that must serve as a compelling launch pad for the rest of DC’s cinematic universe. That’s why we get glimpses of the Flash (Ezra Miller) and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and far too little of arguably the best part of the new film: Gal Gadot’s revelatory Wonder Woman.

But this movie rests squarely on the shoulders of Ben Affleck’s Batman and Henry Cavill’s Superman, though it is director Zack Snyder’s head that sits most exposed for public cheering or jeering this weekend.

As those first reviews roll in as if hot off Perry White’s presses, perhaps one way to gauge high and low ends of the spectrum are in Chicago. Richard Roeper of the Sun-Times, in mostly lauding the film, writes: “When it sings, ‘Dawn of Justice’ is a wonder. When it drags, it still looks good and offers hints of a better scene just around the corner.” On the other hand, Michael Phillips, of the Tribune (a former colleague), tosses a few juicy beefsteak tomatoes in his review, headlined “Yawn of Justice”: “Snyder is not without skills, or ideas, but when a critic finds himself at odds with almost every aspect of a director’s visual approach to material like this, material like this becomes pretty joyless.”

Part of the problem with creating a mostly grim, 2 1/2-hour behemoth is that you have to deliver so much more to reward the audience’s patience. Variety’s Andrew Barker finds enough reward in the massive endeavor, writing: “Snyder has set a Sisyphean task for himself. That this very long, very brooding, often exhilarating and sometimes scattered epic succeeds as often it does therefore has to be seen as an achievement.”

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But numerous others can’t spin it so positively. The wait is not worth the weight, says Time magazine‘s Stephanie Zacharek, in calling the film “topheavy with false portent.” The Miami Herald’s Rene Rodriguez sees it as huge and unwieldy, busy and overcrowded. And IndieWire’s Eric Kohn views the film as one tedious DC bridge with an underwhelming purpose: “Rather than focusing on a cataclysmic showdown between pop culture’s most famous men in tights, Zack Snyder’s flashy, cacophonous follow-up to 2013’s ‘Man of Steel’ is basically one long teaser for the next installment.”

Perhaps part of the problem is the degree to which Marvel’s cinematic franchises have conditioned us to welcome comedic relief in between the monster spectacles of destruction (to say nothing of “Deadpool’s” sly reaction to all of that). “For a film so concerned with its characters’ inner lives,” writes the Guardian’s Andrew Pulver, “there’s a fundamental disconnect going on here – enough to make you yearn for the lighter touch of the Marvel films.” And “a few jokes wouldn’t have gone amiss,” writes Empire’s Nick De Semlyen.

So how is Affleck? The new Batman generally receives praise, from fine to unexpectedly “superb,” writes Matt Zoller Seitz at RogerEbert.com. Cavill’s return to the role also comes in for general praise.

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And Gal Gadot? The new Wonder Woman is the “kick— revelation of this party,” rightly writes Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers.

As for Jesse Eisenberg, the new Lex Luthor is “so intensely annoying that, very early on, you wish Batman and Superman would just patch up their differences and join forces to put the squirrely rascal out of his, and our, misery,” zings the Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy.

But mostly, it’s the director and writers who deserve the blame, say numerous critics — the Telegraph’s Robbie Collin calls the film “incoherently structured” and lacking clarity and purpose.

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (PG-13; 151 minutes), which officially opens Friday, currently scores a 40 on RottenTomatoes and a 48 on Metacritic.