In July of 2013, following the release of Man of Steel, Zach Snyder took to the stage of Hall H to thank the fans for their love of his on-screen re-brand of Superman. At the end of his speech he brought up Harry Lennix, a man with an incredible voice to read a quote from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns: Part 2. This reading was followed by a black screen that led to the unveiling of a logo, introducing to the world to Batman V Superman. Hall H erupted with excitement and the collective comic fans of the world began to lose their minds and build anticipation for the epic battle that would see the first on-screen pairing of the two biggest characters in comic book history.

Earlier this week reviews began to be released coming down on the movie for a variety of reason for not having a plot, an over bloated story, and poor structure. While the movie may not have been perfect a large number of the critics really blew the movie out of proportion and flat-out got their criticisms wrong. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice might be the most epic superhero movie ever made.

I’ll get the “bad” parts of the movie out of the way now. The way the movie was edited at the beginning didn’t flow like you would expect a movie too, but it went like a comic, which was fine. You can sense that the movie’s 3 hour cut will fill in a few blanks left with the existing story. Claiming there wasn’t a plot like many reviewers have is simply a gross overstatement. There was a plot, a damn good one, it just didn’t flow as perfectly as you expect a movie too. Watching the movie felt a lot like the one and style of Watchmen, which among comic fans is argued to be the best comic book movie ever made. The other issue I had with the film was the pacing, but again this is something that would be addressed in the 3 hour directors cut, set to be included with the Blu-ray later this year.

Now the good. I read about 50 reviews before I saw the movie, which left me admittedly in a panic. I was worried that a film I have spent almost 3 years getting excited for was going to be a total dud. I watched and shared trailers, I talked about the movie with friends and probably got annoying about it. One of my friends was rooting for the movie to be bad just to see my shattered soul lay there on the ground. The joke is on him, however. I was smiling, laughing, cheering and crying during the movie. The trailers that have come out have shown a lot of the story, but don’t worry there are still a lot of great surprises in the movie.

Ben Affleck. What can I say about Ben, other than the truth? The way Ben becomes Batman is straight out of the animated series from the early 1990’s combined with the sheer brutality of the Batman of the very successful Arkham video game series. People have been overly critical of how this version of Batman kills people, which he does, but let’s take a second to think about that. Christopher Nolan’s Batman didn’t kill, that was a line he wouldn’t cross and that worked for that version of Batman. This version of Batman is stronger, better, faster and more brutal. He has lots a lot in his life both as Batman and Bruce Wayne. This is also not the first movie where Batman kills. I invited you to take a look at Batman from 1989, which Michael Keaton. He straight up murders people in the movie yet no one says anything about that. This is not a new thing for Batman, and it should be accepted and enjoyed. As for the Bruce Wayne part of the character, this is the character Ben Affleck was meant to play. The Batman/Bruce Wayne we all know and love, the great detective is just that, a smart character, who creates his own gadgets and tech, with the help of Alfred. Before this movie came out if you were to ask any Batman fan what they wanted from a Bruce Wayne on-screen, or what Christian Bale’s version was missing, it was that true playboy attitude with the deep and dark weight to him. This is without a doubt the best version of Batman we have ever seen.

Henry Cavill reprises his role as Superman. He debuted in 2013 to some mixed reviews but has really grown into the role of Superman. I liked him in Man of Steel, but I didn’t love him in the role at first. However, he brings it to the next level in this movie. You start to get teased to the moral conflict’s he goes through. Superman is a symbol of hope, justice and controversy in this movie. Public opinion is split on him and Henry brings a really sympathetic complexity to the role which is something I really enjoyed. Simply stated, Superman is done well and you will like him a lot more than you did the first time, whether or not you did the first time.

Gal Gadot plays Wonder Woman, a character not seen live on the silver screen ever. Wonder Woman was popularized in the famous television series of the same name played by Lynda Carter. Gal did have some large shoes to fill and all I can say is she has some giant feet. Wonder Woman/Diana Prince might have been the most interesting character in any comic movie to date. She is so mysterious. You have no idea what she’s really got going on and when you finally get that payoff of seeing her as Wonder Woman nearly brought me out of my seat. Once you see it you won’t be able to wait for her solo Wonder Woman movie coming out in summer 2017.

People have been criticizing Jesse Eisenberg for his version of Lex Luthor, but the average fan isn’t likely aware that he is actually Alexander Luthor Jr. and it is not a version of the villain that we have seen on-screen before. Jesse bring is a new approach to the psychotic super villain that we have not seen on screen before and I for one enjoyed it. He was very two-faced. Much like Batman and Superman, Lex is battling identities, he is two people. He brings an uncomfortable psychosis to the screen that helps you become invested in his evil plan, and your grow to just hate his character. Jesse did a wonderful job.

Other notable performances include Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth. Michael Caine did a great job in the Nolan versions of Batman and he was the perfect version for that series. Jeremy Irons blew me away being very hands on and invested both emotionally and by action. Batman is composed of two people in equal parts, Bruce and Alfred. Amy Adams returned as Lois Lane, who at times felt like a bit of an accessory hunting for screen time during the film, but for the most part in the film she was the aggressive journalist that goes the extra mile and works for a good story.

The action in this movie was outstanding. When Batman gets to work hunting down the bad guys, it was pulled straight from the page of a comic book as far as his action was. The actual fight of Batman V Superman was amazing, I was on the edge of my seat for the entire fight and as I looked around the theater it seemed like everyone else was in the same position I was in as well. It was the most entertaining on-screen fight movie audiences have likely ever been treated to.

While it is not a perfect movie Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is certainly worth the price of admission, maybe even a few times. You will leave the movie with a smile on your face and hungry for more.

Don’t listen to the critics who based the movie initially. This is not a perfect movie, but it is enjoyable and delivers on everything Zach Snyder said it would be. I can’t wait to see what is next for these heroes. DC is a different and darker tone than the Marvel movies that audiences love, so if you keep that in mind and know that going in, you will enjoy the movie.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: 8.75/10