This movie is iconic for the comic fans, and hit or miss for the average movie goer

Rating: 10/10 (29 March 2016)

This movie ranks among one of the best movies (not just super hero) ever made. I think any advanced reader/movie goer who wanted to see the depth of how far a writer/director could take these characters will get an absolute treat. Anyone else who wanted to see a generic Marvel film filled with one-liners, less character building, and a lot more action will be thoroughly disappointed. . Zac Snyder managed to incorporate some of the best parts of the DC/Marvel classics in this film - from ideas incorporated in Mark Waid's Kingdom Come and Marvels, and Dan Jurgens' run on Superman. Blend those with the exploration of metaphysical ideas of dark vs light, personal responsibility vs identity, 20th century ideals of justice vs 21st century public relations, and you have what I believe is a masterful movie in the comic book genre.
What many critics fail to understand it's up to the writer and artist to take the character where they want the characters to go. Many non-comic book readers don't understand that with a passing of the torch from one writer to the next, there's also a slight identity shift of their favorite characters. Some writers take the Dark Knight to a much darker place just like Zac Snyder did, some don't, and end up giving you (entertaining) characters with much less depth.
The artistic choice to make Batman darker was in part to contrast Superman's 1950's ideals and simplistic forms of justice. What most people did not realize is that the transition from Nolan's more idealistic Dark Knight to this more lethal and pragmatic version of Batman comes from two events - 1. Joker kills Robin - which is spotlighted by the costume in the Bat cave with the words, "Hahaha, the joke's on you." and 2. Bruce Wayne witness to a 9-11-type cataclysmic event and the destruction of a Wayne building. There were many hints of how Batman became who he is, but Zac played this out for the well-versed comic book readers, and didn't breastfeed it to the average fan. In many ways, Christopher Nolan's Two-Face foretold the fall of the Bat, "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become a villain." To the well-versed comic fan, the transition was foreseeable, to the average fan – I can understand their confusion.
Moreover, critics failed to realize one of the major themes that resonated throughout the film – the dichotomy of the human race and the Meta-human race. In the comic book universe, (Kingdom Come) the US government became very skeptical of the destructive powers of the Meta-humans. As the Specture observes in Kingdom Come, "Long have these mortals suspected they are no longer the captains of humanity's destiny." Both Batman and Lex Luther symbolized the fear and as Alfred puts it - "the feeling of powerlessness that turned good men cruel." Congress tried to wrestle away Superman's political power by holding him accountable, and the president tried to take away Superman's actual power by nuking him in the sky. Lex and Batman both tried to take away Superman's destructive potential via kryptonite. Luther serves as catalyst to bring about the human vs Meta-human war so that humans can reclaim the reigns of power.
Many critics also didn't comprehend the philosophy of Lex Luther and how Jesse Eisenberg justifies killing Superman in his frenzied, Zuckerberg 2.0 manner. To me, Luther's iconoclasm is all over the script - "God is all powerful but he cannot be all good. Or he can be all good, but not all powerful. They need to see the fraud you are." "The oldest lie in America is that power can be innocent." The logic of Lex is simple – Superman is a false God, and much like how Joker tried to push Batman to the brink of darkness (and later succeeded), Luther was set out to antagonize Superman the same manner. In many ways, Lex represents the metaphysical loophole in the 1950's ideology of justice – there is right and wrong, but what if you are forced to do one wrong (kill the Batman) in order to do a right (save your mother) – are your actions just?
Moreover, numerous critics also fail to realize the significance of the title "Dawn of Justice." While it hints at the Dawn of Justice League of America, Zac Synder also uses the title to symbolize the justice served by post-Robin-Batman. Batman's branding perhaps equated a dusk of Christopher Nolan's idealized version of Batman, it takes Superman's heroism in order to reawaken Batman to his own dawn. "I failed him in life, but I cannot fail him in death." Bat's transformation is shown in the final encounter with Lex Luther, Batman could have branded him, but struck a wall instead to symbolize his awakening.
As Mark Waid writes in Kingdom Come – "Here before you is a clash of good against evil, of course, but more than that. There are clashes of judgment, clashes among different interpretations of what is good and what is justice, and clashes over who is to suffer the wages of the evil born of our best intentions."
For an advanced movie goer - this movie was iconic. For the average movie goer, it's hit or miss.In many ways for me, Zac Snyder took what could have been a generic film and made it profound, his inquiry into the meaning of justice, the depth of his characters,the sociological impact of Meta-humans, advances comic book story telling more than any Marvel film to date. The fact he would dare even attempt this mature way of storytelling gives me faith that other future creators can take what Zac left them with and take it even further, even against the opinions of the critics.