Probably the most highly anticipated film of the year, 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' predictably stormed the box office with $170.1 million domestic ticket sales and $424.1m global. That's easily superseding critically acclaimed hits like 'Zootopia' and '10 Cloverfield Lane', and yet it continues to be viciously attacked by critics.

Batman v SupermanIt's Batman VS. Superman VS. the critics

As it stands, 'Batman v Superman' starring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill is at just 28% on Rotten Tomatoes, actually dropping from 29% in just a day. Both would-be fans and film reviewers were left feeling more than a little disappointed at the distinct lack of any humour, the controversial ending and a lot of over-the-top production. Our own critics, Rich Cline, explained that the main issue lay in the theatrics. 'The problem is that the film is so big and loud that it can't help but feel bloated, especially since so much of what's on screen feels rather vacuous', he said.

Meanwhile, The Guardian criticised its 'quasi-religious imagery', 'superficial set pieces' and 'incoherent storytelling', and the Telegraph agreed on the latter point summarising that 'Zack Snyder's superhero spectacle is a meatheaded, humourless mess that squanders its cast and makes little sense'. Plus, they weren't the only publication to refer to the film as 'humourless'; Slate said as much, as well as slamming the Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL score as 'loud enough to rattle a buried corpse', and Empire agreed that 'a few jokes wouldn't have gone amiss'.

Watch the trailer for 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' here:



Empire also weighed in on the negativity surrounding the ending. 'A climax to a climax, it's CGI overkill, making for a generic and exhausting denouement', they wrote. New York Daily News had several scathing points to note, branding the epic as 'all angst and no adventure, a lot of fury and little fun' and accused Snyder of feeding off his idolatry for Christopher Nolan's 'Dark Knight' series with his 'fanboy fakery'.

Wonder WomanGal Gadot steals the show as Wonder Woman

It wasn't all bad though; many critics praise Gal Gadot's performance as Wonder Woman, though New York Daily News did admit she was 'mostly wasted'. However, the New Yorker said 'the winner, on points, is Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), who crashes the party and leaves them both dumbfounded'. Unfortunately, another newcomer to the franchise, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, left viewers less than impressed as EW insisted that his 'over-the-top performance' left the film 'seriously crippled'.

More: Read our review of 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'

Variety had mixed feelings, describing it as a 'very long, very brooding, often exhilarating and sometimes scattered epic' while Rolling Stone said it was 'better than Man of Steel but below the high bar set by Nolan's Dark Knight'. Let's hope the next instalment of this Justice League set-up will have more success.