I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I really enjoyed the theatrical release of Batman vs Superman. I’ll go further out on that limb and say that it’s one of the best comic book movies so far. And sure you can go on and say how it’s inferior to Marvel movies and so on and so forth, but the only thing I will comment on the whole Marvel vs. DC thing is this. Marvel is doing action movies based on comic book characters while DC with BvS did an actual comic book movie.
So they are two very different animals and I’m not going to say that one is better than the other. Although I did enjoy the actual comic book movie than the ones that have been based on comic book characters. To support my point I would like someone to name a story arc or even a single issue of a Marvel comic that has been used in the MCU, and Civil War doesn’t count because they only used the name of that story arc. While DC used at least by my count 4 different comic book story arcs in one movie, and almost a direct comic panel to screen transition.
Now on to the Ultimate Edition of BvS. This cut of the movie made a good movie into a better movie. Most of the additional scenes added a lot to defining character motives and to strengthening the plot as well. You can take the UE version of this film and edit it down to a 2 1/2 maybe even a 2 hour and 45 minute run time and keep the relevant scenes that would have made the movie more coherent and also maintain the PG-13 rating.
So whoever did the editing on the theatrical release needs to be fired if they had all this good material to work with and yet still ended up releasing an unevenly paced movie. Another head scratcher is the R rating the UE receives. The only thing I noticed was that in the action sequences that involved guns you could see blood spurt out of the bodies and Wally, the guy who loses his legs in the battle of Metropolis, uses the F word when he finds Lex in his apartment. The added “gore” of the gun battles and the F word could be easily edited out and presto you retain your PG-13 rating.
Although in the new X-Men movies they’ve so far used the one free F bomb a PG-13 movie is allotted and Wolverine’s battle scenes have been pretty bloody as well and yet they get a PG-13 tag. I think this can be blamed on trying to ride the coat tails of Deadpool. When Deadpool blew the roof and expectations on what a success an R rated comic book movie can be there were several moves made to try to make comic book movies look even more edgy by slapping an R rating on them. The next and possibly last, with Hugh Jackman at least, Wolverine movie is reportedly going to be rated R. And the UE cut of BvS was announced around that time with, shocker, an R rating as well.
Aside from the added “gore” and “language” the UE gives you a bigger and clearer picture of the going ons of the major players, especially Lex Luthor. The theatrical release just tells you that Lex is behind everything because he pretty much says so towards the end of the movie when he’s pitting Superman against Batman and also you have to assume that he’s behind everything because it’s Lex Luthor. The UE shows you just how much Lex was pulling the strings to turn the public and Batmans opinion against Superman. It even hints at the possibility that the reason he was able to do all this is because he was possessed by another villain.
Unless my eyes deceived me there is a scene where he’s examining Zod’s body and his eyes go completely black. It could be that something or someone was pulling Lex’s strings as well to get rid of the man of steel. Which would also explain his slow descent into madness as the movie progresses until he’s ding dinging in a jail cell. But also the physical and mental abuse he suffered as a child by his father didn’t help his psyche either.
You also get a clear definition as to why Clark has such a hard on for Batman. The theatrical release just jumped from Superman doing super stuff to Clark having an argument with Perry about the Batman being a menace. You get to see Clark actually doing his job, which I got to say I enjoy seeing him do some investigative journalism just as much as I like to see him flying in his cape. And by doing his job of being a reporter, because really in the theatrical release you got the feeling that he never does his job since Perry is always hounding him for not doing his articles, he finds out how Batman has been terrorizing criminals. Although there is one scene that I found a little too on the nose when Clark talks to the girlfriend of the dead gangbanger that Batman branded. She tells Clark that words don’t work on someone who brands people, only fists do. I don’t think you can even call that foreshadowing. She might as well have said that Superman needs to fight Batman so justice can prevail because you know the movie is called Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, in case you had forgotten.
Overall the portrayals of Clark as well as Superman are handled better in the UE. I know there are complaints that Superman isn’t a beacon of hope like in the comics or the Reeve’s movies. The UE doesn’t fully convey that version of Superman but it does brighten him up a little bit more than the theatrical release.
I do wish there was more Wonder Woman in the UE because she was just awesome and they could not have gone wrong with adding more Diana Prince. The one added scene for Batman that I thought was awesome was a small clip they show of Batman breaking into Lexcorp to steal the Kryptonite. If you’ve played any of the Arkham video games you’ll recognize the swoop down move he does to capture one of Lexcorp’s security guards. I wish they had shown the break in when it was happening, at least like the swoop down clip where they could showcase a couple of stealth moves or takedowns.
There are several scenes that they could have done away with completely. For all the secrecy surrounding Jena Malone’s role her scenes don’t amount to much in terms of plot or character development. Maybe that’s why they were keeping her so under wraps. Other throwaway scenes involve Alfred chopping wood and carry it back to the modern house by the lake for no apparent reason but show that this Alfred can hold his own because he’s chopping wood in an Ascot. And you also get a gratuitous butt shot of Ben Affleck when he’s getting ready for the gala event at Lex’s house. Again for no apparent reason but to show that Ben Affleck is physically capable of filling out the bat suit, maybe. I don’t know. But trust me, after going through Joel Schumacher’s bat suit nipples, this scene isn’t that shocking.
The Ultimate Edition takes a flawed movie and smooths out most of the rough edges. If you enjoyed the theatrical release like I did, it makes you appreciate it even more and it rewards you with a few more comic book references. Which I have to say is a real treat when you’ve spent many years reading comic books and a movie comes along and not just gives a nod to the source material but actually lifts plot points or lines from the comic stories you have read. If you disliked the theatrical release the UE might change your mind about it but only mildly. I do say give it a watch if only to give you more ammo for your pointless arguments of how bad the movie is. The theatrical release of BvS was a flawed exercise in doing a faithful comic book movie. The Ultimate Edition shows us what could have been if someone at Warner Bros. actually knew how to edit a movie.
Great Review. Was thinking of reviewing it also. You beat me to it. Great stuff.
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