The debate continues to rage on what kind if film Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice is. I admit I liked this movie when it first came out. Saw it 6x in theaters. A record for me. My mood watching it all six times remained relatively the same. I just liked it. I didn’t feel it was a great film or a bad film. It was good. Just…good…and for the longest time that bothered me. Why couldn’t I have seen a great film starring 3 of one of the biggest comic book characters of all time?
When I heard about an ‘R’ Rated 30 minute longer Extended Cut coming out I needed to find out what was cut. There seemed to be a lot missing from the theatrical cut. From trailers to promotional images to cut scenes. Particularly what happened to Jena Malone. So I bought the Blu-Ray 4 years ago this week and…the first viewing I actually had a long day so I couldn’t stay awake. Re-watched it the next day and…I loved it. I loved what was put back in so much I think it’s amongst the best Comic book movies ever made. I don’t think a different version of a movie ever completely made me go from liking something to loving something.
So what did the Ultimate Edition get right in my opinion? I think a big change I saw was how they cut from Superman spearing a terrorist to a courtroom. It just didn’t flow well there and there were other examples of that. I felt Superman’s motives for going after Batman felt forced and quick by simply seeing him on TV. The way he had motives in the Ultimate cut was significantly better. It felt like this version did Superman so much more justice than what the final product did. More Clark Kent investigative reporter. More clips of Superman helping people. There wasn’t much added that did all that many favors for Bruce. We get a shower scene with him. And of course, we also see Lois do more to clear Superman’s innocence and Jena Malone’s character wasn’t actually Barbara Gordon. It was a Star Labs scientist.
Other than making Superman look better I can’t say it changed the movie all that much but I think the Ultimate Edition is great because it made Superman feel more important. When he had his own film prior and felt less developed in the follow up I think that really rubbed me the wrong way. The film has it’s flaws. Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Lex Luthor I’m still mixed on even to this day. I know what they were going for I just don’t know it translated well into live-action. I think he had clear motivations as to why he hates Metahumans & heroes and his quirkiness maybe just from child abuse.
Batman already had the best parts in the theatrical cut so he didn’t really need to have any fundamental changes to him. Same with Wonder Woman, Alfred, Perry, J’honn, etc. The one character I think they did better justice too outside Superman was Jimmy Olsen. We all kind of knew it was Jimmy in the theatrical cut but the Ultimate Edition made it clear this was indeed the Elseworlds FBI Agent Jimmy Olsen.
With both Editions, there will always be divisiveness to both. Some people think my love is a placebo effect caused the theatrical cut was “so terrible.” No, I can still watch the theatrical cut. I find it to be ok. But I’m always going to prefer the Ultimate Edition. If we only had the 3 hour cut as the theatrical cut I think the hate would not have been anywhere near as strong as it was. The one criticism I have with the Extended cut is it didn’t really need to be rated R. I think this decision along with the decision to make Birds of Prey Rated R was because of the success of Deadpool. What works for one doesn’t mean it has to work for the other. It’s a soft R to be sure. It also didn’t need to be 3 hours even though the better pacing makes it feel even shorter.
I am definitely looking forward to the Director’s Cut of Justice League coming out next year. It will feel like a proper conclusion to Snyder’s DC Universe that started with Man Of Steel.
9/10
