Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition 2016

Once again my movie viewing was decided via a Twitter poll which resulted in the mixed bag of revisiting the epic superhero film of the year made even more epic-er with about 30 minutes of footage so it now clocks in at just over three hours. Now, if you recall my original review for Batman vs Superman, I’m not one of the haters of this film, I thought it was just fine and I have been fully expecting that this extended cut makes some improvements. It’s just so difficult for me to put three hours into a movie, especially when I know that it’s just for one of these two paragraph quickie reviews looking specifically at an alternate cut of a film that I’ve already reviewed. But I did split the viewing up over about three nights and I did still like more than I didn’t like. But boy did those moments I didn’t like stick out like a sore thumb even more this time around. Is the Ultimate Cut really the best way to view this movie? A loose maybe is really the best I can do for that question right now.

There are a few things that the Ultimate cut does bring to the table in terms of making the film seem more like a complete whole rather than a chopped together mess. And really it boils down to fleshing out the mystery aspects of the overarching Lex Luthor plot. We get to see more pieces of the puzzle as they come together as well as a little more of the tension between Batman and Superman as Clark discovers the darker path that Bruce has been on with the Bat-brand and how it affects the criminals as people. There’s also a bit more about how Superman was framed for the murder of the African encampment and had continued news coverage rather than just a small plot point. There were also a few other moments that I noticed more in this viewing that were already in the original cut of the movie like how in the opening dream that Bruce says he had been having repeatedly the only word spoken was “Martha” which does help explain why he was still fixated on that name and why it drew such a reaction. Unfortunately, even the longer cut does not make me appreciate the performance of Jessie Eisenberg as Lex Luthor any more, it still annoys me more than anything. The fight was also more of a letdown, specifically the Doomsday fight, though I still loved every Wonder Woman moment during the fight, especially her theme in the score. All in all, I did think it added to the story and characters, but it didn’t solve any of the other problems with the film. I still enjoyed it, and I did enjoy it slightly more than the theatrical cut. That three hour run time is a killer though, until next time this has been Bubbawheat for Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights.