Review: Batman V Superman – Ultimate Edition

When Batman V Superman was released in cinemas, the internet, social media and just about everything else exploded. This was either the greatest film ever made or the worst. There was nary a review in between and it seemed that only wildly extreme reviews (both personal or professional) were getting any air. I can understand some of that reasoning as we have two loved characters, together in a film for the first time, so the expectation levels were off the charts.

HEAVY SPOILERS! IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY SEEN IT THEN STOP READING OR PREPARE TO BE SPOILED!

So, now we have an “Ultimate Edition”, which includes 30 odd minutes worth of stuff that ended up cut from the theatrical version. So, I guess the biggest question is: does it make it better? Well, yes, it does. Much better, in fact, but if you didn’t like the film in cinemas, then this probably won’t sway you, especially in the first two acts. The things that were cut seemed frivolous in length, but they fill in the gaps, give the story more depth, context and generally make it a better film. There doesn’t seem to be anything superfluous that is inserted back in. The big moments like the Metropolis destruction scene have little moments inside them which helps make the scene flow and, in some cases, make far more sense. Take the scene where Bruce Wayne sees the child standing there in the ruins of the building before saving her. In the theatrical cut, the child just appeared there, whereas in this cut, you see a line of children holding hands being lead out by their daycare leader walk past Bruce Wayne. In about 3 seconds (that’s literally how long the bit adds), it gives that small scene context, something that was missing from the theatrical cut.

One thing we get way more of is Superman. If you thought the film was Batman heavy, this goes some way to balancing this out. Superman’s place in the world and who he is is not exactly explored more, but it is certainly fleshed out a bit more. You see the vunerability of the character through simple things like a call to his mother late at night and we get a small sequence that explains why Superman wasn’t able to detect the bomb in the senate hearing – which is baffling why they left that out. You see him investigating the Batman (as Clark Kent) and that gives you more of an overall view of how Superman arrives at the idea of stopping the Batman.

There is a little more Batman as well. We know that this Batman was done fighting crime and just wanted to punish the bad guys, but we get just a few tidbits that reinforce this, including a series of cheques sent back to Bruce Wayne from Wallace Keefe, with goading notes like “you let your family die” and, least of all, Alfred who mutters a few lines about good guys turning bad.

The Ultimate Edition also gives a much better view of Luthor’s plan. It points out just how meticulous his plan is (despite what you may think of his motivations or how mightly over complicated it may be). He baits Batman, and then you also see a result of what happens to criminals being branded with the Batman symbol, orchestrated by Luthor, some photos of the murdered prisoner, blaming Batman for the death, sent to Clark Kent, pointing out that Luthor knows who he is. Sure it doesn’t answer all the questions, but fills in many gaps.

This cut, however, doesn’t fix up the problems in the 3rd act. It is still all over the place, spectacular as it is. Wonder Woman is still amazing. However, we get another two small scenes, one of which was released previously, involving Steppenwolf and Luthor and in yet another bizarre editing choice, the Batman threatening Luthor in prison scene. Batman actually mentions Arkham Asylum – why the hell would you leave that out? It adds ten seconds, barely, but is a small call out to Batman fans.

It is bizarre that this edition wasn’t the theatrical cut. If it was for time constraints, then beef up the film and make it a two parter. Plenty of epic runtime films have done plenty well at the box office, so I struggle to see the logic here. Never the less – the Ultimate Edition is the better version of the film. If you liked the film in the cinemas, then you’ll definitely love this version. If you didn’t… Well, this won’t change your mind, but will fill in some of the gaps.

Ryan Morrissey-Smith