Warning
This review contains spoilers for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Be sure to read my review before reading further. Original ReviewOn a budget of $260 million, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice grossed $166 million in its opening weekend. However, in its second weekend, its box office returns dropped 68%, though it managed to gross over $870 million worldwide. Ultimately, the film was considered a financial disappointment, not helped by the mostly negative reviews from critics and audiences. The film also earned several awards at the Golden Raspberries and was nominated for Worst Picture, losing to Hillary’s America. For its Blu-ray release, Warner Bros released the director’s cut, which was dubbed the “Ultimate Edition”, alongside the theatrical version. This version had an additional 31 minutes of footage for a total runtime of 3 hours and 3 minutes. This version received more favorable reviews and was considered the definitive version, somewhat similar to what happened to Heaven’s Gate. So, let’s take a look at Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition.
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Rating
Synopsis
Please refer to my original review of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice since the plot is relatively the same.
Review
It’s amazing how much of a difference an extra 30 minutes can make in drastically changing the overall quality. Many of the subplots that felt dropped in the theatrical version are now fully expanded upon here and make sense. For instance, a new character named Kahina Ziri (Wunmi Mosaku) claims that Superman killed her fellow villagers at the beginning. However, it’s shown that she was threatened by Lex Luthor to tell a false story to incriminate Superman. Also, the dead villagers were actually killed by mercenaries hired by Luthor, who burned their bodies to cover their tracks. This further shows how Luthor was manipulating people to incriminate Superman and explains Lois’s part in this. Later, she visits Jenet Klyburn (Jena Malone), a scientist at S.T.A.R. Labs who analyzes the bullet she found in Africa. Turns out the metal the bullet was made from was developed by Lexcorp.
In my original review, I talked about the man in the wheelchair and how his subplot went almost nowhere. Admittedly, he’s not given much more development, but we learn that the wheelchair Luthor gave him was lead-lined. This explains that Superman couldn’t see the bomb in the wheelchair since his X-Ray vision doesn’t work on lead. Another major addition is a small subplot where Clark Kent visits Gotham City to learn more about Batman. Though the scenes are brief, we see how many people are afraid of Batman and feel threatened by him. Not only does it give us a different perspective on Batman, but it explains why Superman sees him so negatively. While the film still has the same flaws, these and many other changes help make the film more complete. Overall, Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition isn’t perfect, but it’s the definitive way to watch the film.
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