Where do I begin? Oh, yes. Despite its first theatrical release 4 months ago, I did not make a quick review on this blog because 1) I have no comment to say about it given our underwhelming reactions to what we thought would be a Batman/Superman movie worth waiting, and 2) there is a 3-hour long, R-rated extended cut that I know is what the BvS experience should have been like while still retaining stuff that most people find uncomfortable. I made a Facebook note that jots down a lot of details that I believe that Zack Snyder (I named him one of the "worst directors of all time" next to M. Night Shyamalan!) and the guys involved could have avoided without repeating the same upsetting mistakes from Man of Steel. It felt like as though I might have made a mistake being excited to see Batman v Superman even though Captain America: Civil War is what I'm waiting to see this year. Watching the first trailer of that last year and then another set of them prior to its first debut reminded me how much that promising blockbuster event could have turned out if they didn't have a lot of things that could spell, how do I put this? MAJOR LETDOWN! No matter the spectacular action and visual sets, especially Ben Affleck's Dark Knight Returns-inspired (yet murderous in a controversial way to fans and critics) take on the eponymous Bat Vigilante, it's sad to see that everything gets to be majorly criticized because Warner Bros. and DC thinks that it's "good" to make it all dark and gritty in an out-of-character way. Especially when they absolutely mishandled Superman's iconic bald-headed archenemy that deserves better in the live-action movies. Just like Superman who's had way too many mediocre movie adaptations after the first two critically-acclaimed Richard Donner films. Perhaps the studio should know that Superman was never supposed to be in the same league as Batman just by acting so full of misery because Snyder thinks it's necessary to make his actions, heroic or not, relate to our real-life events when that's not how the Superman concept works. But when I looked at the initial reactions to the Ultimate Edition (which came out on Digital HD June 28th and on Blu-ray/DVD July 19th, which I finally bought this week), they were instead generally positive which gave me some enlightenment that perhaps the DC Extended Universe might not be such a terrible idea after all after suffering from such a debacle that almost killed off any chance of that happening like it did to Sony's Spider-Man Cinematic Universe. So, I decided to give myself to see if the Ultimate Edition will justify everything that Batman v Superman has most people were extremely uncomfortable with, even if it whether or not alter the overall movie experience and initial criticisms (already rated 27% on Rotten Tomatoes, 6.9/10 on IMDb, and granted a CinemaScore grade of B) for diehard fans in the similar vein of the superior director's cuts of Daredevil and Kingdom of Heaven. I mean, they're the ones who praised Ben Affleck's first time playing Batman despite being undeservedly hated for his murderous actions.
When I first saw the movie at home last week on Saturday night, I think it was much better than my first viewing at a theater. The Ultimate Edition does make the plot more coherent, if only they didn't really hype the long-anticipated fight which only lasts like a few minutes. I mean everybody despised the part where Batman stopped killing Superman because he uttered the name "Martha", both shared by their respective mothers, yet we all should know that it is because he finally saw the humanity in Superman, and comparing him to how his father also said his wife's name before dying, which is why he frustratingly threw away the Kryptonite spear as though he was becoming the man who murdered his parents. What hasn't changed however, is the awfully cringy to painful lines uttered by Jesse Eisenberg's so-called Lex Luthor (said to be the "son of the ACTUAL Lex Luthor", who we could have had, but no!), no matter how better improved is his plot to motivate both of DC's most popular heroes into fighting each other in this new cut (explained by extra stuff like Clark Kent's Batman investigation, the death of a branded criminal plotted by Luthor's thugs, and the suicide bomber's wheelchair being lined with lead making it immune to Supes' x-ray vision). And even if everybody likes this more than the studio-based theatrical cut, what's to stop them from criticizing the final act with the even more destructive battle between the Trinity (Superman, Batman, and WONDER WOMAN!) and Doomsday (cloned from General Zod's dead body) when it was said to be too much of a last-minute addition to an awfully-crowded plot that WB and DC were clearly struggling with if they're willing to compete with the Marvel Cinematic Universe? And yes, it did feel like it's too soon to (SPOILER) kill off Superman when bringing in the Doomsday monster when he just starred in the DCEU a movie ago. But without that, then Bruce and Diana would not have been inspired to build up a Justice League by finding the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg (no matter how "cheap" their teaser via email was handled). And Bruce wouldn't even have to consider going back to his 20-year-old no-killing rule hence why he instead spared Lex Luthor from viciously branding him in prison.
This major crisis wouldn't have happened if Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer only knew that perhaps not every DC hero needs to be like Batman because dark and gritty does not always equal success. If they wanted to portray our favorite superheroes without making them as cold-hearted murderers, they could have at least watch the better-written and definitive DC Animated shows like Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited than just looking at comic book pages and then not bother reading their entire stories of how noble and heroic they need to be. And if they wanted Batman v Superman to earn $1 billion before earning just $872 million, they would have like taken their time reading and approving what works or doesn't work in the script, despite being rewritten by some Oscar-winner like Chris Terrio. If I can guess one major reason why critics are dissing them, is this: too much destruction. Maybe Zack Snyder could at least tone it down a little and make the preserving people's lives a major concern and priority for heroes to worry about no matter how overpowered most superpowered beings can be. It could be the reason why Captain America: Civil War was instead better received and actually did earn over $1 billion. At least the plot and the reason that our favorite heroes are against each other were so easy to follow without finding them extremely convoluted like BvS's. Guess Marvel is "better than DC", in terms of live-action movies, no matter how "forced" the humor was that many people would find such a big deal to complain about instead.
But the point is, I actually liked the Ultimate Edition of BvS. Definitely on par with the excellent extended cuts of say the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the underrated albeit overlong Watchmen. I totally recommend that to people who might have been upset with the outcome of the final cut at a movie theater that the studio lazily favored over Snyder's. The best thing about that, regardless if they were hated for no reason, was the fact that at least Ben Affleck's Batman is more terrifying and a truly excellent fighter unlike the previous Batmen in the outdated films, which is what fans absolutely want, correct? Although they really need to work on making Henry Cavill's Superman more likable and not so easy to hate (since Superman IV and Superman Returns) for being so mopey even in a situation where he was feared by many people around the world for being an outcast alien before he was eventually seen as a martyr after death. They also need to better clarify questionable and stupid plot holes like Lois throwing away the Kryptonite spear into the water abyss only to retrieve it again later on and nearly drowning herself during the Doomsday fight. And having seen the Comic-Con trailer of... JUSTICE LEAGUE! It looks to be that the promotion of Geoff Johns and Jon Berg as head of the DC Films Division has paid off! And with the enthusiastically positive buzz of next month's Suicide Squad, it looks like that the newly-built cinematic universe of the DC superheroes are starting to look toward a brighter future!
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