Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (The Ultimate Cut)

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Plot

During the final battle between Superman (Henry Cavill - swoon) and General Zod (Michael Shannon/Body Double) in Man of Steel, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck, aka Sad-fleck for this movie.  A mean name I felt, but he does look sad a lot here, poor love) is in downtown Metropolis, just in time to recuse one of his workers' from under a steel girder, be on the phone whilst the manager of the Wayne Enterprises office is destroyed in the fighting/demolition of the building, and give a little girl a hug whilst looking moody and angry at the on-going alien pow-woo battle over the city.

Broke-back Gotham

Credit: Clay EnosCopyright: © 2014 Warner Bros.
Entertainment Inc.,
Ratpac-Dune Entertainment

Move forward a few years and Louis Lane (Amy Adams) is doing what she does best, finding trouble and getting rescued by Superman.  Since the last movie, there's been an ongoing debate about Superman and his powers.  Some people like him, others such as Bruce Wayne, Senator June Finch (Holly Hunter) and Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) have different thoughts.  Using his considerable power (aka - Money talks, he knows secrets, naughty Lex), Luthor gets access to the body of General Zod, then set off a plot to bring the downfall of the Man of Steel, using Batman (aka Bruce Wayne - I know, I didn't see that coming either) as his instrument of paaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnn (© Mark Henry, WWE)!  Meanwhile, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) is also trying to find information from Luthor, being all mysterious and making people jealous and confused, who is this mysterious lady (who indeed).

It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it!

Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Entertainment

Copyright: © 2015 Warner Bros.
Entertainment Inc.
, Ratpac-Dune Entertainment

With various scene of looking back with a moody expression, a court explosion due to a legless man subplot that kills half the subplots in one go, the film continues until Batman and Superman have fisty cuffs, with Superman being told that he has to kill Batman of his mother Martha (Diana Lane) will be killed.  Cue a rather long barney rubble (fight for you Yanks who are reading this), which only ends when Superman reveals that his mothers' name is Martha, the same as Moma Batsy.  As Batman runs off to save Matha Kent, Superman heads off to have words with Lex, who's back at the Super spaceship.  It's at this point that Lex unleashes "Doomsday", aka the creature created by Lex via diabolic means (off-screen).  There's another big barney, this time with Wonder Woman (I know, never saw that one happening either) turning up and having a go too.  Superman and Doomsday are both killed in the film (what!!!), Superman is buried, as is Clark Kent (and still no-one guesses they're the same guy), with Sad-fleck asking Wonder Woman to help him find the other Meta-humans.  Supermans' coffin starts to vibrate, end film.

For a more detailed version of the plot, with less swearing, you can read the Wikipedia article here.

Reaction

Good points

+ If you have ever since the theatrical cut of this movie, you will know that it's a bit of a mess, by which I mean that it's bloody awful.  It was too rush, too dark and didn't make sense in place.  The Ultimate Cut (why not call it the Directors' Cut, that would have been much better) have thirty minutes of extra footage, including some extra plot point.  It does fill in the movie, giving some scenes more depth.

Swoon!

Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Entertainment
Copyright: © 2015
Warner Bros.
Entertainment Inc.
Ratpac-Dune Entertainment

+ The casting of Henry Cavill as Superman (although this was for Man of Steel) was perfect, he is a better Superman than Christopher Reeve, as he does both parts perfectly, not just one (sorry Mr Reeve, but we still miss you.  RIP).  Seriously, the man can act, he also can make his own computer and is into nerd things.  Me and Mr Oyston might have a man-crush on him,  swoon.

+ This was the debut of Ben Affleck as Batman, and I think he was one of the better points of this movie.  He had to be sad a lot, angry a lot and talk in a gruff voice.  He also brought the older version of Batman to life, which really worked for me.  I really enjoyed the opening scene when he was running around, trying to help and feeling helpless.  It was well-acted, no Martha shouting, he looked vulnerable and pissed off in equal measure.  A believable performance from a great actor, someone who gets too much shit (so of which is his own fault, but not on this one or JL).

Sadfleck sad, give him a cuddle HC!
No credits, could not find any.

+ The first half of the movie does have some good points, the build towards the courtroom scene is great, your internal itching to have someone beat up Lex, the mystery of who Diana really is (not really, just grasping at straws in a way) are really good.

+ I prefer the moody direction for DC movies, it suits the product and the characters.  Whilst I do love all my Superhero movies, regardless of studio, the grim reality that the DC universe is set just seems to work for me.

+ The computer file introductions of Cyborg, The Flash and Aquaman were very good.  Small hints at what was to come, creating a little bit of intrigue.

+ Whoever thought of Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth deserve a knighthood (see what I did there), a perfect Alfred! 

+ You could say it's not as bad as you heard (again, straws being grab at).

Bad Points

- This film is still very messy in places. It tries to put into one movie about three films worth of content.  You needed a slower build towards the inevitable Justice League film, but DC was trying to catch up with Marvel Studio at the time.  This would be one of many mistakes by DC/Synder. The many, many, many mistakes.

Creepers gonna creep!
No credits, couldn't find any.

- Jesse Eisenberg is just awful as Lex Luthor, just awful.  I've tried to defend him before, but this re-watch just confirmed his portrayal of the legendary character was just a swing and a miss.  Also, following of from Gene Hackman, that was a tall order for anyone.  I'm sorry Jesse, it's not you....actually, it is you this time, please don't be Lex again.

- The whole "Martha" thing was another cop-out, one which saw them go from almost killing each other to best buds in seconds.  They also trusted Wonder Woman too fast for my liking, she might have been a rogue agent! I know, splitting hairs on that last point, but I do think that they went from "stabby with a kryptonite spear" to pally-wally far too fast.

- Since when have Metropolis and Gotham been that close!!!! I know a lot is going on in this movie, but come the fuck on!

- Jimmy Olsen as a CIA agent!!!  I can understand you trying to do a spin on this, but this sort of this brings my geek anger to full keyboard warrior.

Look at me with my BIG BURNING
EYES!!!!
No credits, couldn't find any.

- The use of Doomsday is up there with Bane being Poison Ivy's lackey in Batman & Robin.  You could have had a whole movie with Doomsday, but it was reduced to twenty or so minutes of us wondering what could have been one brilliant fight-movie.  A missed opportunity on a legendary piece of comic book history, more lost Synder points.

- Whilst we're on the subject, why did Batman rescue the Super-Mom?  I know that Doomsday is more attached to Superman, but the audience didn't know it was Doomsday at this point, so it makes no sense to send his new best-cape-buddy to rescue his mom!  Unless, and this is a long shot to be honest, unless he thinks they should be dating.  No, that's just creepy, forget I said it.

 - I've always had an issue about DC films not using people who portray characters on DC TV Shows.  Whilst Ezra Millers' Flash is a delight, Grant Gustin was already delighting the world on The Flash TV show.  I know that this has all been sorted with the recent Crisis of Infinite Earth Arrowverse TV special, where the two Flash's meet, but it's been a long time coming to sort this.  It's always felt like a slap in the face of the TV product, but that's just me (as well as a million other nerds).

- Whilst we're dealing with the Flash, why was that bit when he popped up in raggy clothes not mentioned in Justice League.  Big continuity error Synder, you lose Synder points for that!

Final verdict

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (The Ultimate Cut) is a messy movie, no matter which version of it you watch.  For all the good that Synder puts it to the film, he also throws in far too much into the mixer, which creates an overcooked plot, delivery and the long, long, long ending.  As I mentioned earlier, you plot devices which could have fueled three other movies in this one film, giving the film an air of desperation.  At one point in the ending, I was sure I saw two hobbits with a ring, it was that long.

Business, business, business!
Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Entertainment
Copyright: © 2015 Warner Bros.
Entertainment Inc.
, Ratpac-Dune Entertainment

For the most part, the casting is spot-on, Henry is dreamy as ever, Sad-fleck is really good, so good that I'm Glad-fleck  (see what I did there, I'm hilarious.... please stop crying).  The casting of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman is good, even if not exactly Glamour-zon for my tastes.  However, she is one of only a few people that seems to have anything heading towards substance.  Everyone after that, and we're including Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne et al play out parts with a 1-d flourish.  They come and go, they're on and off-screen without so much as a bye, or a leave. Jesse Eisenberg, on the other hand, is so good at being punchable in this movie, that he ruins what could have been an average performance and takes one of the best villains and makes him a douche canoe.

Yet, for all it's faults, for all the problems, BvS: DoJ is still a watchable movie.  I mean, OK, I won't be watching it again this year, even if Covid-19 is keeping me indoors, sad times but could be worse.  But I've watched this three times now, I must have some sort of enjoyment there, or maybe I just like trash-superhero-beat 'em up's. For my money, I can see the ideas within the film, all fighting for their moment to shine.  They achieve this to various degrees of success, but I like a few parts of it.  The Batman dream sequences are pretty good, Superman saving Louis was actually fun, Alfred with his no-so-thinly-veiled barbs at Bruce, there's no CGI moustache, I could go on (but not for much longer).

No Synder, I will fix it! Leave it alone!

No Credits, can't find any,

At the end of the day, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (The Ultimate Cut) is the best version of this movie.  Yes, it couldn't have been much worse, but it does fill in a few blanks.  I still think that the current DC Universe is too rushed and all over the place.  The TV and Movies don't link, which gives it a Jeykll and Hyde vibe.  BvS: DoJ is a product of that "KEEP EVERYTHING SEPERATE, IT WILL MAKE US STAND OUT FROM MARVEL! LOOK, WE'RE NOT FOLLOWING MARVEL, WE'RE SEPERATE" mentality that is part of the mindset.  I'm not going to be saying anything shocking here, it's not like I think it should've won an Oscar or even a Saturn award.  But it's looked down on a little too harshly, it just needed someone to have attempted to keep the script in one piece.  If you've not seen it, give it a go as it fills in some gaps.  Just don't expect anything more than an "alright" movie, one which is better than a couple of Marvel films, but not many.  Another thing it's got going for it is that it's not Aquaman, that is a whole other blog.  File under "leave the brain at home".

5 out of ten - Slap bang in the middle, not cause too much trouble or harm, but not doing much good either.