BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE ULTIMATE EDITION ( 2016 )
| Rated | R |
|---|---|
| Run time | 3 hours and 2 minutes |
| Number of discs | 3 |
| Format | NTSC |
| Language | English |
| Actors | Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams,Jesse Eisenberg,Diane Lane |
WARNING! SPOILERS!
(For those that care)
After the events of 2013's MAN OF STEEL, it appears that Batman a.k.a. billionaire crudmugeon Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) is pissed off at Space Jesus.....ahem, I mean Superman (Henry Cavill) for simply existing, or something. It seems the incredibly rich and paranoid sociopath believes one day Superman might be a destructive tyranical influence on human culture. He may have garnered this opinion by watching the last 20 minutes of MAN OF STEEL, who knows?
Along the way, we are introduced to boy genius Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), who shares Bruce Wayne's xenophobia, but is far less benevolent. He's building an anti- Kryptonian deterrent that involves the dead body of General Zod (Michael Shannon) and a wrecked Kryptonian spaceship. Oh, and a little bit of his own blood, because Lex is apparently batshit insane in a non-entertaining, scary way.
This leads to Luthor manipulating events so that Superman and Batman have a reason to inevitably start kicking the shit outta each other, other than to lend legitimacy for the title of the movie. To do so, Batman puts on a really cool robot suit, and decides Suoerman is a cool guy due to them having a maternal figure that shared the name "Martha".
Luthor unleashes his doomsday biological weapon, aptly named "Doomsday", and then Wonder Woman (Gal Godot) shows up to help the newly acquainted Super Buddies battle the monstrous scientific abomination, either due to a heightened sense of moral obligation. ...or, because she's on the posters for the movie, too. I haven't decided which....
The trio then proceed to defeat the big, blurry CGI brute via a combination of Wonder Woman's rockin' new theme playing on the background score and Batman telling a bad joke.....oh, and Superman impaling the monster and himself on a giant spear made outta kryptonite. Hell yeah!
Superman sacrifices himself , leaving the Caped Crusader and the Amazon Warrior Princess to stand around looking poignant while pondering the fate of the remaining future sequels and spin off films to the fledgling franchise.
THE END.
I'm a lifelong comic book and superhero aficionado....I began my crazy trek through fandom in 1979, and have never stopped. I still read roughly 60 to 70 titles a month (depending upon what miniseries, one shot, annual or graphic novel that comes down the pike at any given month). I have an upstairs stacked to the brim with 35 years worth of long boxes, and a Silver and Bronze Age collection that's the envy of several local comic shop owners. So, it's needless to say that whenever new multimedia adaptations of comic book source materials come along, I'm interested. And, generally, if it's a good film...I care. Passionately. Especially these days, when Hollywood special effects technology has finally caught up with the four colors comics page and we can actually see literal personification of funnybook heroes presented on screen. I mean, you're talking to a guy who openly wept the first time he saw THE AVENGERS (2012) theatrically, because he was finally seeing some of the shit he had mentally running around in his head since age 5 come to life.....and, every person that was surrounding me in that darkened theater that night was having the time of their lives and digging it, too.
I should have cared about BATMAN V. SUPERMAN....but, surprisingly, I didn't. It's not that it wasn't a good film. The casting was superb, and performances were great. I'm of the opinion that Cavill is striking as Clark Kent/Superman, and Affleck as Batman (despite all the early naysayers) nailed the part. Godot is surprisingly charming as Wonder Woman, despite the small amount she's given to do with her role in BVS. I'm eager to see the upcoming solo WONDER WOMAN film because of this. I even dug Eiseberg's boy genius take on Lex Luthor,,even though at times in the theatrical cut of this film he seems way too manic and in danger of chewing scenery.
I think my problems with this film lie within the theatrical cut of this movie, what with it's disjointed chaotic structure, breakneck pacing and overwhelmingly confusing plot. It suffers from feeling like you're watching five films at once, but only having the attention span to ingest one. Certain characters motivations are unclear, or seem to change haphazardly. I remember walking away from my first viewing of BVS wondering what exactly was Luthor's reasoning for any of his actions.....and, why the fuck was Batman so angry?
The ULTIMATE EDITION fixes this with it's added footage which clarifies some confusing plot points. Luthor's machinations and intentions are clearer, and some of the lingering questions about incidental characters are answered . It's a better, less confusing film due to the new info brought to light.
Plus, the 3 hour plus runtime makes it a slight chore to sit still and watch.
I think my problems with this new cut now lie with it's general tone. As I said, it's a good movie....but it's general tone and atmosphere are dark and earnest. Earnest in a way that it constrasts with the fantastical elements of the story. They don't gel as well as the earnest nature of the tone of, say, Nolan 's DARK KNIGHT trilogy did. There's no joy in this film. There's anger and violence, but no joy. The heroes in BVS aren't ideals, they're expressions. Superman is a martyr, Batman is paranoid and angry, Wonder Woman is reactionary and protective.
I don't want to strive to be any of these heroes, not like I did with their comic book counterparts when I was a kid...I want to help these superheroes get some therapy.
BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE ULTIMATE EDITION is entertaining, but while the casting and performances are commendable, the feeling the tone of the film leaves viewers with is the cinematic equivalent of castor oil. It'll probably help whatever ails ya, but it's a bitter pill to swallow.
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