Review: Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition

Does Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition present a better film?

Batman v Superman has come and gone in theaters. It certainly has it’s share of fans, but generally speaking, it failed to get the critical and box office reception it was expected to have. One of the biggest problems critics had with the film (myself included) was that it seem very poorly edited with a ton of things just seemingly missing or not explained. Batman v Superman was one of those movies that tried too cram in far too much and yet left so much out that needing to be told.

But lo and behold, word came that the video release of Batman v Superman, aka Batman v Superman: The Ultimate Edition would feature a cut with 30 extra minutes. The word was that these 30 extra minutes would significantly improve the film, but also give the film an “R” rating, which would explain why that cut didn’t come to theaters. I mean not only would 3 hours probably considered too long, the rating would cut out a significant chunk of the movie’s potential audience. Does the Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition present a definitive version that significantly improves upon the theatrical release?

OBVIOUSLY HUGE SPOILERS FOLLOW. DO NOT READ ANY MORE IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT BATMAN v SUPERMAN: ULTIMATE EDITION.

So if you don’t know the plot of Batman v Superman or my initial review upon seeing the theatrical cut, you can delve more into that in the actual review here. You’ll note that while I had plenty of issues with the film, I don’t think it’s the worst superhero film of all time like some seem to be claiming (i.e. the latest Fantastic Four was way worse) and the positives I found (namely Ben Affleck and Gal Godot) I was really enthusiastic about.

So I assume everyone wants to know what makes Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition, an R-rated movie? It seems to be one of those things where they literally had to cut just one or two little things. There might be a little more blood spatter in the scene where Batman fights the warehouse thugs rescuing Martha Kent. Scoot McNairy’s wheelchair-bound Superman-hating character says the “F” word once (though usually you can say that once and still get a PG-13 rating). Honestly it’s kind of puzzling what exactly pushes this into “R” territory compared to the PG-13 theatrical release, but if you know anything about the MPAA you know their ratings system is incredibly arbitrary anyways.

As far as “improving” the film, the extra 30 minutes of Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition isn’t some kind of magical bullet that instantly fixes the problems most people had with the film. In fact, really it hardly fixes anything. You see Jena Malone’s pointless, much theorized about character (she’s a lab scientist in one scene), the scene after the courthouse explosion is a little longer. It doesn’t fix grumpy emo Superman. It doesn’t fix Batman killing a bunch of people (which honestly I didn’t have as much of a problem with as most, but that was a major complaint). It doesn’t fix “Martha” or any of the other hackneyed dialogue (the whole “Do You Bleed” scene, lines like “Men are brave”). It doesn’t fix the scene where other movies are advertised through an email or Doomsday being a particularly awful special effect and Superman very needlessly sacrificing himself and dying for a further painfully unnecessary funeral scene that’ll be reversed in the next movie.

The one thing the 30 extra minutes of Batman v Superman: The Ultimate Edition does is show a little more of Lex Luthor ocherstrating things behind the scenes. He had the Russian dude who might have been KG Beast roast the bodies in the desert. He hired that woman who spoke out against Superman, than had her killed when she had a crisis of conscience. He lined that explosive wheelchair with lead so Superman couldn’t possibly see what was inside until it was way too late.

But even that raises more questions. Ok, let’s forget the whole Lex Luthor knows the secret identities of Superman and Batman thing even though that isn’t revealed til the end of the movie for a minute. They shot the bodies before burning them. Any examination would point that out, so how does anyone believe Superman did that for one second? And as for the chair lined with lead, HOW DOES LEX KNOW ABOUT THIS? THIS IS NOT COMMON KNOWLEDGE. Again, this could’ve been solved with like a 30 second scene showing Lex Luthor finding out that yes, Superman can’t see through lead, but like with so many other problems with the film, they just decide something is without explaining how it came to be. And really, no amount of extra footage will fix that Batman v Superman is still two very different disparate stories (Death of Superman and Dark Knight Returns) awkwardly crammed together into one barely cohesive film. So in case you have figured it out by now, this extra 30 minutes of footage in Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition really shouldn’t change your opinion of the film, good or bad.

But the extra footage isn’t all there is to Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition. It comes loaded with a couple hours worth of special features focusing on everything from the characters that form DC’s vaunted trinity to the making of the Batcave to even a little thing about saving the U.S. bat population. It’s very extensive, but still no really deep dives, so your mileage may vary wildly.

The standout feature is probably “Uniting The World’s Finest”, which talks not only about Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, but the other members of the Justice League and the characters in the upcoming Suicide Squad film. In fact, they talk about Jason Momoa as Aquaman and Ezra Miller as Flash so much you feel like they should’ve been in the movie for more than 30 seconds.

It’s disappointing that while they talk a lot about how they made the film, there’s no real exploration as to why, Like why make Batman v Superman as opposed to just Batman/Superman, what was behind that thought process (and guess what, if the fight last only a few minutes and isn’t the title of the film, THAT MAKES IT OK)? There’s no commentary, no deleted scenes that didn’t even make into the “Ultimate” cut and not even a gag reel. So even with a pretty wide array of features, I still feel like Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition disappoints in this area.

So as much as I am complaining, I’m not here to bash someone for liking Batman v Superman. If you liked the movie, absolutely pick up Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition, I feel with the extra footage and all the special features fans of the film should absolutely own it.

But that 30 minutes of footage is not some magical cure-all so for anybody who didn’t like it in the first place, this doesn’t really fix any problems most people had with the film. I’ve actually seen this movie 3 times now (once by myself, once with my wife who is the biggest Batman fan I know and she likes Batman & Wonder Woman but hates the rest of it and now the Ultimate Edition) and I like it a little less each time.

FINAL SCORE: 6.5/10

A copy of this blu-ray was provided to Caped Crusades by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment for the purposes of review