Four ways the Ultimate Edition of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice makes the movie better

Though the additions made in the Ultimate Edition of Batman v Superman are in some ways small,  there’s little room for doubt when it comes to their impact on the film. Zack Snyder‘s vision of the DC universe still falls a little short of its ambitions but it’s much easier to stomach what he’s trying to do here compared to the film’s original theatrical cut.

Here are four things the ‘Ultimate Cut’ makes better.

A Darker Knight

Snyder’s Batman (Ben Affleck) isn’t the one you know. At the start of the film, he’s painted as crusader who kills criminals rather than just incapacitate them.  Hell, we get scenes of Bruce taking pills to deal with the stress of crime-fighting in this cut of the film. Over a decade of crime-fighting has worn him down and made him more disillusioned than any previous live-screen versions of the character.

it-s-the-bruce-wayne-show-in-dc-s-final-batman-vs-superman-trailer-835876

All up,  he’s more of a vigilante than a hero. The Ultimate Cut spends a bit more time exploring this by including more scenes of Clark investigating the bat of Gotham. These scenes help better establish how this version of Batman fits into DC’s cinematic universe.

Even if the film’s take on the character may not be your thing,  the extra screentime still undeniably benefits for film.

Lois Lane and Jenet Klyburn

The other big beneficiary for this extended cut of the film is Lois Lane (Amy Adams).  In the original cut, she didn’t get much screentime and came off as a bit of an afterthought to connect the film to Snyder’s Man of Steel.

04df84a56409b0177dfd358b6cbed02b1511c8f7424feade0363564a7809e6a5

In the Ultimate Cut, this aspect of the film feels much more developed and her role seems a bit more consequential. Her subplot also serves to introduce Jenna Malone‘s character Jenet Klyburn to the DC Universe.

batman-v-superman-jena-malone-wb

While small, she’s remains a fun addition so expect to see more of her in Flash and Cyborg‘s solo films.

There are less plotholes

There are plenty of plot conveniences and contrivances that critics threw at Batman v Superman on release to list here. While this cut of the film doesn’t fix *all* of them – it does fix a few notable and major ones.

Batman-V-Superman-Ultimate-Jimmy-Olsen

A more logical explanation is given for why the public thinks Superman is responsible for the massacre in Africa and the transition of the Kryptonite from Lex to Bruce is more clearly Illustrated. There’s even a reason given for why Superman fails to foresee the bombing of the senate hearing.

Across the board there are some pretty savvy changes made and they definitely elevate this version of the film over the original release.

Lex’s endgame is better

Aside from the lengthy/unnecessary ‘Knightfall’ dream sequence and the introduction of the different Justice League members via email attachments, the worldbuilding in Dawn of Justice was a little weak.

Lex-Luthor-Batman-V-Superman-communion-scene

One of the biggest additions in the Ultimate Cut addresses this. Entitled “Communion”, the deleted scene sees SWAT soldier infiltrate the Kryptonian ship to arrest Lex,  stumbling on him as he’s using the ships tech to make contact to an unknown alien entity.

As a loose-end it’s much more compelling than stuff like Superman’s “death” and as a sequence its one of the most visually memorable in the film. Is it worth buying the ultimate edition just to see?  Not really.  However, if you’re looking to pick up a copy of the film to rewatch before Justice League hits cinemas,  you’d be crazy to choose the theatrical version over this.

———-

This content has recently been ported from its original home on The Iris and may have formatting errors – images may not be showing up, or duplicated, and galleries may not be working. We are slowly fixing these issue. If you spot any major malfunctions making it impossible to read the content, however, please let us know at editor AT theaureview.com.