Batman v Superman: No Justice

I wasn't a big fan of Batman v Superman. I thought the story had some big issues, and it the movie itself felt overly long. I was excited when I learned of this edit and hoped it could do the movie some justice...and it did! There are still a few overall plot issues, but for the most part this edit does a decent job of refocusing the movie where it needed to be, which is on Batman and Superman. As much as I liked Wonder Woman in the original version, I didn't miss her appearance here and I highly enjoyed the re-worked third act. Doomsday was terrible in the original version, so I was glad to see him removed in this version. While I'm not big on how the fight between Batman and Superman resolves itself, I felt it worked much better in this version over the original, and the ending seemed fitting. I was pretty impressed with this edit and glad I got to watch it!

Right from the outset, I doubted Batman V Superman and upon seeing the movie, I was right to be doubtful. It tried to do way too much in two-and-a-half hours and didn't really succeed in what it set out to do. The Ultimate Edition helped it a little, but it still felt like it was the same movie, just with more violence and better editing. Removing the bloat (Wonder Woman, Justice League members, Doomsday, Darkseid, Steppenwolf, etc.) saved this movie. Reese did a fantastic job at distilling this movie down to what it should've been about: a story of god vs. man and the responsibilities of men with power. It transcends from being awful to actually being a great superhero flick. Nothing deep, but fun as hell. Now, sure, there's no getting rid of the Martha scene, but in this cut, it's less "Oh, your mom and my mom have the same names; let's be friends!" and more "He may be an alien, but he's also a person with people who love him and if I kill him, I'm no better than the kind of scum that killed my parents." Plus, Batman brutalizing people actually worked pretty well as a finale. Hell, this edit gets a perfect ten on the grounds that it removed that nonsensical Jolly Rancher scene.

Despite all the groaning awkwardness, terrible forced plot points and lack of characterization in BvS I love the characters and enjoy the film, but I had no idea how much more I could love it until I saw this edit. Cutting out all the JL references and removing the awful Doomsday 3rd act, replacing it instead (and rightly) with the titular battle between Bats and Supes, this is a far superior cut. I actually prefer this film far more and it leaves me wishing WB/DC would just stop connecting their films and trying to emulate Marvel and just make good, standalone films. If Chris Nolan taught us anything it is to make a film stand alone, complete. If you were ever on the fence about the original BvS, watch this and enjoy it for what it always should have been. Great work.

Having watched both the theatrical and extended edits of this film, and being a big fan of Superman and DC in general, I was left disappointed that there were so many undeveloped themes in the film. You had a political thriller, a standard blockbuster, a personal journey for both main characters and set up's for future films. Yet they were a complete mess, none seen through in a satisfactory manner. It wanted to be too many things and ended up being nothing. So when I heard about this edit I was desperate to watch it and I was not disappointed. Out goes the Justice League and Darkseid teasers, out goes that God awful Doomsday (I could go on a long tangent about how they should have used a Brainiac/Brother Eye almagam instead which would have allowed them to keep using Michael Shannon in future films and also explained how Lex knew who they were and had been spying on them), and no more Wonder Woman.
Instead No Justice gives us what the film originally promised, Batman v Superman! It is fantastically edited making good use of all the relevant scenes and putting them into an order that helps develop the story and better explain some of the more confusing/ridiculous parts (yes, the whole "Martha" part. It's still there, but due to what is in that scene you can't make the film without it and it still make sense).
This film ws elevated from dreadful to 7/10 by the clever editing. Which in my mind means this edit deserves 10/10

I have to say, after viewing the theatrical cut only twice (I find no reason to watch the ultimate cut) this is quite an improvement!. Right off the bat, I found a much improved film with vibrant colors, faster pacing that gets right down to the nitty gritty and a much more coherent plot. Sure, there are still issues and flaws to be had, but imo most of those are embedded in the script and can't be fixed with even the most drastic of edits. Most of Jesses Eisenburgs awkwardly/quirky moments are thankfully gone (though I will admit he is having the most fun in the whole thing), using the ultimate edition as the source was wise as it does take care of some gaping plot holes, and we finally have a movie that lives up to the title, Batman v Superman, not "shoe horned team gathering/monster movie". Could there have been anything else worth taking care of here? Maybe, and aside from slightly varying PQ time to time, I can't help but easily recommend this edit to those who really didn't like what we got last year.