Batman v Superman: No Justice

Massive improvement on a bloated film. The end kinda deflates a little, but when considering the source material, this is about as good as it's going to get, folks.

Hey, good job reese. Great edit, the motivations of Batman and Superman are really clear, not as hidden under extraneous layers as the original, and the FIGHT really works as the climax of the film.

The ending in the bath is a little odd, though - Lois' facial expressions don't really work - why is she so sad? - everything's great!

The picture quality is superb. Pity it's 2.0 sound, but it's good quality, so it's ok.

Thoroughly enjoyed watching it, very impressive.

Right at the outset, I'll make it clear that I enjoyed the original ("Ultimate") cut of BvS.

There's not much I can say here that hasn't been written in other reviews already. This was an astounding edit. Everything that's been cut (about half of the film) isn't missed at all and allows for this to be viewed as a standalone movie or as a sequel to Man of Steel equally successfully.

The only (VERY nitpicky) criticisms I have of this edit are that the murder of the Waynes was kept at the start, the Day of the Dead scene was kept, and that the audio is in stereo. That's it. If I wasn't actively looking for things to irk me, even these wouldn't be there.
My reasoning for the former is that this edit already seems to assume knowledge on the viewers part, which is in no way a problem with such well-known characters. Everyone knows Batman's origin and I, personally, have seen and read it so many times now that I just don't need to see another take on it ever again. Though, I do realise cutting it would mean redoing the opening credits from scratch over another sequence (perhaps the montage of Superman heroics?)
The Day of the Dead scene is all down to individual taste. It just felt a little bit out of place to me in this edit (and the original, for that matter). Seeing Clark start to undo his tie in the previous shot is enough of an indicator that he's off to save the day.

The omission of all of Batmans kills is also done extremely well and feels more in line with Frank Miller's version of the character. The only kill that is kept is very well justified as an exception to the rule by use of a well-placed flashback.

In my mind this is a damn near perfect edit, and probably as good as someone could possibly do with the source material. I'm not likely to watch the original version ever again unless I'm marathoning the DCEU films but, let's be honest. I'll never do that anyway... unless Reese can cut them all to this length ;)

SPOILERS...etc

Batman vs Superman: No Justice

Much much better. The film is now a cohesive narrative. Where it doesn't always make sense is where it is supposed to have misdirection in the narrative. The characters now have the capacity to pull some empathy and curiosity from the viewer. Even Lex Luther is passable - That cannot be overstated as I was convinced his miscasting and theatrical direction was unrecoverable. Don't get me wrong, Luther is never going to be the Luther this film needed, but he is now not the problem. Taking out the staggeringly unimaginative “end of level baddie” trope also took out a lot of Lex's worst offences too.

The omission of Wonder Woman was simply necessary to do anything with this film and although she was a reasonable casting, this film needed to focus on BVS. Simple as. I barely remembered she was missing until well beyond Lex's party. Kudos. Alongside the other much smaller character cameos, WW was a DC world building factor and with the lead weight story line her original inclusion contributed to taking the viewer out of the titular premise and it's previously overstocked palette of patchwork fan service that in turn many fans ultimately didn't digest anyway - the email attachment bullshit, flash backs and dreamscapes. As cool as some of those were in isolation, a good film needs to engage positively without chewing off sprocket teeth with ill fitting elements that are better suited as teasers or even whole other films.

The gushing of men-children aside, this film was originally a beautiful shipwreck at best under the simplest scrutiny. My only reservation (and it is a very minor nitpick considering the narrative and footage available to the editor) is the time frame between the Martha moment and the batwing, as Affleck changed wardrobe quicker than Axl Rose for the rescue at the end ;)

So here's the thing I was unsure would work as it didn't originally... Martha. For the first time I gave a genuine damn about this. It carried weight without the corn , thanks to the streamlined edits and cheeky inserts – and although I personally don't mind how dark or violently malicious Batman gets in principle, it is also thanks to the empathy now possible for an audience to grant Bruce Wayne when he isn't murderous or gaining immense immoral inertia – again thanks to further tightening edits. I'm ok with his sadism though ;) - righteous and kick ass is righteous and kick ass however it is sliced. The narrative arc isn't now overshadowed by the bulking low brow set pieces that are blissfully now lifted from the shoulders of the film.

The grading is still dark but not so muted. Superman doesn't appear as if he will start flicking peanuts into bar mirrors. Neither does it go for a sickly overly saturated kodacolour moment. Fairly dealt with. Grading is pretty subjective though, and we all have different screen settings and capabilities.

So yes ok, some tasty and dynamic shots are not present, but a good film appears from the pyroclastic cloud amongst the lone horses and confetti of discarded cinema tickets :) An outstanding film fix. Thank goodness they made it so long in the first place to let a heavy edit come in at a feature length still.

No Justice is what the original could, or should, have been. Streamlined, coherent and with a decent story that is actually comprehensible now. All the edits are justifiable and the cuts executed perfectly. I saw or heard no flaw and had to remind myself it was a fan edit I was watching. Great work!

The tracking device on the truck I had minor problems with, but then again, the original don't leave much room for working around it. Unless Batman knew Superman would intervene, of course, and therefore had a backup plan.

From the removal of all things Justice League to the color correction (which adds a nice touch to Znyder's eye for visuals), I find this edit a wast improvement over the original. Luthor is good, the "Martha"-scene is understandable, and Batman is just a tired crime fighter instead of a totally out-of-character murderer. No Justice is the most fun I've had with this movie yet.