Batman v Superman: No Justice

simply amazing. if this was the official version it would have reshaped the dceu

This is my first review for a fan edit so I'm going to try and dwell only on the editing itself, rather than any inherent problems with the source film.

Batman v Superman: No Justice addresses many of the complaints I had with the two official cuts; too much clutter and several odd takes on well-known characters. First of all, this film whips along at a decent pace. I originally only intended to watch the first twenty minutes or so (it was getting pretty late) but, before I knew it, I had sat through the whole thing. Reese keeps things moving and, even though it's nudging over the 100 minute mark, it never gets bogged down with jarring B-plots or distracting setups for future films in the franchise.

I was pleased to see that Amy Adams gets a lot more screen time as Lois and doesn't feel like the 'damsel in distress' she did in the theatrical cut. The Batman scenes and the titular fight are still present and correct and the edit does an excellent job of setting up the climax to the film. Also, Lex Luthor has been toned down significantly. It's still not entirely apparent why he was doing what he's doing but there's definitely less quirky, over-the-top hamming from him.

From a technical standpoint, I can't really fault the edit. I've seen other fan edits where it's apparent that a scene has been truncated or that dialogue has been clipped, or scenes have been repurposed as transitions instead; not so here. Everything fits together well and I'd be very interested to watch this film again with someone who has never seen BvS, just to see what they made of it. One *minor* thing that didn't sit 100% right with me was the transition from Lex Luthor's fundraiser to the Superman rescue montage. It's clear that Reese was aware of this as well; they used a scene from Man of Steel to try and bridge the gap as well they could but it's only a very minor detail and it certainly doesn't ruin the overall experience.

Because the entire Doomsday fight is omitted the film does wrap up a little abruptly at the end but, again, this might be something I'm only noticing because I have seen the official cuts. The ending is certainly a lot more upbeat, too, which goes some way toward lifting the rather dour tone of the source material.

One last thing; Wonder Woman is (almost) completely removed from the cut but there is one brief little scene where she appears in the background and I thought this was a very smart move by the editor. It feels like an 'easter egg', a subtle appearance by Diana Prince that you might not notice if you didn't know what you were looking for and it plays out much more organically than the, "Hey look, it's Wonder Woman!" approach of the official releases. Considering that the standalone Wonder Woman film has been received so well, I would even go so far as to say I much prefer this subtle nod to future films, rather than the cheesy, hero montage we got in studio cuts. Less is more, as they say.

Anyways, two thumbs up and I will almost certainly be watching this again and keeping an eye out for other edits by Reese. Good job.

Batman v Superman is a complex, overly angry and edgy beast, but much like DC's recent ''Rebirth'' iniative in the comic books, sometimes hope is all you need to tame it. The original film has very little of that in it, from the themes, character motivations, the lousy editing, to the very colour grading, and all in the name of needless franchise-building which, frankly after seeing the original, you're left in a quandry over whether or not the rest of the DCU is worth any investment.

Thankfully here, there is hope. The edits are seemless, the grading is bright, and there is no clutter. The main event is the centerpiece of the movie as the title demanded, and the ending is more in-line with how Clark and even Bruce ought to be.

We did not come here for the Justice, but with this edit, you can stay for the dawn.

Without a doubt, the best version of this film I've seen. The tighter runtime helps the film tremendously!

When I first watched this movie in cinema I think I almost fell asleep. So many unnecessary moments and sub plots.
I really applaud this edit for making the movie much more enjoyable (especially the ending, feels much more fitting).
I recommend this fanedit to anyone who felt like the original BvS was not good. This version fixes it.

Thank you reeseevans!