Batman v Superman: No Justice

I just finished watching this. Wow, did reeseevans cut the crap out of this. And by that I mean all of the garbage that kept making you facepalm and let out a big Charlie Brown "UGH!" is nowhere to be found here!

If you're a big Bat-fan like me, or Super-fan, you'll have seen the original a few times and know there are some big pieces missing. But do not let that sway you into not watching this. If you're going to watch this, DO NOT look at the cut list beforehand. You DON'T want to know what is missing, because even though a lot is gone, this works so well that you will not be disappointed by the cuts. There will be a moment or two where you'll think, "Aww, I wanted to see that", but believe me, after you watch this to completion you will be happy for the cuts.

So as you can see from that paragraph, I enjoyed this fanedit A LOT.

There were a few issues that I had with the cut, though. First, when Supes saves Lois after Lex pushes her off the top of the building, Lois says to Supes, "You came back. You came back." With the way this fanedit was done, I didn't feel like he was even really gone. He left the courthouse, visited Martha, and then saved Lois in a fairly short span of time. Second, I felt like Lex's plan to pit BvS against each other was not as strong as it could have been. But to be honest, I don't know what even could have been done to add to this cut to make Lex look like more of a mastermind, so I'll let that go for now.

Superman's ending: a big chance, and I think it worked. I don't want to spoil that, but it is not what you're expecting at all. It's one of those endings you need sit and think about for a minute right after the scene ends, and if you reflect on what you saw and not what your brain is telling you that you saw, you can appreciate it.

The editing: SMOOTH. I don't think I noticed one single flaw in the video OR audio. Everything blended incredibly well.

Even with the little issues that I had, there weren't enough to take even one star away in any category.

The original BvS is a FALSE GOD. Kneel before this version. reeseevans, you should be proud. Thank you for this.

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.

Really a phenomenal edit, the type that you wouldn't even notice had you not seen the movie before. Transitions are professionally done both in the sound and shot selection. No story loopholes created by the editing, and brighter visuals than the original. I will say that as for the movie itself, its just good enough to be considered ok to decent and this is no fault of the editor as he only has the finished product to work with. Without the editing however, the original is a massive train-wreck in story telling and its amazing how much better it is when its cleaned up a bit. I think its safe to say the critics would not have been nearly as harsh on this film had it been released in this form.

P.S.
Would love to see Reese edit a short film (10-20 minutes) that would bridge the gap between his edit and Justice League. Perhaps, it begins with a cold intro that explains a leftover fragment of the kryptonian ship had a super weapon inside of it and then cuts right into the beginning of the battle with Doomsday, afterwards showing supermans funeral and Bruce's pledge to form the League or even the few scenes introducing Diana at the museum or something. I do agree with his decision to leave this out of his final product however, I'd be cool if he could find a way to bridge his edit with the rest of the DC movies.

This is my firs Fan Edit and I can only express enjoyment out of reeseevans' work, it is just amazing how different and enjoyable this movie is. I love the original movie because i am an addict of these characters on film, or any other media but I can honestly say that I was amazed at how good and differet this take is. Little things like the glimpse of Batman imagining Superman as a son with a mother made a HUUUGEEE difference on the famous "Martha" scene.
This edit is a different perspective of how a movie centered on Superman and Batman would evolve adding logic and fandom to everything, I really enjoyed it, thanks very much, I will be waiting for your new edits.