(Ultimate Edition)

“You’re not brave. Men are brave.”

Batman v Superman starts off immediately with Bruce Wayne arriving in Metropolis during the events of Man of Steel, where Superman and General Zod had their big clash, ending in catastrophic destruction in the city. It's such an effective opening scene because it shows the impact that the events had on civilians, which we didn’t see a ton of in Man of Steel, but also sets up the story and feud between Batman and Superman excellently. The final shot of Bruce looking up into the sky with a distasteful look on his face while hugging a young girl he just rescued is absolutely fantastic. It's probably one of my favorite opening scenes in a comic book movie ever.

Speaking of Batman, yeah, he is definitely the best part of this film, and I would say he sometimes carries it. Other than the fact that he kills people, I think Zack Snyder nailed this interpretation of the character. Ben Affleck was not only perfect casting, but gives a fantastic performance as one of the best actors to play the character. His physique and his suit are incredibly imposing and one of the best we’ve ever gotten. He also serves as the character that keeps the plot moving the most, which is why I would say this is more of a Batman-focused story, rather than a Superman one, so I guess it fails at being a Man of Steel sequel. I think it’s safe to say that he’s the most terrifying version of the character yet, too. He’s not messing around, and the action sequences we get with him are incredible as well.

The action scenes, in general, are fantastic. The warehouse scene is one of the best put to screen in a comic book adaptation, but I think literally every action sequence is great. The actual fight between Batman and Superman doesn’t disappoint, and the writers, David S. Goyer and Chris Terrio, I think, did a nice job of making the fight make sense logistically, even if the resolution was pretty dumb. However, that’s been talked about to death, so I won’t talk about it in this review. The final stuff with Superman in the third act was just as good and immersive as Man of Steel, putting the character (or characters in Man of Steel) first and foremost.

For comic book fans, I believe a lot of us would say that this looks amazing visually, too. Zack Snyder, whether you love or hate his direction, definitely doesn’t lack style, and it shows throughout all three hours of this cut. Some shots literally look like a comic book panel put to screen, with some even being exact, or at least really accurate, replications of actual comic book panels, which I just think is awesome. The gritty and dark look fits the tone, but never becomes too overbearing in my opinion. If I had to pick a standout visual scene, it would definitely be the whole fight between Batman and Superman. The suit design of Batman goes along perfectly with the cooler color grading and the rain.

The third act, and specifically the climax, is phenomenal, too. It's epic, especially once Wonder Woman shows up, but also surprisingly poignant as well. It's definitely the best part of the movie for Superman's character arc and makes sense for this version. I love the final shot of the film, too, and think the ending overall does a good job of setting up Justice League.

However, this film is obviously not without its fair share of issues. I’ll start off with my biggest issue by a landslide, being the interpretation of Superman. The creative team basically took all of my issues that I had with the character in Man of Steel—his lack of being a beacon of hope and his lack of a Clark persona, and took it up to level ten. I really do not like what they do with the character whatsoever, and would say this is the worst live-action representation of him that we've ever gotten. I get Zack Snyder wanting to deconstruct the character, but this feels more like destroying the character. He flips the character so much on its head that it feels like a different person entirely. He literally says a quote in the movie that I think perfectly sums up everything I just said: “No one stays good in this world.” Superman saying that almost feels like the creative team giving the bird to the audience. On the other hand, as already mentioned, I do think the end of his arc is well done overall and gives a little more hope to his character.

I’ve already talked about this movie quite a bit, and I still haven’t even gotten to perhaps the most controversial thing about the entire film: Lex Luthor. Casting Jesse Eisenberg in the role in and of itself just feels like you are trying to be different, and makes the casting choice come off as somewhat pretentious and self-indulgent. Casting aside, this version of Luthor is absolutely terrible. Like Superman, he feels like an entirely different character, but even more so than Superman, though I would say Superman is definitely a bigger negative on the film as a whole because he's obviously a much bigger and more important character. Jesse Eisenberg is essentially playing himself, but if he went absolutely bonkers crazy. This version of Lex is overly quirky, creepy, and just plain odd to say the least, and it's overtly weird straight from the start.

The last problem that I’ll mention is definitely the one that’s been the most fixed with the Ultimate Edition, as well as Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League, but still very prominent, being how overly complex it is. There are some scenes that just don’t make that much sense narratively. On top of that, the film is just trying to do too much: deconstructing Superman, setting up the fight between Batman and Superman, showing the damage that the events from Man of Steel had not only literally, but within society, as well as trying to set up a Justice League movie. It's way too ambitious, to put it bluntly.

Problems aside, though, I am able to really enjoy this movie because, thankfully, the awful interpretation of Superman, in my opinion, is not the main focus, and there are plenty of things to appreciate: Batman, the visuals, the action sequences, all of which are amazing and make for a really good film in my book.