Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) is caught up in the destruction that Zod and his soldiers are raining down on Metropolis and neighboring city Gotham.  18 months later, the world is divided over Superman (Henry Cavill) where some see him as a hero (or even savior) while others see him as a threat like Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg).  Lex Luthor is manipulating a few players including the US government, Superman, and Batman while keeping files on various super powered beings. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) is having dreams (which may not all be dreams as they may be glimpses into a post-apocalyptic future) and tracking down the head of a crime ring which involves a certain powerful billionaire.  Clark Kent (Superman’s alter ego) wants to pursue the story on the Bat of Gotham as he believes he is a menace (yep, Superman is being a little bit of a hypocrite) while he is trying to balance his responsibility of being Superman while protecting his girlfriend/ fellow reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) from danger.  Editor in Chief Perry White doesn’t want Clark to cover the story which does reflect the environment of newspapers struggling to survive as they compete more and more with the internet and the decline of print newspapers.

 

I liked BATMAN v SUPERMAN even though the plot is too cramped and convoluted with a few continuity plot holes (characters being given info to further the plot and Lex Luthor being all knowing without explaining how he knows certain things).  I felt MAN OF STEEL had more room to breathe and it has less continuity holes than this sequel does. The movie has lots to introduce and set-up, but I hope the R rated extended cut does solve some of these problems.   I do like the Affleck’s jaded Batman and the introduction of Wonder Woman who feels a little underused until her showing up to help Batman and Superman fight a big threat at the end.  I did love the movie and I feel they did what they could with all of the moving plot pieces which have to serve as a Justice League prequel, introduce Batman and Wonder Woman, be a Man of Steel follow up, and have Lex Luthor manipulate people.  Maybe BATMAN v SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE is a little too ambitious and it could have used a longer running time or even a film (or two) to lead into it like at least a BATMAN solo film (and maybe even a WONDER WOMAN film which we are getting next year).  I hope that the WONDER WOMAN movie probably fleshes out Wonder Woman while the two part JUSTICE LEAGUE movie gives the story enough time to breathe on how Batman and Wonder Woman put the team together in addition to introducing the big threat of Darkseid along with resolving the big dark cliffhanger of BATMAN v SUPERMAN.  I enjoyed watching the movie where the only real problems I have with it is the plot is a little too cramped and I am not the biggest fan of what they did with Lex Luthor in this movie.  

 

The Ultimate Edition is 30 minutes longer (and R rated).  It shows Clark Kent actually doing some investigating (in addition to being the reporter who doesn’t listen to his editor) along with other additions.   The Ultimate Edition makes BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE a better movie that flows better despite some flaws of it being a better Batman movie than Superman movie with Wonder Woman shoehorned into the plot.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

UNITING THE WORLD’S FINEST- the cast and crew discuss the movie along with footage from the new SUICIDE SQUAD movie

GODS & MEN: A MEETING OF GIANTS- a look at the teaming up of the two characters over the years in comics (and the conflicting views between the two) leading up to their first appearance together in a movie

THE WARRIOR, THE MYTH, THE WONDER- a look at the history of the Wonder Woman character over 75 years and the character’s impact

ACCELERATING DESIGN: THE NEW BATMOBILE- behind-the-scenes look at how they designed the new Batmobile

 

SUPERMAN: COMPLEXITY & TRUTH- focus on Superman/ Clark Kent in the new movie along with the costumes for both characters

BATMAN: AUSTERITY & RAGE- look at how Ben Affleck trained to be Batman and watch Affleck and Snyder discuss Batman in he new movie

WONDER WOMAN: GRACE & POWER- a short look at Gal Gadot’s character and footage from the solo WONDER WOMAN movie out next year

BATCAVE: LEGACY OF THE LAIR- a look at the production design of the new Batcave

THE MIGHT AND THE POWER OF A PUNCH- a look at all the training and planning that went into filming the fight between the two title characters

THE EMPIRE OF LUTHOR- an exploration of the new take on Luthor for the movie and the history and origin of the character in the comics

SAVE THE BATS- the cast and crew discuss their efforts to help the bats from extinction

 

Theatrical trailer for SUICIDE SQUAD (theatrical disc) and a trailer for BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE (Ultimate Edition disc)

 

The theatrical version in standard definition on blu-ray and the ultimate edition in digital HD available for downloading or streaming with Ultraviolet HD

 

 

 

FINAL ANALYSIS: BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE is still too cluttered, but the ultimate edition makes the plot flow better.  The extras are well produced and I hope the next DCU movies have learned from what went wrong with this movie.

 

This review is ©7-28-2016 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

Like Enterline Media on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/enterlinemediaweb and follow on tumblr at http://enterlinemedia.tumblr.com