Before I start this review, let me just mention that I hated, yes hated, the theatrical cut of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The editing was sloppy, the writing was mediocre at best, the story was given no context, and the character motivations weren’t stressed enough. With that said, this new extended edition doesn’t get rid of the sloppy editing and writing, but it does add context to the story (specifically the Africa sequence), which in turn helps the story flow better.
We had heard that Warner Bros. executives got to see a screening of BvS late last year, which was followed by a standing ovation; I believe this is the cut they saw. It’s that much better. In the added thirty minutes of footage, we don’t get any new action sequences or major plot points, but what we do get is smaller character moments that help the film breathe a bit. For example, we see a few added scenes of Clark, not Superman, in Gotham City gathering information for a story Perry assigned him; it doesn’t sound like much, but in a film all about spectacle, action and another ‘end of the world’ type catastrophe, small character moments are what this film needed.
Lois Lane is much more of a complete character in this cut. In the theatrical version, Lois seemed to be there only to progress a plot point or further the impending feud between Bats, Supes, and Lex, whereas, in this one, she feels like an actual character. We see more of her being a reporter for the Daily Planet and her relationship with Clark, which eventually leads to the audience mourning with her more on a more personal level when Superman sacrifices himself to kill Doomsday.
Just like the theatrical cut, Wonder Woman is undoubtedly the best character in the movie, as Gal Gadot delivered her limited amount of lines with authenticity and killed it in the final fight with Doomsday.
While the extended edition of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice doesn’t fix the awful “MARTHA” plot point, Jesse Eisenberg’s joke of a performance, or the lousy script, it does make the story feel more complete with added context to the Africa scene and added personal character moments. If you didn’t like the original cut, I recommend that you check this new version out and judge it on its own merit.
