so with the release of zack snyder's justice league just around the corner and having done
a video essay on man of steel i thought it was the perfect time to do an extended video on batman v
superman and in particular an analysis for the ultimate edition of the film this is a three
hour version of the movie that can be found on the blu-ray releases and it's one which
really maximizes the potential of the plot and gives us a better understanding of what snyder
really tried to do with the project i'm going to be discussing why this edition of batman v
superman was so much better and why i personally think the film deserves more love than it gets i
am covering zack snyder's justice league when it releases later this week so don't forget
to subscribe to the channel and turn on your notifications so that you don't miss out on any
of this content also if you enjoy this video remember to give it a like rating but without
further ado let's dive into why the ultimate edition makes batman v superman a great film
so after watching batman v superman dawn of justice at a special midnight screening in 2016
which included a double bill with man of steel i left feeling weird i liked the film
but i thought that something was wrong and my main critique was the pacing of the movie there were
plot points such as the important one of superman being questioned after the incident in africa that
felt like it could be a really good one to explore but there was something missing fast forward six
months later and the ultimate edition of batman v superman was released on blu-ray this version
of the film included 30 minutes more of footage and really allowed the film to have more time to
set up all of the elements it was juggling more importantly it included a few early scenes which
focused on this superman conflict and brought more tension to the film come the second and third act
now the film still presents a weird feeling but one that involves seeing these iconic characters
being placed in a deep situation and questioned over their very purposes
i think it's unusual for the audience to see superman so down and batman so unhinged but
in regards to the story and the mythology of these characters this is the right approach for
what snyder was going for and i must say after many re-watches i really appreciate what he did
to the point where i think the ultimate edition of batman v superman is actually a great film
coming to the plot of bvs we know that superman has arrived recently while others like batman
have been in this world for a while so we get to know this universe from superman's point of view
but we also learn batman's one now many criticize the reasons behind the fight between superman and
batman but i think those criticisms were too influenced by the mixed up feeling left by the
movie mostly due to pace and cuts if we analyze the plot itself on paper it's a good one the main
one is the possibility of superman being a threat and whether we are willing to let that happen
we get this feeling through bruce's perspective and we understand it right from the beginning
when he sees his whole building and the city of metropolis being destroyed right in front
of his eyes we can actually feel his rage when he looks up to the sky watching superman fight
zod the consequences of the existence of a being like superman are disproportional and
unlike anything we could ever imagine and since we can blame him for bringing those threats just
like bruce said to alfred that he brought the war to us there's every reason to take down superman
along with the main plot we have all the political religious and society aspects mixed in and that
makes batman v superman an interesting film to begin with with the theatrical cuts my and many
others main critique was the pacing and this was understandable when you watch the ultimate edition
everything feels so much smoother has time to breathe and manifests better in the mind of
the audience you notice easily every cut which has been removed from the theatrical version
and watching the movie in its whole as it was supposed to be and as zack snyder had in his
mind from the beginning it can really make you change your mind about how everything works
this is clear from the beginning when superman comes to save lois in the african desert
there were actually many cut scenes in this part and when you get to see this scene complete the
rest of the movie makes more sense and the plot events hit that much harder for example we see
a more detailed version of how superman is the victim of a conspiracy making him seem like a
bigger threat to the opposite side with the whole movie and pace being smoother than the original
we now film more of the tension that zack snyder had tried to set up compared to man of steel where
it's based only on superman batman v superman dawn of justice also doesn't have quite the same amount
of action but we have much more at stake and the tension which increases from the beginning
lasts through till the very end the action scenes get more intense and close to each other
when we approach the end of the film which makes sense as we finally get to know the outcome of
the story with doomsday now i do think that there was a lot that snyder tried to put in this film
and it might have been better to focus more on the elements in the first two acts of the movie
such as the dilemma with superman and keeping the rage from batman there but regardless of this the
third act does form the outcome of the conspiracy with lex luthor and having a clearer picture
of what he was up to makes the third apps also hit that much better with the ultimate edition
this is where we come to the action of the film and the faithfulness that snyder does also keep to
as mentioned above there are not many action scenes compared to man of steel they are
calculated and escalate progressively in batman v superman but from the car chase with the batmobile
the battle with doomsday batman's warehouse fight and against superman it's just the right amount
with the right timing during the movie we already know how superman fights but to see this new
batman is delightful he fights the way we would have expected from the comics and in a way that we
never had the chance to see before and we have all the batman toys so smoothly incorporated into the
movie too he's been around for a long time and he uses his weaponry as we would have expected from
the caped crusader just like wonder woman uses her bracelets but also suddenly uses her shiny lasso
without the need of telling us anything they all are iconic characters with iconic abilities and we
don't need to waste more time on certain details that we already know about them but what the plot
and action focuses on is the tension that is built up throughout the film and this is the integral
element that keeps everything streamlined and interesting and the actual confrontation between
batman and superman is perfect it doesn't change a lot with the ultimate edition except for a few
cuts but if we pay attention superman does try to talk to batman but doesn't have time to negotiate
and has more important things to do like saving his mother batman is stubborn and superman is only
left with the option to take him down quickly despite this we do see the pure goodness that
we expect from superman the fact that he doesn't want to kill batman otherwise he would have done
it already now for the one saying the fight was too short it's important to note that
in this grounded world we have essentially a human fighting superman one laser through the skull
one sharp move one snap of the neck or pound to the ground and it's done batman is not zod and
can't take superman's hits for too long even though he doesn't want to kill him
and if superman wanted to the fight would have been shorter to make a fight between them lasts
longer would only be illogical but we do see the technical advantage that batman can bring
and with it all the rage he has been put through this is where we come to the martha dilemma
this is the most discussed scene in the whole movie which has resulted in many parodies being
created from it but this resolution didn't shock me batman is a tortured soul due to his parents
death and his nightmares stem from it the last word coming out of his father's mouth before he
died was martha as a rich and spoiled child bruce was close to his mother and she was everything to
him now i'm sure a lot of viewers didn't realize that both batman and superman's mothers had the
same name but like the movie shows us saying martha's name triggers batman's trauma and seeing
superman down on the ground struggling to say his mother's name reminds bruce of his father saying
the exact same words and while standing there ready to kill him it places bruce as the murderer
and he realizes in this moment how far he'd taken things even in a general way he realizes how much
of a fanatic he has become what sense would it have made for superman to say this in a direct way
instead of giving her name he's superman and he doesn't have a family anymore to the eyes
of anyone so he has to be more specific on top of that we would also be wondering whether they both
know each other's alter egos already batman is the greatest detective and superman is well superman
as clark kent and bruce wayne there was already a tension between those two characters earlier
in the movie and lex luthor increased it as he obviously already knew who they were but in this
moment the alter egos are removed in the moment of potential death it's become personal and we
get into the soul of what drives these two men if man of steel was about fathers batman v superman
is about mothers and the very first scene of the movie ingrains this into the audience's mind
in conclusion batman v superman critiqued two of the greatest icons in pop culture and with this
it brought a heavy response unfortunately today's society is all about criticizing and
proving who's best and if anything the film was self-aware in highlighting this with the turn of
ben affleck's batman in the story with many comic book movies on the big screen applying the same
methods and appealing to the masses a film like bvs was always going to get the response it did
in this landscape at the end of the day film is subjective and regardless of what i think
or what you think there's always going to be a range of reactions to a given piece of art
the thing i love about bvs is that there are so many different reactions to the film
which shows it's done its job in making us think about these titans a little deeper and it makes
us want to revisit them in this adaptation as time passes that's what great art does
and the ultimate edition is one which fully allows all of these discussed elements in the film to
breathe and makes plot beats such as the court explosion scene appear even more powerful once
we've seen more context a lot of films work better in not showing you certain things and keeping
the mystery but the ultimate edition of bvs is different seeing the bodies being burned and how
it's framed on superman constructs an exaggerated form of manipulation in the mind of the viewer and
this is much more powerful to see once we're introduced to the character of lex luthor
and how the world currently looks at superman we see manipulation in the real world on a daily
basis whether it's through the media politics or certain conflicts and zack snyder tried to craft
a film that we could all react to whether it be positively or negatively he certainly got that
reaction but if you haven't watched the ultimate edition of batman v superman dawn of justice
i would definitely recommend watching it as in my opinion it is much better than the theatrical
cut that released in theaters i don't think the movie is perfect but it's one that i really like
because it forces us to see these characters in a different light and context while striving
to make us ask questions of them the more i see the ultimate edition the better it gets
and hopefully as time passes many more audiences will form their discussions on the film too
but that was my video essay for the ultimate edition of zack snyder's batman v superman
again it's all subjective and i'm sure many will disagree with my points but it's great
that a film like this can create so much discourse and re-watchability over the years
that we are still talking about it today we'll have to see how justice league turns
out on march the 18th but after revisiting man of steel and the batman v superman ultimate
edition more recently it definitely gives me the added excitement in the build up
let me know down below what your thoughts are towards this edition of batman v superman and do
you agree with the points i have raised in this breakdown for more videos on zack snyder's work
including the director's cut of justice league when it releases later this week then subscribe
to the channel and turn on your notifications also if you enjoy this video remember to leave
a like rating but anyway i hope you guys enjoyed it i've been cortex and as always make some noise
you