Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition – Blu-ray review

By Tribute on July 19, 2016 | 4 Comments


Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Blu-RayWith a name like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it’s no surprise there’s a lot to unpack here.

Superman’s (Henry Cavill) battle against General Zod in Man of Steel practically destroyed the city of Metropolis.

When Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), a.k.a. Batman, was in Metropolis and witnessed one of his employees lose both of his legs under the rubble of the ensuing battle, it caused him to develop animosity towards Superman.

In turn, Superman, under the guise of journalist Clark Kent, has formed a strong dislike for Batman. The Dark Knight has been targeting Gotham’s poorer neighborhoods and the criminals he stops are usually economically disadvantaged.

Batman doesn’t like Superman behaving with impunity at the expense of civilians, while Superman doesn’t like Batman’s aggressive vigilantism.

That makes sense, but what doesn’t make sense is what reason Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) has to hate Superman. Lex Luthor wants to use Kryptonite to protect the Earth from others like Zod, or possibly even Superman. Luthor gives some confusing pseudo-philosophical monologues about how his father beat him, and so he lost his faith and stopped believing God was good. Therefore, Superman is not to be trusted? That’s not a strong enough motivation.

So what does the movie do right? Well, the special effects are great. Special effects have gotten to a point where Superman looks 100 percent believable. It really does look like a man is flying. Everyone is physically well cast for their roles, with the exception of Ben Affleck. Gal Gadot is the perfect choice for Wonder Woman. Her charisma makes up for the lack of character she is given and I’m genuinely excited to see her star in next year’s Wonder Woman movie.

I also liked seeing Batman fight Superman. The fight scenes did not disappoint, and if you’ve been waiting your whole life to see those two go at it on the big screen, you will not be disappointed.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is well cast. Henry Cavill is literally the perfect physical representation of Superman. Amy Adams does her best with Lois Lane, but she’s only as good as the writing. Ben Affleck doesn’t feel quite right for the role, but that could also be the writing. Bruce Wayne isn’t given a personality or an arc, so it looks like Ben Affleck got in a Batman costume and just did whatever the director told him to do. Jesse Eisenberg also does his best with Lex Luthor, but the audience is not told what his motivations are. Does he want anarchy? Does he just want Superman dead? Is he just a “bad guy?”

Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg are also shoehorned into this movie. DC is trying to start its own cinematic universe, so why not look at what Marvel did right with Captain America: Civil War?

Civil War had a villain with clear motivations as well as a cast of characters who were already developed in previous movies. In Batman v Superman you’re introducing a brand new Batman who’s not developed and Superman, who was barely developed at all in Man of Steel. This movie shoves characters who we don’t really care about into a complicated plot while also introducing us to Lex Luthor and Wonder Woman.

The strengths of Batman v Superman are in spite of the movie’s convoluted writing. The Ultimate Edition, which has 30 more minutes of extra footage, gives the characters slightly more development than the theatrical cut, but at over three hours, it can feel like the cinematic equivalent of ordering too much at all-you-can eat sushi.

The Blu-ray comes with over two hours of extras: Uniting the World’s Finest, Gods and Men: A Meeting of GiantsThe Warrior, The Myth, The Wonder and Accelerating Design: The New Batmobile.

Have you seen Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? Click here to write your own review. ~Yanis Khamsi



Comments & Discussion

  1. BMatt • July 19, 2016 @ 11:13 AM

    Besides all the grammatically grating phrases used throughout this article, there are a few things that are wrong. Batman isn’t pissed that Superman caused one of his employees to lose his legs. Another one of his employees lost his life as Superman and Zod completely demolished his office building, and potentially killing a host of others, while he’s holding a girl that potentially became an orphan.

    Technically, the reason is that Superman is too powerful and will leave a wake of destruction in his wake and needs to be dealt with or more destruction will come.

    Batman is a vigilante that likes to implement his own version of sadistic torture on those he captures. Superman doesn’t like it because the Bats doesn’t follow pure justice, just his own. “Economically disadvantaged” is some political BS.

    Anyone who knows any thing about Superman knows that Lex Luthor wants to rule and cause chaos, but Superman is the stumbling block to his plans every time. He needs Superman out of the way for his plans to succeed. Also, given the fact that Superman is treated in a God-like way, and he has no faith in God, maybe he wants to also crush mankinds hope in this creature to show that there is no God and there is no hope. Stuff like that is super strong motivation, but only if your mind can generate the capability to put 2+2 together.

  2. Andrew • July 19, 2016 @ 12:00 PM

    Generous review. And great points, it would have been better if they hadn’t tried to cram so much and so many new characters into it. Hopefully they’re not thinking of doing another one, this one just ruined the franchise.

  3. Yanis Khamsi • July 19, 2016 @ 2:05 PM

    BMatt We always appreciate your input.

    You’re clearly a fan of Batman and Superman, as am I. My job is simply to ask the question “what does the person who sees five movies in theaters a year make of this?”

    Furthermore, Batman is upset that his colleague was crippled. Superman is upset that Batman targets Gotham’s poorer communities. Is there more to it than that? Yes, but this review is not for the nerds, just as this movie was not really for the nerds.

    Suppose someone had never heard of Lex Luthor. Does this movie REALLY represent what Luthor is all about? There’s a reason general audiences didn’t really like it.

    Then again cinema, much like my “grammatically grating phrases,” is subjective.

    We always welcome feedback. Thanks for stopping by Tribute.ca

  4. Rommel • July 19, 2016 @ 6:12 PM

    Yanis, you can watch this movie without being a fan of comic books. Actually, it is so much easier to digest and interpret if you are NOT a fan of CBMs in general, because what they delivered was so much more than just a rehash of the comedies that Marvel has been putting out for the last decade or so.
    BvS:DoJ is not The Godfather Redux, but it does try and goes far beyond the silly entertainment of other fun-flicks. Is that the sin you are accusing it of? Is this too much of a movie for someone “who sees five movies in theaters a year”?
    I think you got it all backwards: A person who only goes five times a year to a movie theater will expect MORE from a movie than cool action sequences and jokes every 2 minutes.
    There are countless places in the Internet where you can find answer to all those parts that somehow escaped you (e.g., Lex’s motivations) so I won’t address them again, but I would like to assure the other people who haven’t seen it that this movie is NOT just another superhero movie. This is what a real film looks like when they tackle the theme of superheroes (and there’s a difference there).
    P.S.
    It is funny that you state: “why not look at what Marvel did right with Captain America: Civil War” – You know what they’ve been doing right with the Captain America movies? They have been learning from DC, that you don’t have to make only comedies, and that stakes can be higher and with more consequences. Of course, being Disney, they stop before things do get real, so we get the mediocrity of a movie that promised a Civil War but delivered just two superheroes sparring each other and everybody making sure they didn’t hurt the other guys. Missed opportunity for Marvel, yet again.


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