MILD SPOILERS.
I liked 'Batman v. Superman' more than a lot of people. But when I saw the theatrical version, I thought the storyline was a bit choppy. The scene where Superman survives a bomb blast and then (in that version) just flies away afterwards was the most insulting deviation from an established character that I had seen since the Ninja Turtles became hulking monstrosities.
But then, they came out with a longer version on DVD, which was WAY better. There was a subplot where Clark Kent was doing some hardnosed investigative journalism, a side of him we don't see very often. The action scenes were longer and better, as was the bathtub scene, which my wife enjoyed. Oh, and Superman actually helps to pull people out of the fire after that bomb went off. I wondered why Warner Brothers would make the producers of this film shorten it. What's wrong with a 3-hour superhero epic about these two (sorry, Wonder Woman...three) iconic characters? Why did Superman's "cat out of a tree" (Senators out of a hearing?) moment end up on the cutting room floor?
Well, right before 'Justice League' came out, there was an online rumor that WB wanted the producers to cut JL down to two hours or less. BVS was cut down to two and a half hours and that movie only had the two main characters. Why would they want JL to be two hours or less when most of their six superhero cast had not been established in other films the way that their esteemed competition did with The Avengers?
Well, whatever the reason, the movie suffers for it. And online rumors tell us that there is no longer DVD cut this time. All the actors are great in their respective roles, but the story is choppier than that first version of BVS. Partially because they had to introduce all these characters in this way-too-short film. I loved the scene where Aquaman goes home to Atlantis, but it would have made way more sense if we actually knew more about it, either from a longer version of this film or the Aquaman solo film being released first. It could have been like a wetter Asgard. (Try saying that out loud without laughing.) The Flash and Cyborg were awesome as characters, with Flash being my favorite. But, they should have taken a page out of Marvel's playbook and given them solo flicks first. It makes their roles in this seem too quick and "well, that was cool, but..."
The subject of autism is one close to my heart and the scene where The Flash talks about how everything around him is too slow for his brain sparked my interest like the speed force lightning that shoots off of him when he runs.. There are some clever references to how fast Flash is compared to Superman and a cameo by a character (group?) who would have been in this movie more if a Ryan Reynolds movie didn't ruin him in the public eye years ago.. There are a few great character moments and some good chemistry between a few of the characters, but the story doesn't engage you enough to care about any of it. It made me want to watch the 2000's animated series again, as it had better versions of all of these characters (except for Cyborg, who was a Teen Titan back then.) This movie made me hope that 'Avengers: Infinity War' is a 3-hour superhero epic so that someone can show WB/DC how it's done.
2.5 Halls of Justice out of 5.
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