Brief Recap Of The Superman Movie Franchise
First appearing in 1938, Superman is the first superhero. He's where we get the term "superhero" from. Superman is an icon.
I've been a DC fan since I was a little kid in the 70s. The Super Friends cartoon was my favorite TV show. It featured the Justice League of America with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Robin, Flash and other heroes. I also liked the live action Shazam! and Wonder Woman TV shows. As a kid I loved Superman: The Movie (with Lex Luthor as the main villain). I also enjoyed Superman II (with General Zod as the main villain), but even as a kid I viewed it as more of a comedy. Superman III and IV were horrible.
To adults, Superman II is just plain silly, and the director's cut is much worse than the original version so I'm sure it was a good thing to fire Richard Donner from that film. Superman Returns (the modern sequel to II that ignores III and IV) was about equal to II thus making Returns tied for the best of the five sequels to the first Superman film, but that isn't saying much. The original Superman movie still has a nostalgic charm, a classic in a way (with an excellent John Williams score). But as an adult nerd I'm just not into Superman that much as a character.
Despite it being a modern (and first complete) reboot of the Superman movie franchise, I didn't have high hopes for Man of Steel because it's still Superman. But this is a whole new era of superhero movies, and there really is no comparison of Man of Steel to the old franchise. Man of Steel is superior to the 1978 movie in virtually every way except for the score (Hans Zimmer is no John Williams). The war on Krypton was cool, and naturally sets up the conflict of General Zod and the son of Jor-El on Earth. It was an ok movie. But the best thing about Man of Steel is that it ended up becoming the basis for a shared DC "Justice League" Universe.
Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (Extended Cut)
[Spoilers only if you haven't seen the theatrical version]
The prior series of Batman films had just ended in 2012 and had started with a new Batman origin movie in 2005, so we really didn't need another Batman solo film anytime soon (especially a new origin movie). Bringing Batman and Superman together is really a no brainer. Giving us brief retellings of Batman's origin in flashbacks in the extended cut is just enough to establish him in this new universe. I don't feel there was too little or too much of this character in the extended cut. Well, the shirtless Affleck training montage seems a bit extraneous in light of the fact that it was the armor and Kryptonite that even made it possible for Batman to fight Superman.
Batman and Superman in the same movie wasn't the only cinematic first. This movie brought the DC Holy Trinity together by including Wonder Woman. Before her heroic appearance for the final battle, I liked how Diana Prince was completely a part of Bruce Wayne's side of the story. (I especially got a kick out of Bruce and Diana e-mailing each other.) I would have loved to have gotten more Wonder Woman but it's already a three-hour movie as it is, so we just get a cinematic introduction of her and most of it is action. Without being able to take more time to delve into her character, what's there is really just enough for this movie. (We will get a proper Wonder Woman origin prequel film next year and I can't wait.) The icing on the cake in Batman v Superman are the brief cinematic introductions of Flash and the characters who will become Aquaman and Cyborg.
So did the extended version save Batman v Superman? I feel it does. The extended version is the real movie. Now it is more clear that Luthor's actions were being guided by an otherworldly being. With all the cut material restored, the movie makes a lot more sense now (except the Flash-from-the-future message but I strongly suspect that's there for the sake of a sequel). The flow and pacing of this movie's story seem more natural. Only a little of the restored footage is action so the extended cut is still not the most action-packed movie, but there's no way around the fact that this complex plot was just meant to be a three-hour film. The action that's there is pretty cool. I really don't think this movie could be improved much from the extended cut - The only way we could have gotten a better movie is if they had made a different movie.
Although the extended cut if the film resolves the issues of natural flow/pacing and it making sense, it still doesn't eliminate some of the criticisms I've heard from some fans. Batman relents from his crusade to kill the alien Superman when forced to consider his humanity by learning their mothers share the same name. Lex Luthor figured out the secret identities of Superman and Batman, as well as learning that Diana Prince, Arthur Curry, Barry Allen, Victor Stone are metahumans. Under the influence of an alien, Luthor is an absolute genius mastermind nutjob with probably the most complicated evil plot ever hatched by a villain including the creation of a supermonster. Either you can accept it all and move on, or you can't. The fanboy "controversies" of these interpretations of Superman and Batman being different than the comics and Batman sometimes using lethal force are non-issues for me. These movies are a different medium - They're only inspired by comics and not meant to be exact adaptations. And even in the comics, over the course of over 75 years there have been literally dozens of reinterpretations of these characters, and Batman has killed before. But haters gonna hate.
So how do you make a better movie in the Superman franchise? Add two of my favorite superheroes and kill Superman! I understand it is a temporary death and he'll be back, but it still helps this Superman movie. Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince watching Clark Kent's Smallville funeral from a distance and discussing recruiting the metahumans for the future Justice League gave me goosebumps. (I also loved that Luthor is going to Arkham Asylum.) All in all, I feel the extended cut of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is roughly equal to the average range MCU movies. It's no The Avengers or Civil War, but it's way better than The Incredible Hulk. Maybe through the Justice League movie I'll be able to fully accept a cinematic Superman when he is a part of a team of live action "Super Friends".
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