Ultimate Edition is better

Rating: 7/10 (17 October 2016)

Over the past few months I've heard all manner of comments about how 'Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice' is 'The Showgirls of Super-Hero movies'. Not so: as long as 'Green Lantern', 'The Spirit' and (Gods help us) 'Catwoman' live on in our cultural memory, the bar for truly dire hero-flicks will remain quite exceptionally low.
It's...not that bad.
It lacks the thoughtful aspect of 'Man of Steel', and the messianic allegory of that film is continued a little too heavy handedly, here - even down to the film's Easter release (sent from his Daddy in the sky and raised as one of us, he dies to save us from a baddie identified - albeit fleetingly - as 'the devil', only to inevitably return...in the sequel.)
That said, the performances are very good, and Ben Affleck's grizzled Batman/Bruce Wayne is excellent. Deserving of his own solo flick, I think. He does 'angry' very well.
For comic geeks like myself there are obvious nods to 'The Dark Knight Returns', 'Doomsday', 'Trinity', 'Public Enemies', 'Batman: Year One', 'Batman: Earth One' and a host of individual tales (including the dystopian Batman issue #666). Gadot makes an excellent Wonder Woman, and some of the fight scenes are quite beautifully staged.
Two things let it down...annoyingly, but not irredeemably. Firstly, there's the unsubtle teasers for the imminent movies featuring Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg. This franchise-fest slows the narrative, when it needs to maintain momentum, and seems woefully contrived.
More annoying is writer David S. Goyer's inability to write a superhero script which DOESN'T involve the sudden third-act appearance of a monster/machine-which-will-end-everything. The Blade flicks, Batman Begins/Dark Knight Rises...all spend ages developing believable personalities and motivations...then throw it all away in an unnecessary effects-fest.
Grrr, Mr Goyer, Grrrrrrrrrrr!
Many of the plot issues, particularly with regard to the 'magic bullet' and Bruce Wayne's back-story are properly fleshed out in the 'Ultimate Edition'...which provides a more coherent narrative, and should have been released in cinemas.