A near masterpiece tampered with by greedy studio hands

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2017)

After watching the film for a fourth time I still find it just as provocative and smart. This is a huge budget art film. From the retelling of age old tales and blocking that mimics ancient art, Snyder's art history major is showing full force throughout the entire film.
Lex Luthor's moral perspective is fascinating. He isn't the traditional Lex, no, but none of the characters are their traditional selves. "God can not be all good if He is all powerful; and He can not be all powerful if He is all good." Lex views God as an idea of either power or good. In his experience, God is all powerful. And Superman is that God. Or perhaps a Devil. A Devil from the sky.
Bruce Wayne sees eye to eye with Lex regarding Superman but takes matters into his own hands. Batman has never been portrayed like this on screen before: tired, beaten, angry, psychotic. Bruce is on the edge of completely breaking down and seeing Superman nearly pushes him off that edge. Both Bruce and Lex see a villain in 'the superman'. They see someone with the power to destroy the entire planet if he so desired. That is the power of the Gods. But if Superman is all powerful, then he can not be all good. "If there is even a one percent chance that he is our enemy then we have to take it as an absolute certainty," Bruce yells at Alfred. Calling Lex a villain in this story doesn't seem right. He and Batman both share the same goal: protect the planet.
However it's only Batman who realizes that Superman is a person. A person with a mother. He was about to murder a mother's son. Just like someone murdered his parents. Batman's entire world crashed in a few short moments. He was so blinded by his failures (Robin, Gotham) that he became what he originally sought to prevent. He became a vigilante who killed, who had very little respect for the lives he deemed unworthy. He had become the judge and the executioner.
As for Superman/Clark, he's constantly tortured by his power. He has this power, but how is he supposed to use it? Does he even need to use it? "You don't owe this world a thing," his mother tells him on the farm. Superman feels a responsibility to protect the ones who don't understand him. To not understand is to fear. But there are those who Superman inspires hope in. In one of the strongest scenes of the film, people look up to him in tears. He's their savior. The idea of Superman inspires hope in our world at home, I mean of course it does. One person to save us all from ourselves. One person to stop every terrorist attack, to save everyone from every natural disaster. We have a traditional view of Superman -- a boy-scout with a smile who always does the right thing. Because that's what we want. We want, maybe even, need someone like that in our world. But what about that person -- the superman. How is he to decide who should live and die, who should be punished and praised. Good and evil are matters of perspective. Soldiers on either sides of a war pray to the same God. Who does God help?
That being said, the movie absolutely has its issues. And I wholeheartedly believe it's not Snyder and co's fault. The studio had certain check marks that they wanted in the film and Snyder obeyed. Wonder Woman did not, and should not, have been in this film. Her fight scenes were awesome yeah, and I'm grateful that Snyder got the chance to establish the visual flair behind her fighting style for her solo movie, but her scenes really ground the pacing down to a halt every time. It was so clear that she did not fit in with the story. But oh well, I'm incredibly grateful that this piece of modern art is allowed to exist amongst the rehashed comic book/comedy/action film that comes out every few months.
Also, the Ultimate Edition is much better than the theatrical cut and feels much more Snyder-y.