From what I remember from the original, this is an improvement, but it still suffers being in the DCEU in general. They really don't seem to have had a plan, and they certainly don't have a coherent plan going forward. Honestly this version should replace their canon timeline for the universe, but they have crapped the bed on the whole franchise. The universe is just too over the top bleak. If Covid happened in this universe, it would have only lasted a week at most because it just isn't dark and depressing enough for the DCEU.
I think they tried too hard to be "not Marvel" and it killed them. While Marvel has strayed from the comic sources in many respects, they at least set up the MCU properly. They chose Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, and Thor to be the founding Avengers for the MCU. One can argue about Hank Pym being a founder in the comics, but it is easy to understand why they went the route they did. Then, before making their tentpole movie The Avengers, they made Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America the First Avenger, in that order. Everyone gets a background story and the major characters are fleshed out. In comparison, DC makes Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman, Suicide Squad, and Wonder Woman leading up to Justice League. While I really loved Guardians of the Galaxy, can you imagine if Marvel released that as it third movie? Suicide Squad should never have been made when it was. That spot should have been for Aquaman. DC didn't even give us a Batman stand alone movie in the lead up to Justice League. They just didn't establish the universe well enough.
That is where this new version comes in and tries to fix some things. It does flesh out the other characters a bit more. However, the universe would have been better served by putting out Aquaman and a Flash movie that featured Cyborg, prior to Justice League. The introduction of Darkseid as a future threat defiantly helps the universe overall. It gives a reason to need a Justice League. In either cut, Steppenwolf just isn't that big of a threat. Again, it all boils down to Superman. Why do you need a Justice League, when Superman can come in at the last ten minutes and take care of everything? That is one problem with this cut. I think Superman isn't brought into the picture until the two hour mark.
I am still baffled about how poorly DC has handled this in general. I would think if you asked the average person who the most famous superhero is, especially prior to the MCU and DCEU were formed, you top three in no particular order would be Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. DC has two of the three and has screwed it up to the point that they are already replacing both Superman and Batman actors a mere 8 years into the franchise. Really, it is only four years into it since Man of Steel was 2013 and Justice League was 2017 and Superman and Batman haven't been seen since. They are in such a bad state, they have cancelled so many movies and there are no plans for a Justice League 2. It seems that there really isn't a DCEU anymore. I don't think they really have plans to link everything together.