I’d rather see the version which had more Saw Gerrara as an actual character, and a finale where the group are actually together. It could still be a grey, lifeless marketing exercise but I’m not sure why he thinks this was an improvement.
I’m not sure why either of those would improve it. It sounds like the changes he made were narrowing the focus of the film and making the character motivations clearer. If anything, he didn’t go far enough.