Zack Snyder's Justice League

 

8/10

Having helmed Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman, director Zack Snyder's nextstep was to direct the Justice League. The whole thing was mapped out (WB gave Snyder a lot of control as the sort of architect of DCU), with more Justice League films planned. However, BvS didn't do as well as expected, resulting in the studios having less trust in Snyder and his darker, more serious angle. Then tragedy struck, his daughter committed suicide and he bowed out of the project. However, it seems WB execs had were losing  faith anyway: https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/wb-reportedly-blames-zack-snyder-justice-leagues-poor-performance/. Joss Whedon was brought in, and a lot was thrown out and an active attempt was made to make the movie more friendly to a traditional audience. However, now due to intense audience curiosity and AT&T wanting something big to sell HBOMax with, we've got what Snyder intended. 

The basic plot is the same: The Justice League forms to stop extraterrestrial baddie Steppenwolf (voiced by Ciarán Hinds) from conquering Earth. This is definitely a stronger work story-wise than the theatrical cut; the tone just didn't match with or had the confident setup of BvS. More weight is given to everything.  

The world building is so much more stronger than in the Whedon cut. This is probably the biggest strength to the film. Snyder is going for epic scope in this, and it does come across. Both Cyborg (Ray Fisher), Flash (Ezra Miller), especially Cyborg, have far better stories. 

It's been a while since I the theatrical cut, so I can't remember if Alfred (Jeremy Irons)  had less or the same amount of time, so I can't say they did him better here, but he definitely stands out with some of the best lines. (Flash has some good ones, too). I think I'll miss Irons the most out of the actors who'll no longer be reprising their roles after this. 

I know everyone else has said it already, but Steppenwolf is improved from the basic, paper-thin villian he was in the Whedon cut.  Now, he's still not the greatest villain. In the grand scheme of things, he's not that broad a character, still just the basic warrior type. But he's given legit background and motivation. 

I did think Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), who were already introduced in BVS, weren't given as much to do as the new characters. I thought Superman (Henry Cavill) was as improperly utilized as he was in the theatrical version.

Snyder has learned to make the characters more accessible. Sure, the movie is still about them having the weight of responsibility on their shoulders that comes from being demigods and keeps them separated a lot from the common folk, but it feels a lot less in-your-face.

Though I am glad I got to see Snyder make the film he wanted, I think he was allowed a little too much freedom. Snyder didn't need to make this 4 HOURS LONG. Quatro, Quatre, Vier. Don't get me wrong, I don't think this had to be under two hours, but this long? The thing is that there were several scenes that could've been cut or shortened without damaging the film. The epilogue feels especially indulgent and overkill.

Visually, Snyder is one of the most visually distinctive directors out there right now. No other types of films look quite like his. This movie is no exception, great cinematography and action. But, Snyder's gonna Snyder. Everything still looks grey. (You wonder how crops grow in this world when the sun never shines.

Several of the computer animated characters aren't polished enough. Snyder's love of grey is lended to the color scheme of three of the antagonists. I guess this is particularly frustrating since in the comics, Steppenwolf and the other baddies from the planet Apokolips tended to be more colorful-looking. I also found it unnecessary for him to make Steppenwolf and two other baddies computer animated when their original counterparts were humanoid, or in the case of Steppenwolf who was originally yellow-skinned, human-looking enough. One of these computer designs felt particularly weird since the character isn't alien-looking at all.

I think that Snyder cut Steppenwolf is tougher-looking and leaves more of an impression then theatrical cut Steppenwolf. (They look completely different.) However, I still think he is kinda basic-looking. (You'd think Snyder'd learn his lesson after the criticism of how uninspired-looking Doomsday was in BVS.) The various tiny pieces of his armor are constantly moving and it's distracting. They don't move in accordance with Steppenwolf's body movements, they just move completely at random, and I can only ask "Why?!"

How does this movie compare to the theatrical? I'll level with you, my memory's a little sketchy, and I only saw it once. I noticed that my IMDB rating for it is higher than I thought it was. I can say that I think this is the second best of Snyder's DCU trilogy. Though a lot of people say BVS was the weakest, I thought it was just a stronger film than the other two with more interesting stuff thrown at you. I think this is definitely worth a watch if you can stand 4 hours and provided you don't have a total aversion to Snyder's style.