Back in 2017, I was one of the few defenders of the theatrical cut of Justice League, but let me clear that up that I was middle of the road with it. I found it to be entertaining and fun but clearly unbalanced with two different visions. You had Snyder’s darker DC vision that WB clearly lost faith in and then Joss Whedon coming in to give it a more colorful and comedic tone like the Marvel films. It was clearly a patch job but did deliver in moments that I felt outweighed the bad.
Either way Justice League, was a huge bomb for Warner Bros. and eventually fans took to the internet demanding to see the Full Vision of Zack Snyder’s film. In many ways I never believed the internet theory that Snyder had a version that existed before the unfortunate reason that caused him to step away & see Joss step in. My feeling was Justice League would just become one of those examples of a studio & creative mind not seeing eye to eye and that is it. Nothing more.
Despite what I felt, the internet & its demand for the Snyder Cut was so strong that eventually many people behind the film started acknowledging his original version did exist. So if it was a ploy for subscribers by Warner Bros. at HBO Max or they really just wanted to silence fans we have officially realized the extent of Snyder’s DCEU vision.
Clocking in twice as long as its 2017 counterpart with a four hour plus run time Zack Snyder’s Justice League is everything and more than what we ever could have imagined. The first thing I noticed when watching this new cut is just how much was changed and cut out of the original release. From the opening moments until around 25 minutes almost everything is different. We don’t see Parademon’s or bad CGI smiling Henry Cavill. In fact, it becomes clear what a patch job Whedon put together to please a studio that demanded a 2-hour run time and simpler story.
The Snyder Cut succeeds in all the places its counterpart fails. We have character development all be it some of it could be cut in Snyders Version but it’s clear who these characters are and what motivates them. It doesn’t rely on the “You know these characters so go with it” way that Whedon’s feels with the likes of Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg, who we will get to in a moment. Snyder uses the extended time to give his characters the development they need while also taking out the awkwardness, forced humor and inappropriate jokes in the middle of a scene. The Flash for instance is still awkward, but Ezra Miller is both socially awkward in a light hearted and serious way, specially toward the film’s climax.
Now onto Cyborg who really shines with his arch being much clearer and way more emotional as he struggles with who he is now and what he can do. Ray Fisher is quite good in the role and it becomes confusing why Whedon would cut so much of his backstory. Snyder wasn’t lying when he said Cyborg plays a huge role in his version of the film and again Fisher is really good in this role. Even Steppenwolf, the film’s main villain, is given more backstory that adds layers of tragedy to the character that changes him from just another CGI big bad we don’t care about. Which is usually an MCU move to undervalue the films villain. This time around I am truly terrified of Steppenwolf and his motivations.
As far as the rest of the cast goes, they all play together well and have great chemistry amongst the team. Maybe that is why Ben Affleck was ready to jump back into the crawl to film the epilogue. We get more of Cavill’s Superman interacting with Lois Lane, following his resurrection, which helps reaffirm their relationship and puts it more towards the traditional one we know them for. We even get a lingering shot of a pregnancy test indicating the maybe the man of steel has conceived a child with Lois.
Now don’t get me wrong this film does have some issues. Some of the exposition bogs the film down, but Snyder does his best to provide beautiful visuals to engage the audience. Some might go on a little too long or maybe you think it was just right. At times it gives the feeling that since Snyder was allowed to make his vision he didn’t shorten stuff or edit down some scenes that could have used it. A lot of it is good and at times great, but even with the pacing and editing being far improved it could be shorter than the 4 plus hour run time.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a major improvement that is extremely successful thanks to fans seeing the full vision of what Snyder had in mind for the DC universe. The runtime benefits the story and the characters, despite some bloat here and there. His cut also emphasizes the strength of the cast, especially that of Fisher and Miller, giving them proper depth. Who knows what this means for the future of the DCEU but one could hope that after what we saw in the Epilogue that Warner Bros. gives Snyder the keys to finish his Justice League Trilogy because I think those next two movies could be epic cinematic comic book splash page experiences just like this version.
4 out of 5.
