Justice League: Take Two

Before I delve into the film, a history lesson is in order. Feel free to skip ahead to the actual review if you are not drawn to the production history of a movie about men in tights punching each other.

Background

Zack Snyder’s Justice League (ZSJL, aka the Snyder Cut) is the director’s cut of 2017’s Justice League (JL), a lukewarm, whimper of a movie that was (mostly) directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Man of Steel). It was Warner Bros.’ attempt to provide the DC equivalent of Marvel’s The Avengers, the 2012 blockbuster hit which proved that there is a market for superhero-themed cinematic universes.

The theatrical JL was plagued by various production issues, the most significant being the departure of Snyder during post-production due to a personal tragedy. His replacement was Joss Whedon (The Avengers, Serenity) and the result was a box office bomb with conflicting tones and mixed reviews. Audiences were confused, critics unimpressed, and millions of dollars unrecovered. Warner Bros. were forced to take a step back and rethink their strategy with regards to their franchise, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).

But have no fear. Snyder has returned for a do-over. This time, he’s unchained by the bonds of studio executives and test audiences, casting aside every iota of footage (re)shot by Joss Whedon. Snyder instead focuses on achieving what he had originally envisioned. He has gathered what was left on the cutting room floor, added some new scenes, and edited the shots and special effects—all much to the delight of thousands of diehard fans who had been clamouring for a Snyder Cut for years.

The result? It’s decent—dare I say, good—and a vast improvement over the theatrical release. It’s also incredibly long and its very existence presents some concerns.

Review

After laying dormant for millennia, three powerful artefacts called Mother Boxes have been reawakened by the death of Superman (Henry Cavill) in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This has earned the attention of Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), an extra-terrestrial warrior who intends to use the Boxes to terraform Earth into a hellscape on behalf of his tyrannical master, Darkseid (Ray Porter).

Enter the Caped Crusader, Batman (Ben Affleck), and Amazon warrioress, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). Fearing the end is nigh, they set out to form a team of super friends to protect the planet in the wake of the Man of Steel’s demise.

To reiterate what I said above, I found ZSJL to be an improvement over its ugly duckling of a theatrical version, while also considering it to be a good superhero movie in its own right. The action is fun to watch and well-choreographed, the tone serious and yet hopeful with just the right touch of humour, and the scale of power and stakes just plain epic. The heroes and villains really give the impression of actual gods engaged in a grand conflict of spandex’d good vs. CGI’d evil.

Of course, the film is not without its flaws, the most prominent being its needless 4-hour runtime and outdated aspect ratio. There’s also its overemphasis on build-up, along with special effects that don’t always look quite right.

Delving into the runtime (including credits), Snyder aims to cram in as much lore, action, dialogue, appearances, character development, and setup for future films as possible. To make it more easily watchable, this time-vampire of a movie is broken into seven parts, with fade-to-blacks and title cards to let you know when the time is right to stretch your legs—perfect for bathroom breaks and thrombosis-prevention. And let me tell you, you will need those breaks, because this film, while enjoyable, is a heavy seven-course meal to digest. I strongly recommend taking breaks between parts, for the sake of your comfort and sanity.

Perhaps the Cut would have been shorter if Snyder’s signature slow-motion shots were reduced or, let’s be honest, left out. They’re stylish, but most of them were unnecessary and I found myself zoning out during most of them. The film could have also done without the “Knightmare” dream sequences. They spend a good chunk of time setting up future films that we may never even see, considering the DCEU’s uncertain roadmap. These scenes are interesting, I suppose, but I found them difficult to connect with, as they felt out of place.

With enough trimming, ZSJL could have been at least 30 minutes shorter while still retaining the same plot. Heck, a lot of scenes and characters, like the Knightmare bits, are just there for franchise-building and offer zero payoff for the actual film you’re watching. Make that at least 45 minutes shorter, Mr. Snyder.

The Cut’s second major quirk is its aspect ratio of 4:3, meaning that it has a “box” format that will look a tad dated on most modern rectangular TVs. This was apparently Snyder’s “creative vision” or something, so be prepared for a pair thick black bars flanking the movie on your rectangular screen. Personally, I think the decision to present in this format was pretentious, but I got used to it quickly while watching on my 40-inch TV.

However, its major strength artistically, also a weakness business-wise, is that it was made with the fans in mind, rather than the general audience. Casual viewers, who are in the majority, will likely be turned off by the grandiose length and worldbuilding, but diehard fans, and even superhero fans in general, should find delight in ZSJL and appreciate the ambition and effort it took to create this astronomical timesink of a movie.

Moving on to the characters, the heroic protagonists, as well as the antagonists and supporting characters, all receive a decent amount of screen-time and there is also plenty of setup and exposition into ancient history—the Age of Heroes, my favourite part—to give context to the stakes and the villains’ goals. I mean, this film is 4 bloody hours long, so to mess this up would be an achievement in itself.

I was particularly pleased with Batman, along with Cyborg and the Flash (Ray Fisher and Ezra Miller, respectively), all of whom benefited from some much-needed characterization. Of course, there’s fun and pathos to be had with Wonder Woman and Aquaman (Jason Momoa), but most of their development was delegated to their already-released solo outings.

Singling out Cyborg, he is the most satisfying character to watch. The brooding android, who is really the heart of the Justice League, has a compelling arc from start to finish. Out of everyone in ZSJL Cyborg turns out have some actual character development that doesn’t feel like it’s being deferred to a film that won’t be released for several years.

Next, it was a thrill to watch and listen to Steppenwolf, the main antagonist. This axe-wielding superbeing is a credible threat, with deadly strength and prowess, appearing more monstrous than he did in the theatrical JL, and donning some fancy serrated armour. Thanks to the runtime, Steppenwolf gets a moment or two to drone on about his goals, allowing us to get a better idea of his motivations. Though this baddie’s plan can be summed up as “destroy the world”, there’s also a quest for redemption thrown in for some added spice. I found this Steppenwolf memorable, unlike his original JL version, courtesy of the extra exposition and Ciarán Hinds’ portrayal.

Worthy of mention is Darkseid in his live-action debut. Whereas the theatrical JL cut his scenes entirely, he actually shows up in the Snyder Cut—and to great effect. He’s power-hungry, imposing, and glowy-eyed, with a voice that will make your subwoofer sweat. Nevertheless, Darkseid does not upstage his servant, Steppenwolf, as he is clearly being saved for a confrontation later on as the franchise’s big bad. Unfortunately, with the haphazard state of the DC Extended Universe, the likelihood of this showdown coming to pass is slim at best.

There is also a host of other supporting characters, belonging to each heroes’ mythos. To talk about them all would be impractical, but some kudos is due for Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons), Batman’s loyal butler, who provides some good dry banter. I also enjoyed Silas Stone (Joe Morton), a pivotal supporting character to Cyborg. Lastly, there’s the vile DeSaad (Peter Guinness), who speaks on behalf of Darkseid during interdimensional Zoom calls with Steppenwolf.

To close off this review, ZSJL is a worthy amendment to the botched original theatrical release, despite its numerous flaws.

Some Concerns and Closing Comments

I’m impressed that the Snyder Cut exists. I admit, I considered the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement to be nothing more than a cavalcade of pipe dreams born of condensed nerd rage and online circle-jerking. The fact that this gargantuanly long super-flick was given the go-ahead is incredible, considering its troubled production history and its prior version’s poor box office performance.

Still, it raises some concerns. If a bunch of faceless people on the internet were able to effectively bully Warner Bros., one of the biggest Hollywood studios, into taking a gamble and giving one man the means to redo a film that was considered a financial failure, what else is possible? Could fans rally to have a redo of the infamously disappointing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, or the utterly despised final season of Game of Thrones?

If ZSJL turns out to be a financial success, could it start a trend of studios dropping bundles of cash to redo films? The theatrical Justice League had a budget of $300m and ANOTHER $70m was dropped to make the Snyder Cut. Again, I enjoyed this movie, but that money could have been used to make a different film altogether.

At the time of writing, the Snyder Cut is considered non-canon in the DCEU, which is frankly a shame, considering that the production issues and the tragedy that brought about Snyder’s departure back in 2017. This could be rescinded later on if enough positive reception is received (and perhaps if a couple of severed horses’ heads wind up in a few Warner Bros. execs’ beds). For all we know, Warner Bros. will dust off the scrapped Justice League 2 faster than you can say “Anti-Life Equation”. It seems unlikely that the “SnyderVerse”, as fans are now calling it, will be restored.

But do you know what else seemed unlikely not too long ago? The Snyder Cut ever being made and released. And yet, here we are.