Review: "Zack Snyder's Justice League" Is A Vast Improvement Over The Theatrical Version, But Is Still Just Average
ForReel Score 6/12 | 2.5 Stars
We’re living through an era of reboots and remakes that none of us ever asked for. By contrast, the Snyder Cut of 2017’s Justice League was clamored for by the fans after the theatrical version, which handed the reigns to Joss Whedon and abandoned Snyder’s vision, dissapointed both critics and fans alike. The Snyder Cut far surpasses the terrible narrative disaster of Whedon’s version, but unfortunately, even Snyder can’t remedy faults in his own film, which remains plagued by a bloated runtime and some of Snyder’s worst filmmaking tendencies.
In Justice League, Batman (Ben Affleck, The Way Back, The Town) joins forces with Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman, Fast Five) after the death of Superman (Henry Cavill, Man of Steel, Mission: Impossible - Fallout) to recruit meta-humans Aquaman (Jason Mamoa, Aquaman), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and The Flash (Ezra Miller, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald) to protect Earth in his absence. With his death, the Mother Boxes awaken - and with them, Steppenwolf - to combine the boxes to decimate the Earth in service to DC favorite villain, Darkseid. The only thing that stands in his way is the newly formed Justice League.
Most can agree, Joss Whedon’s success in The Avengers was not duplicated in his Justice League film, setting a very low bar for expectations with Snyder’s version. Indeed, it improves on the story in many ways; character arcs - specifically those of Cyborg and The Flash - are more effectively flushed out. Even more importantly, Steppenwolf’s motivations and arc is much less ambiguous. The addition of Darkseid is another one of those quality narrative choices missing from the theatrical version, and ultimately, the theatrical version feels more like a Superman Returns story than a true team up Justice League film. The Snyder Cut corrects that, giving more credence to the other heroes abilities in battle.
Despite all of the improvements, this latest iteration still has many flaws as a film. Snyder’s Justice League is a ridiculous and unnecessary long 4 hours chock full of fan service. Most notably, the Joker sequence, which is a significant selling point in some of the film’s promotional material. Plus, Snyder’s overuse of slow motion and sped up shots makes some great action potential mundane. The musical score is average at best and uimpressive at worst.
This is more or less what the fans of the series and it’s embattled director were craving. There’s no doubt that the film was better than the previous installment but it was a drag for me, and I think much of the mainstream audiences outside of the hardcore fans will agree. However, you have to give credit where credit is due: Zack Snyder did it. After having a major film project snatched from his grasps, he was able to levarage the demands of fans to complete revisit it and complete it the way he wanted. It’s a rare opportunity for a filmmaker, but this whole ordeal begs the question: will fans be able to pressure more studios into revamping other big budget franchise films? Maybe. Yet, maybe not, if enough people feel the way I do about how Snyder’s Justice League turned out.
Acting and Casting - 1 | Visual Effects and Editing - 1 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 1 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 1 | What does this mean?