Zack Snyder's Justice League

Well it actually happened. After years of fans demanding to see Snyder's version of Justice League they were granted their wish and got the four hour film they were craving. Generally, I'm happy this is coming out, though I was very skeptical at first. Partially because the Joss Whedon edition of the film was quite bad, and suffered from a lot of the same problems as the Batman v. Superman, and partially because many of the fans clamoring for Snyder's take were insistent that Snyder was the only one who understood these characters or comic books or worse. But considering the circumstances that pulled Snyder away from the project, which is honestly the strongest argument for his cut vs. a superior artistic vision, along with a series of accounts, from Ray Fisher and others, of Whedon being a racist dick, yeah let's give it a go. I'll have to carve out most of a day but screw it let's do this.

The Setup

Still reeling after Superman's tragic end, Batman is worried about Earth's ability to handle another existential threat without him. With this in mind he and Wonder Woman begin to recruit a series of individuals with special abilities. And not a moment too soon, because a powerful being called Steppenwolf has arrived to take over the world for his master Darkseid.

I'll get the general opinion out of the way. Yes this is a far better version of the Justice League movie. It's clear that Snyder had a more cohesive vision for the film and there's a lot more of everything that original film was missing including character motivations. Is it a good movie? Eh it's watchable. I wasn't super hyped afterwards or during it, but it was ok. So here's what makes Snyder's better and what's still missing.

A Comprehensive Story

The 2017 movie felt like it was hacked to bits in the edit. There were wild jumps in the plot and for characters that made little to no sense. Like the film had decided that we already know The Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman's back stories and that all we needed to know about Steppenwolf was that he wanted to conquer the Earth. Characterization and story be damned.

For Snyder's version, a lot of the blanks get filled in. Steppenwolf has an actual motivation and almost every character has a better/stronger motivation. It's also notable how beefed up Cyborg and The Flash's roles are with back story and bigger contributions to the team and story. Did we need all four hours? No, but this is much easier to follow.

What's kind of absurd/hilarious is how close Snyder's version is to The Avengers. You know...the movie Whedon wrote and directed? Like we've got a messenger that travels via portals and big lights with an army of robotic aliens and can be taken on one on one vs. the team's big gun. Whedon essentially just needed to remake the movie he already made for DC instead of Marvel and...failed.

Everything Looks Better

The 2017 film clearly went through a lot of changes between the original trailer and the release, but holy goodness does this movie look better. As sick as I was of Snyder's high contrast or dark-shaded approach, trying to brighten up footage he already shot was a terrible idea as was using his old footage. There's two reasons why. The first is how this movie was shot. Snyder shot his footage ih en 4:3 aspect ratio vs the conventional 16:9. Which means a full screen look vs. the now-standard widescreen look. Shifting in either direction with existing footage creates problems. 4:3 shots are centered-focused which means stretching them to widescreen looks off. It makes it harder to follow the action, and the effects will look less natural.

The second problem is the color palette. Love it or hate it, Snyder has a very good understanding of his dark/high contrast visual style and how you can use the contrast to hide the rough edges of effects. When you try to tint everything in a more colorful direction there's a mismatch and the effects look more obvious and more fake. That's not to say the effects are all great in this, but they generally look better.

Separately, Snyder is also a better action filmmaker that Whedon. His use of ramping is easy to make fun of, but his fight scenes are also much easier to follow. This is especially obvious in the scenes that were in the 2017 version including Wonder Woman talking out terrorists, and an expanded version of Batman's batmobile run the finale that's honestly, quite awesome. Neither of them figure out how to use Flash very well though...which is a bummer. Still in a movie that now includes literal gods fighting against alien gods this epic classics inspired approach works really well.

Little Things I Liked Better

• The score is considerably better with clear themes for each character.
• Adding a clear personal connection to each Mother Box with a main character is much stronger motivation this time around.
• The Darkseid back story not only smooths out the story but also lets Snyder do something he clearly has a knack for: show off Greek gods fighting
• Batman is a better character in this movie. His motivation is clear, he feels guilt over Superman dying, and he's more useful vs the old guy punching bag Whedon made him.
• I now want Snyder to make a football movie full of slow mo.
• More Ray Fisher is always good because he is fantastic in this film.

What Still Doesn't Work

I'm not here to tear this movie down just for fun, but there's still plenty of jank in this movie. Here's a quick rundown.

• While it's great that Flash and Cyborg have expanded back stories, the movie being as long as it is is what happens when you try to make an Avengers-style movie without all the ground work. You either cut it out like the 2017 movie did or put it all in like this version.
• Snyder's pervasive problem with female characters continues. Each female character is either stoic or defined by their relationship to a male character. 
• The visuals are better, but the lack of color in major action scenes means everything runs together. It's not hard to follow, but when even Superman is in a black and grey costume he doesn't stand out.
• There's a lot of elements that aren't explained very well, namely The Flash's apparent Speed Force abilities, what Martian Manhunter is up to (since he doesn't get involved in the main plot), and Aquaman's abilities.
• The nightmare sequences seem to be blending together two comic ideas that don't blend very well. I think it's hinting at an Injustice timeline where Lois Lane is killed which turns Superman into a murderous despot. Ok dark and up Snyder's alley. But why does it look like Darkseid has taken over at the same time? Superman has been brainwashed and turned against Earth by Darkseid before. There's an entire storyline in the kids cartoon about it. But I don't get how that blends with Lois being killed or what. There's so much heavy foreshadowing you'd expect it to land harder or clearer than it does, especially with an expansive epilogue that forces us to see Jared Leto's Joker again.
• The themes in this movie are stronger but still not strong. There's individual payoffs with more backstory but it's hard to view the team coming together and winning as a big triumph, minus what it means for the Earth.
• Flash runs like a doofus and I don't like it.

Verdict: An Improvement

Though it's still a few steps away from great, Snyder's cut of Justice League is a far stronger film. 6/10