Zack Snyder's Justice League Review: Redemption At A Cost

Note: I tried to be as spoiler-free as possible because I actually think people who watched the Justice League 2017 version should watch this movie. Since the two films are so vastly different, it does feel like spoilers to reveal too much about what happens. 

The #SnyderCut....

What can I say but wow. We do live in a society. It's alarming to see how far our meme culture pushed their inside jokes from small communities outward, making grassroots initiatives. I mean, the existence of the SnyderCut was pure fanaticism at it's best. 

It's tough to give a real breakdown of Zack Snyder's Justice League (ZSJL). This movie is a unique case of deja vu. The characters are all the same, the actors are all the same, the plot is pretty much the same, but scenes are almost completely different. The movie has a completely different progression to get to the same end goal. It's also difficult to discuss the two Justice League without being confused. Technically, ZSJL was shot first. It just was never released though. After a ton of reshoots and editing, Joss Whedon's cut of Justice League was released in 2017. So despite it being released later, ZSJL is technically the original movie. The crazy part about this movie is how different it is. It's not just extra scenes added in for story development. There are completely different arcs in this story. Characters somehow get to the same locations and occasionally say the same things as the 2017 Joss Whedon Cut, but scenes are almost completely different in writing, acting, and meaning.

ZSJL uses it's ridiculous runtime to help flesh out more of origins behind Cyborg, Flash, and even Steppenwolf, the main villain. I really enjoyed the extra time devoted to these characters. In JL2017, all three of these characters were severely underdeveloped and were only considered plot devices for the rest of the team to rally behind. Cyborg's entire origin story and reason to join the Justice League is in ZSJL but not in JL2017. And for the most part, despite the length it adds, it works. The backstory also helps explain how Cyborg uses his powers and what his powers are (which was sorely needed). The Flash isn't green in this movie. He's being doing his thing for a while now, which makes some of the more sappy moments from the JL 2017 obsolete like the scene where he's never fought anyone before. I liked what they did with his abilities, albeit his abilities seemed to progress too quickly through the course of the movie. It seems The Flash movie won't be going through much of his origin when it releases next year. 

I think some of the best parts were at the end. The last battle against Steppenwolf was a treat since I felt like the characters gelled together and each had specific purposes. There was cooler choreography and the end battle with Superman was much more brutal. I guess having the R rating really help make the end scene less generic and a bit more bad-ass. 

The way Lois Lane is put into the story flows a lot better, though her inclusion sometimes halts the pacing of the movie. Instead of showing up to save everyone from angry-back-from-the-dead Superman, she has a backstory to explain why she came back at the right place and the right time.

 

The mother boxes are explained in a bit more detailed, but mainly through Wonder Woman's exposition. In fact, a lot of the core story is explained by Wonder Woman's surprising wealth of 5,000 years of history. It’s actually a bit similar to WandaVision in a way. There is one character who inexplicably knows what the entire team is up against. At least Gal Gadot is less annoying than whoever plays Darcy. I know this isn't something knew, but it is something I don't really like except maybe in video games. Wonder Woman isn't really an oracle. I guess the mural in the movie explained everything she knows and she just has a good memory. 

There is a lot of good in this movie, but it’s covered in a layer of inconsistency and bad pacing. The movie feels like a five year old trying to tell you a story with his action figures. The scale is large and grand. For the most, it's part very interesting. But it’s also trying to stir so many pots at the same time while keeping the oven in check, that it ends up not really cooking anything properly. There’s definitely a lot of amazing scenes in this movie. The end battle is sooooo much better than the original and a lot of action is way more impactful. The extended fight between Superman and The Flash was worth it just to emphasize how overpowered Superman really is. But through all that, the scenes don’t necessarily transition well. I was having a hard time trying to remember certain things because story beats would continue 10-20 minutes later. Keeping track of it all was more exhausting than getting through the actual run time.

What bothers me is that Snyder most likely knew this. There are actual chapters with their own title screens and they even have their own title cards. But even then, they seem to be superfluous. They only exist to give a false sense of closure from the last chapter. It doesn’t feel like any of the scenes besides maybe the revival of Superman deserve a pause. They don’t necessarily delineate any real line in the sand.

This has always been a problem with the Snyderverse movies. They are a string of amazing scenes and set pieces but they seem to come out of nowhere. You can point to scenes from before as evidence of the plot for the scenes that come after, but those scenes feel contrived. It’s literally the one thing that Disney/Marvel does leagues better than the DC. While I have my grievance of Marvel, they know how to piece together a story much better so that it flows naturally and methodically. 

...Then there are scenes in ZSJL that make no sense. A couple of them are about a completely new character that I won’t spoil here. But I am definitely, 100% sure, that everyone who watched Zack Snyder’s cut will completely understand what I mean. While I appreciate the inclusion of more Knightmare sequences, they felt thrown in there last minute. They could have been put almost anywhere in the movie and still make as much sense as where they were put currently.

 

There is also an additional layer of plot that has been added from the original 2017 version. Darkseid is shown in the movie and referenced a lot. I love the CGI they did for him and his large and imposing presence. I like his character design much more than Thanos, actually (Omega Beams are pretty killer). Darkseid is much more sinister. His main purpose (at least for this movie) is to give Steppenwolf a sense of purpose than being a generic villain. There are references to the Anti-Life Equation which is a huge deal in the DC universe. Despite the name drop, it doesn’t really drive much else except to tell the audience to expect a sequel (Zack Snyder actually had a whole trilogy planned for the Justice League). The Anti-Life Equation also makes some sense of the Knightmare sequences when you start connecting the dots. But other than that, it feels like icing that missed the top of the cake.

Conclusion:

It’s funny, but ZSJL doesn’t feel bloated. It does feel badly cut though. I think if they re-arranged scenes and focused on certain characters, it might help. Despite the additional plot points and story beats, it’s the additional focus on some of the main characters that really appealed to me. It also helps that the tone of the movie stays the same and doesn’t have the out-of-place Whedon quips and weird immature humor from the 2017 version. Getting to know more of Cyborg and Steppenwolf helps turn the movie from generic to at least somewhat unique. It’s not like a revolutionary movie at all, but it does some justice (haha…) to a movie that sorely needed it. Sadly, it’s only a window of what could have been. In the end, we have a surreal paradox of two movies that share the same spine but not much else. While the overall objective of both movies remain the same, how it happens is completely different. 

If you liked to see what the real movie is, watch this. If you've been burned by Snyder before, watch it as well. It might change your opinion about the past failures he has had. 

A quick suggestion for watching: If you can, try to break it up in parts. It’s easier to digest the story and while I mention the title cards are superfluous, they do help break the movie into smaller, 45 minute-ish parts. The end fight sequence is great, I highly recommend at least watching that.