Review — Zack Snyder’s Justice League
By: John Sherrod
Tags: Film, Culture, Movies, TV, Review

Review — Zack Snyder’s Justice League

After years of fan campaigning, the Snyder Cut of Justice League is finally here. But does it live up to fan hype? Spoiler alert: yes. John Sherrod Mar 21·4 min read

Yesterday I wrote a piece about why “the Snyder Cut” is so important to the film industry and why we should all celebrate its release, even those of us who aren’t super fans of Snyder’s DC superhero movies. In that piece I also briefly went over the history of how we got Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League in the first place, four years after the theatrical release was completed and reworked by Joss Whedon, who directed the first two Avengers films for Marvel. That version satisfied just about no one. I didn’t write a full review of Justice League in 2017, but after watching it for the first time, I summed up my feelings on Twitter this way: “Welp. Justice League was exactly what I thought it would be. On the plus side though, it was mercifully short.”

Mercifully short, the Snyder Cut is not. Whereas the Whedon cut is a trim two hours long, Snyder’s version is 4 hours and 2 minutes long. At one point they intended to broadcast this as a miniseries in four one-hour episodes. That’s essentially how I watched it. I got it done in three viewings. The film itself is broken up into six chapters plus an epilogue. But at least that gives the film more time to breathe and makes the plot make a lot more sense.

The Look

The most unusual thing bout Zack Snyder’s Justice League is that it has a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. That’s the aspect ratio that TVs used before widescreen sets became the norm. Snyder apparently became enamored with the format after working with IMAX. Honestly it’s not a big deal and you’ll barely notice it once you get into the movie, but it does make this film very distinctive.

One of the problems with the theatrical cut of Justice League is that it didn’t look consistent with the films that came before it, with Whedon opting instead for a super vibrant color palette. Snyder’s version returns to his desaturated look. There’s also a really nice film grain present and this might be Zack Snyder’s most beautiful film yet. The cinematography is just stunning. In particular I loved the scene of Victor Stone’s football game in the snow. Just gorgeous.

I’ve called Snyder a brilliant filmmaker, and mostly what I’m referring to is his visual flair. His films are unlike anything else out there, and worth watching just for the visual clinic he’s putting on.

The Villains

One of the best improvements to Snyder’s cut is with the way the villains are handled. In the theatrical cut we got no Darkseid at all, and Steppenwolf was one of the most thinly drawn comic book movie villains ever. His look was also downright terrible. In Snyder’s version his look is completely revamped and it’s night and day better. He looks more alien, and the way his armor rippled and flared was very cool. He also is given a proper motivation in this version where we learn that he had betrayed Darkseid in the past and is working on earning his freedom by conquering worlds for the big bad.

Speaking of Darkseid, we get to see him in this version. In Snyder’s cut it was Darkseid who assaulted Earth thousands of years ago and was defeated by an alliance of Amazons, Atlantians, Greek gods, and the Green Lantern Corp. In the theatrical cut it was Steppenwolf in that battle, and the entire scene is much better in the Snyder Cut.

The Heroes

Cyborg and Flash are the big winners of the Snyder cut. Flash is less annoying in this version. (The cringe-inducing “brunch” line is not present here at all.) And Flash gets a cool moment at the end in which he uses time travel to help save the day. Cyborg gets a lot more screen time including a full origin story. Also lots more time using his powers. His father also gets more time and plays a more critical role in this version.

Batman completes something of an arc in this film. In the previous film he’s a psychotic brooder. Here he steps up as the leader of the Justice League and leans into faith. As in the previous version, there’s not nearly enough Superman, but fortunately the Snyder cut doesn’t have the problem of Henry Cavill’s digitally erased mustache that the theatrical cut did. The fight with Superman after he comes back to life is extended (and better) and Superman dons his black suit as he did in the Return of Superman comics from the 90’s.

Conclusion

Look, I have several issues with Zack Snyder’s conception of Superman in particular (and also Batman to a degree). While I think Henry Cavill is great, Snyder’s Superman is not one I would like to see exist in our real world. So for me the great tragedy of the last decade is that Warner Bros. has been giving us this Superman and not the one I would prefer.

But that said, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a minor miracle that is well worth your time and an improvement in every way on the disastrous theatrical cut. It’s gorgeous, ambitious, and something that is at least very different from the kind of films that Marvel is putting out. I love the Marvel films too, but some diversity in superhero storytelling is a good thing. I do recommend that you watch (or re-watch) the theatrical cut before taking the Snyder cut for a spin. It’s absolutely fascinating to see two different directors’ take on the same film in this way. Such a rare treat.