2017's "Justice League" was a huge mess to say the least, with a rushed & troubled production that saw the early departure of the original director Zack Snyder replaced with Joss Whedon, the constant re-writes which essentially threw out the film's original vision and cobbling together a cookie cutter byproduct that failed to impress fans or critics.
The movie would soon be forgotten as just another mediocre superhero film until a few years back when the fandom began an online campaign requesting for Snyder's original cut to be restored and released. The hashtag #SnyderCut would go on to become the most shared hashtag ever in social media and fans were rewarded for their passion and it was soon announced that the long-awaited 'Snyder Cut' would be released on March 17th 2021.
Now that we got that little history lesson out of the way, we'll get into the film itself. Does it live up to all the hype? Probably not. Is it a much better movie than before? That's a definite yes from me. Is it the perfect superhero film we've always wanted? That's a bit more complicated to answer, but here we go. The story for those unaware sees Batman (Ben Affleck) assembling a team of meta humans after the heroic death and sacrifice of Superman (Henry Cavill) during the climax of "Batman v. Superman". He recruits the mythical Aquaman (Jason Mamoa), Amazonian Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Barry Allen a.k.a The Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and together they unite as one to take down Steppenwolf, who seeks to open a portal from our world to his and allow the big bad of the DC Universe Darkseid to rule all of earth.
The story is of course much more dense than that, as this new cut runs 4 hours in length and gives the film plenty of room to develop these characters better with special mention going to Ray Fisher's Cyborg who was infamously side-lined during the re-shoots. Here, he becomes integral to the film as a whole and as quoted directly by Snyder himself is "The Heart of The Film". The rest of the team get a bit more added to their arcs as well but some are far less than others. I would say Wonder Woman gets the raw end of the deal here, providing little more than exposition during her big scenes. Her fight scenes are by far the best however, with her being able to unleash her fury thanks to the 'R' rating and unleashing some brutal moves.
Aquaman also gets a bit more here but his extended scenes bring up various plot holes and creates huge continuity problems when connection to the 2018 "Aquaman" film. The Flash remains the comic relief and his jokes land more often than not but we also get some better insight into what motivates him to become a hero. The scenes with his father while brief help with the character immensely. Funny enough, Batman/Bruce Wayne's role remains largely the same as the theatrical cut but there was little to complain about him there anyway so this doesn't change anything major. Even the big bad Steppenwolf gets some development to his motivations and he actually has a clear goal beyond just being an evil villain.
Superman as you may have guessed is largely absent from the film but his influence and symbolism for good is felt throughout and it was awesome seeing him return to help his friends. For the most part this all results in an obvious change in quality and the "Snyder Cut" is a better movie overall. Even with its length it moves quick and though I had to take a break between viewings, I had already gone through 3 hours before I even realized it.
This is probably Zack Snyder's best looking film of his career. He usually has a tendency to go a bit over the top with the look and sound of his work which has divided fans over the years. While a lot of that over the top nature remains here the film also goes for a much darker, earthy look with a heavy use of orange and fiery color schemes that helps add to the bleaker tone. The film takes a different route and keeps its aspect ratio at 4.3 which was first met with skepticism from myself and others. This choice was done to keep the vision of Snyder intact and while unusual after you get into the movie you start to notice how detailed it is despite not being presented in widescreen. The 4K visuals are striking and one the best films I've seen in that format to date. Overall, it seems Snyder had a much more focused idea for this film than others he's done.
Now that I've singed the praises of the film, I sadly must get to the things I didn't enjoy so much. The special effects work has been improved from the theatrical cut for the most part such as the impressive look of Steppenwolf's shifting armor and Cyborg's body. Other times the computer effects either look unfinished or rushed and I know this is due to various outside issues but it's a flaw and it has to be addressed. Junkie XL produces yet another superhero score that feels bland and overall forgettable. His Wonder Woman theme is the only real standout here which luckily gets used often. I don't really enjoy Junkie's work in the superhero genre and really miss those days of Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams taking the reigns. On that topic, why doesn't any Superman movie ever use Williams' score anymore? That could've really elevated the soundtrack.
I'm also not a big fan of the film's Epilogue, which suffers from "Lord of the Rings" syndrome. It tacks on a happy ending, the post-credits from the theatrical cut, a shoehorned in scene with Jared Leto's Joker that really goes nowhere, and finally it reaches the proper end scene which is cool and I won't be spoiling here but it really just needed to stick with this and possibly the happy ending. "Zack Snyder's Justice League" is a vast improvement that shows the power and passion of the fans and those who respected the director. It runs a bit too long, its music is generic, and it has one too many endings but for comic book fans, it's well worth the $14.99 I spent on it. The 2017 film is dead. Long live the "Snyder Cut".
B+
"Zack Snyder's Justice League" is now available on HBO Max. New users get a 7 day free trial. The film is rated 'R' for violence and language. All photos, services, and film rights belong to Warner Media.
No comments:
Post a Comment