Zack Snyder's Justice League

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After years of outstanding effort from passionate fans, Warner Bros. finally decided to give Zack Snyder the opportunity to finish his movie on his own terms. 2017's Justice League went through massive production issues - explained in my review of said film - and despite years of extremely tiresome, toxic discourse on social media, the famous Snyder Cut got a controversy-inducing budget to complete an undoubtedly unfinished cut. A crucial disclaimer: you'll see countless reviews based on wholly different approaches. Some people will review it as a standalone, regular movie, while others will look at it as an extended/alternate cut of a film previously released. I'm part of the latter group of reviewers.

I find it a bit unfair to criticize pacing issues or an overlong runtime when the purpose of this cut is precisely to show everything Snyder had in his hand. Director/Extended/Ultimate Cut, call it what you feel it's appropriate, but it's a four-hour movie, so many scenes will inevitably drag or feel unnecessary and irrelevant. The narrative is fundamentally the same, which means the audience knows what's coming from a general perspective. Still, I'm reviewing this version mostly on its own merits, but without forgetting that it's not a regular theatrical film and that it unquestionably builds upon what was already released.

Without getting into spoilers, I do have to write this: the heavy marketing was incredibly misleading, and I don't doubt for a second that many fans will feel disappointed regarding certain story points and particular characters. The whole "it's a totally distinct movie" or "Joss Whedon only used 10% of Snyder's footage" were nothing more than false publicity for a cut that honestly didn't need it. Out of the 119 minutes of the 2017's version, probably around 80/90 minutes are also in the Snyder Cut, which will be surprising for people who e...

Definitely an improvement over the Whedon version and as a DC fan, enjoyed plenty of the character moments (and the addition of MM) but the story did feel off even though the film is nearly four hours long, in addition the alternate timeline part at the end felt tacked on and unnecessary. The visual effects looked like something from a video game but I can forgive that since I'd imagine it'd cost an additional $100M to make it look cleaner and more realistic.

Given what Snyder had to work with and the fact in reality the studio should've been patient and given him and his family to mourn and re-group later, I am glad this did become a reality, shame that outside of maybe The Flash movie there won't be a follow-up with Darkseid. 3.5/5

This is DC's best so far...easily.
Although not flawless- there are a couple of scenes that didnt need to be included - this is the version that we needed to see.
There is so much more time given to the characters in this, the plot is better thought out and structured, and Steppenwolf is no longer a joke. There is actually an urgency in his battles with the JL now. And OMG, Darkseid and Desaad look and sound boss.
The recruitment is harder, the fight between the JL and Supes and then the JL and Steppenwolf is more brutal, and Superman's 'recovery' is better paced and makes more sense. This also follows directly on from BVS and links directly into Aquaman. And the closing cover of Hallelujah is glorious (it near comes close to Jeff Buckley's angelic version)

It's flaws - Timing of release - I need to watch this in a cinema. FU WB for not giving Snyder the time to finish this as he envisioned. THIS is what we should have gotten, not the tripe that was Josstice League. This movie shows that Snyder was not just trying to catch up to Marvel, he was their own version of their stories and it should have been allowed to come to the end of the cycle.
Also, I was underwhelmed by the score and would have loved Zimmer to have returned to complete this.
And there are a couple of initial set-up scenes that could have been let go or shortened and the gapping continuity error scene in the middle where the JL get introduced to Alfred after theyve already met him should have just been left out.

But we got what we asked for - the Snyder Cut in its entirety. And I am grateful for that...thankyou.

Now, could we please create ZSJL2 so we can see the Injustice and Darkseid stories.

I really, really REALLY wasn't expecting this - it felt like the extended edition of Lord of the Rings, if Zack Snyder directed it! No, this was Zack Snyder's vision of Justice which we should've seen, if it wasn't for Joss Whedon hadn't pissed all over it. I mean, I understand why Snyder had to pull out the production, I really do, but Whedon could've had the decency to keep to heart on Snyder's work. Looking back, it was a total disrespect to the visionary director. This film...wow! It was truly and 100% amazed me.

Plus, my best highlight was the voiceover of of Superman's dads Johnathan and Jor-El reminding him of who is he - it felt poignant.

That said, a couple of things I feel I must complain about this, just small things; 1) I noticed Mera had a change of accent. Probably an original idea, but it sounded funny especially soon after 2018 Aquaman was released. 2) Victor Stone's dad Silas sacrificed himself - not only was it upsetting but it changes everything for the future of DCEU films. I guess this means they;ll have to rewrite everything for that Cyborg movie!

At least we got the introduction of the Joker (Jared Leto reprising his role) as well as the (not so) surprising twist of the Martian Manhunter! Not to mention we finally got to see the appearance of Darkseid - it was all like a fusion of 300's Persian empire and LOTR's Sauron!

In the end, this was a true masterpiece from Zack Snyder, since Watchmen and Sucker Punch, and I am so pleased - no, grateful this was made. I thank not just the director himself for returning to this project but also the many fans who petitioned this director's cut to happen. For once, we finally had something good out of all this chaos that was covid 19, hence why they chose the song Hallelujah for their Snyder cut trailer!

Thank you so much, Zack Snyder - you have always been my fav movie director. Joss Whedon, you are officially dead to me!

10/10 this is absolutely fantastic, just 1 word, #RestoreTheSnyderVerse

I don't understand why people are getting so horned up over this movie. It's got the exact same plot as the theatrical cut, but it's longer and more drawn out with unnecessary slow-motion and scenes that any editor worth their salt would have cut out (like Aquaman's Icelandic singers). And what we're left with?

Darkseid gets his ass kicked and then forgets he was ever on Earth. Hardly anything spectacular.

Steppenwolf's armor now looks like something designed by early 90s Rob Liefeld, which is not at all a compliment.

The Cyborg stuff was pretty good for the most part, although the sequence with the single mother was just as pointless as Whedon's Russian family and there was absolutely no logical reason why his father had to sacrifice himself. But Snyder is a fan of fathers sacrificing themselves when there is absolutely no logical reason for it (see Jonathan Kent in Man of Steel).

So what else is there?

"Superman wears the black suit!"

Okay...and...? It's just a black version of his usual suit, there's no story reason why he wears it, and it looks like Snyder intended for him to keep on wearing it. Which is stupid and doesn't fit that character at all. And amusingly enough, I see some of the people freaking out about this who in the 90s would have lost their shit if Tim Burton's black-suited Superman movie ever got made.

We also have Wonder Woman splattering bad guy brains over walls and vaporizing people RIGHT IN FRONT OF LITTLE KIDS! And once Steppenwolf is clearly defeated, Superman heat visions off part of his head FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON OTHER THAN CRUELTY!

This is what people are all pumped up for? To see Superman and Wonder Woman go all Abu Ghraib on people?

Oh, and we get the Martian Manhunter. Who clearly knows everything that's happening, BUT DOESN'T LIFT A GODDAMN FINGER TO HELP OUT! Martian Manhunter, it should be added, IS ABOUT AS POWERFUL AS SUPERMAN! But does he turn up at the Batcave to say, "You could probably use my h...

Admittedly, I don’t know as much about DC as I do about Marvel. However, I’m fairly well versed in them and the Justice League is my favorite DC team. When it was announced that DC would come out with a Justice League movie after the Avengers, I had hope...that is until I learned that they’d be doing a team movie first and individual movies afterward. This is the exact opposite of what Marvel did.

During the production of the first movie, Zack Snyder had the incredibly unfortunate disposition of learning that his daughter had committed suicide. Understandably, he took a break from the movie. Because Warner executives don’t understand anything, they went on with the production.

Hiring Joss Whedon to finish the production, the final product was lackluster at best. In typical Zack Snyder style, it was more flash than substance. After it came out, Zack went public and said that the movie was nowhere near his final vision. Not long after this, the hashtag #releasethesnydercut was trending on Twitter. Four years later, the director’s cut was completed and we got a monstrosity of a movie. Now the true question is “Was this movie worth the hype?”

Honestly...not really.

Now I write this from the point of view of one who’s been a comic book fan for 32 years. Also realize that there are MANY stories that I haven’t read and equally as many storylines that I’m ignorant to. However, I understand the characters. I’m a firm believer that character develops story. George Lucas said: “A Special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing.” This is a lesson that Zack Snyder has never learned. Now, Joss Whedon gave us an amazing movie with The Avengers - and that’s the only comparison that I’ll make - so it’s possible that WB wanted some of that lightning in a bottle for JL and that’s why they brought him on.

When Ray Fisher went public and said that Joss created a hostile work environment (as well as one of the producers), the way it was presented was that he didn’t...

Say what you want about this movie! It's great and everything. But what do you say about this app? I think you guy should hire this one. He's a keeper.

Ok lets clear stuff up before hand. It's still the same movie with extra scenes. There alot of friction from which was good and bad or bad to worse. at the end its all about personal taste. Zack Snyder version was better covering the story of each character we have not seen in the series, but he also did stretch it out for so long that the movie hinges on to long. But overall a good movie just longer.

Zack Snyder's Justice League is able to turn one of the worst superhero movies of all time into a fantastic film filled with great action, heart, and depth.

The original 2017 Justice League cut was unbearable to watch, each line of dialogue felt out of place and extremely corny. I was physically cringing at almost every scene. These problems are completely wiped away in the Snyder Cut allowing for a more character focused and emotional telling of the dawn of the Justice League. The entire film is completely different, with scenes completely cut and the order adjusted to have a more organic viewing experience.

With a runtime of four hours, I was really nervous of feeling bored or the movie having a large amount of filler to pad the runtime, but that is not the case. Each scene is crafted perfectly to deliver important character depth, allowing the viewer to gain an emotional connection with each of our heroes. Cyborg, Flash, and Aquaman all have very fleshed out introductions, giving the audience a glimpse of their motivations and struggles living in a world with their powers. Cyborg has a tremendous arc with his struggling relationship with his father, which gets great pay off in the end of the film. The Flash feels grounded too with his motivation for fighting crime to help prove his father's innocence. With this new perspective and tone, his quips feel more like that of an immature kid (much like Spider-Man) rather than infused comedy that was forced by the corporate overlords.

Batman and Wonder Woman are great in this film, with each giving arguably their best performance as their respective characters. Batman feels like a man who has truly learned from his past mistakes and wants to gather and lead his team rather than divide. Wonder Woman is a confident bad-ass Amazon who's heartfelt and understanding presence is the glue that holds the team together. Aquaman does not have all that much of an arc in this film but has a great lead into his solo movi...