Rating: R
Runtime: 4 hours, 2 minutes
Director: Zack Snyder
Quick Impression:
I’m obsessing over Oscar nominees right now and busy in general, so when I heard the much demanded, once allegedly fictional Snyder cut of Justice League was now available on HBO Max, I planned to watch but not review it. (I’ve been doing that more than I like lately. I meant to write a review of Raya and the Last Dragon, too, but so far, I haven’t found the time. If you like Awkwafina, Kelly Marie Tran, and Gemma Chan, then you should love the movie. The animation is stellar, as well.)
Just watching the Snyder cut seemed like commitment enough. I mean, it’s four hours long, and our five-year-old asks, “Is this almost done?” about five times per episode of Jeopardy! (He’s a gaming and streaming fanatic. He’ll spend hours giving you a compelling, detailed argument about why Super Mario World for the SNES was the greatest game ever made, but turn on a traditional TV show or movie for fifteen seconds, and he loses all reason.)
Now that we’ve watched the Snyder cut, however, I find that I can’t resist writing about it. I have so much to say. First of all, I’ll disclose right up front (as I have before in other reviews) that I often have trouble connecting to Zack Snyder’s films. People I respect love his work, but I usually find his storytelling style frustrating and onerous. The issue for me is that his narratives stall, and he seems to be doing it on purpose. It’s like he doesn’t value forward progress. He wants to tell an impressionistic story that moves in some direction other than forward. To me, his movies often feel like a chore to watch. (I did like The 300. It’s not my favorite movie, but it’s watchable.)
That said, when Joss Whedon’s version of Justice League came out in 2017, even I wanted to see the Snyder cut (and I liked Whedon’s movie). That seems doubly strange when I admit that I almost always like Joss Whedon’s work. (Justice League was weak and that second Avengers movie was not my favorite, but I’ve watched and loved Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, Cabin in the Woods, Serenity, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, the first Avengers movie. If I’m leaving something out, chances are I’ve watched and loved that, too.) I like Whedon’s snappy, funny dialogue and blending of adventure and comedy. I don’t like what I’ve heard about his behavior recently, but I do like the content he’s produced, especially his TV shows.
Still, when you watch the 2017 theatrical release of Justice League, you feel like something is amiss. As I said, I don’t always like what Snyder is doing, but I am always aware that he is doing something. Snyder has a strong voice and a recognizable style. It was weird to watch somebody else (even someone whose work I generally prefer) swoop in and finish his franchise. It would be like if Tolkien died before completing The Return of the King, so Mark Twain finished the job for him. (I realize that’s chronologically impossible. My point is, even though I love Twain’s writing, that would be jarring. Maybe that’s a bad example, though. Twain’s book about Joan of Arc does have a similar feel to Tolkein’s work. He could probably pull it off. But in any event, you get the idea. If Charles Shulz had to step away from Peanuts, you wouldn’t replace him with Andy Warhol. That’s an even worse example. But surely you knew what I meant even before I started giving these increasingly bad examples.)
Right from the jump, from the moment the studio announced that Snyder would be stepping away and Whedon would be stepping in, everybody started clamoring to see the Synder cut. And the studio kept insisting there was no Snyder cut. And yet now, the Snyder cut is available to all subscribers of HBO Max. (Snyder went back and worked on the movie during quarantine. It cost millions of dollars and involved a ton of new effects. So while there might not have technically been a true Snyder cut in the beginning, Snyder has produced one now.)
Is the Snyder cut different? Yes, even though he only shot something like five minutes of new footage with actors, the Snyder cut is radically different. When you see it, you will feel like you’re watching a completely different film. (Apparently he didn’t use any of Whedon’s reshoots, so he must have been pretty far into the process when he bowed out following his daughter’s suicide because he’s got four hours of movie here.)
Is the Snyder cut better? Yes. It is much better. (And I liked Whedon’s version of the film. It wasn’t a great movie, but it was fun to watch if you accepted that the plot was kind of weak and wouldn’t change your life. There were certain Whedony conversations that I liked in the 2017 version and missed here.) But overall, Snyder’s version is a far more coherent, cohesive film. The plot makes infinitely more sense, and the message is much clearer. The tone is also consistent throughout. We don’t have wild pockets of silly comedy anymore, and even though I love silly comedy, a consistent tone makes the movie better.
The Good:
First of all, Whedon gutted Snyder’s version when preparing the 2017 release. He made massive cuts. He did rewrites and reshoots. He got a new composer. (Granted, that composer was Danny Elfman, who wrote a perfectly good score, but altering the score changes a lot.) Whedon changed everything. I don’t blame him because it’s my understanding that this was what the studio wanted and why they hired him. They wanted something full of jokes, light, easy to watch, something like a Marvel movie. But Snyder was never making a Marvel movie.
Perhaps you’ve come across actor Ray Fisher’s complaints about Whedon’s behavior during filming or Fisher’s frustration with the entire process overall. Now I see why Fisher would be upset about his experience on the movie and the way the film turned out. (To be fair, Cyborg comes across well in Whedon’s version, too. In fact, he was my daughter’s favorite character when we first saw the film. But he doesn’t have the centrality, importance, and depth he gets in this version.)
In the Snyder cut, Fisher’s Cyborg is at the very center of the story. His arc gives the story its heart. Whedon cut almost the entirety of Fisher’s storyline. (No kidding, he must have cut like forty minutes of material relating to Fisher. It would be like cutting Carrie Fisher out of the first Star Wars.) That means that Whedon changed the focus of the story. Either he deliberately changed Snyder’s entire vision for the movie or he didn’t recognize what Snyder was trying to do (which is possible. Snyder had four hours of good footage. Imagine how much total footage he must have had! Maybe Whedon didn’t get the idea—though he would have had the screenplay, right? Maybe Whedon just thought that Superman was a more crowd-pleasing focus than Cyborg.)
When you see this cut, then learn that Snyder added hardly any new footage with the actors, it becomes alarmingly clear just how much Whedon scrapped. To Snyder, the Cyborg story was the very heart of the film, and Whedon got rid of basically all of that. Snyder clearly wants to emphasize that this is a story about fathers and sons. (You can’t possibly miss his point. Both of Superman’s fathers show up vocally near the end of the film to talk to him at length about their hopes for him, their pride in him. And at the end of the story, everybody starts talking about their dads, being a dad, visiting their dads. Even Wonder Woman is thinking about her mother—and she’s already been reminded of Zeus. Snyder was probably thinking about being a father a lot. His version of the film is dedicated to his late daughter.)
Cyborg’s father Silas Stone (Joe Morton) is a key player in the story. Not only does Cyborg have ongoing relationship difficulty with him, but Silas has one moment which makes a huge different to the plot and to his son’s development. So much of Cyborg’s story is revealed in this version. Whedon gutted the Cyborg stuff. When you see how much previously unaired Cyborg material there is, and how much it taps into the story’s central themes, then you’ll realize how crazy it is that the 2017 film omits almost all of it.
(One note, I am not slamming Joss Whedon. For this. If you’re asked to step in to finish a film, and the studio wants big changes, then, of course, you’re going to do what you can to find your movie among someone else’s footage.)
But Cyborg, not Superman, is the central figure of Snyder’s movie. This makes the film more interesting. In the 2017 version, everything seems so superficial, so predictable. It happens so quickly. Everybody arrives at the decision to do the movie’s BIG THING so fast. (It’s not a surprise anymore, right? The movie has been out for almost four years. Plus, as twists go, it was always pretty obvious. Since the end of Batman v Superman, the big surprise of Justice League was almost like a foregone conclusion. I’ll still refrain from saying it explicitly.) But why they take this risk, why they feel they have to do this crazy thing makes 10,000 times more sense in this movie. And here they do it understanding the consequences in a more believable way. (In the Whedon version, they all seem so stupid and surprised by every bad thing that happens.)
Whedon’s movie seems to jump from one moment, from one plot point, to the next. In that version, it almost feels like we’re following an outline taken from someone’s notes instead of an actual story. In the Snyder cut, every event happens for a reason. In 2017, far too much stuff seems to happen just because it is the thing that comes next.
Because the film is four hours long, Synder has time to reveal more about the villain’s plot to us, which turns out to be a very good thing. We understand why these mother boxes woke up. We get a more complete view of what Steppenwolf hopes to do with them. This is actually where the 2017 film was weakest. Both the villain and his plot were pretty thin. Not only does the Snyder cut improve Steppenwolf’s character design (the CGI look of him, I mean), but we also learn so much more about the character’s motivations and goals. We learn more about these mother boxes. And we see the beings he reports to, giving us an entirely different impression of the bigger story. I’m not sure how much of the material differs from the 2017 release, but I know I took away a much fuller understanding of what was happening this time.
And remember all the brouhaha back in 2017 about the expensive of digitizing away Henry Cavill’s mustache in reshoots? (Remember, Whedon needed reshoots, yet Cavill had to keep his mustache due to Mission Impossible commitments, so the studio paid gazillions of dollars to erase it digitally?) What shocked me is another cosmetic change Whedon made that I never even knew about. It has to do with the Superman’s suit. I’m really stunned that Snyder had already filmed Superman looking one way, and apparently Whedon altered the appearance of his clothing. I’m not sure what it would have hurt to keep Snyder’s original design for the clothing. As my husband pointed out, it matches something else in the story that we’ve already seen.
Superman’s role in this version of the story is improved, too. For me, one of the weakest things about the 2017 release was the way Superman just swooped in and saved the day at the end. The last big battle was so anticlimactic, almost silly. In the Snyder cut, the big action scene at the end is so much better. Every one of the heroes genuinely helps to take on the villain and dismantle the threat. They work as a team. They all do something vital, and it takes all of their unique powers and abilities to get the situation under control.
But for me, the biggest and the most positive difference between the two films is that in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Wonder Woman is treated with such dignity. The film treats her as it treats all the other members of the league, like a true hero. Note that Gal Gadot’s performance is good in both versions of the film, but the way Whedon shot and presented her was over-the-top male gazey to the point that it was uncomfortable. All the other heroes were striking heroic poses, and, as far as the camera was concerned, Wonder Woman had turned into Marilyn Monroe standing over the subway grating in The Seven Year Itch.
My husband was so outraged about the male gaze of the camera when we watched the 2017 theatrical release. It was pretty bad. It couldn’t have been more blatant. At the time, there was a lot of talk about the male gaze in film, and my husband was like, “This movie couldn’t have made that point any more blatantly.” There was such a dramatic difference between the way female director of Wonder Woman Patty Jenkins presented the Amazon hero and the way Justice League showed her. So many shots from below, from strange, uncomfortable-looking angles! We always seemed to be looking at Wonder Woman’s butt, her thighs. Any chance to show her bare flesh—especially around her thighs and butt—and there it was! If you can’t tell that Gal Gadot is attractive without being shown an upside-down upskirt view of her at random moments, then that’s your problem. There was absolutely no need to present the character so salaciously. Fortunately, her own performance kept the character strong and consistent even in 2017, but the Snyder cut treats her much, much better. (To be fair, it is possible that not all the sexy Wonder Woman shots were Whedon’s. Possibly Snyder originally shot her in that way sometimes, too, and then he cut those shots because he’s had the benefit of fan feedback. But, if memory serves, a lot of those camera angles came from scenes which are not in this version of the story.)
I’m a Wonder Woman fan going back to my own childhood. (I don’t often read comics, but as a kid, I read children’s comics and books, watched the show with Lynda Carter, and watched Superfriends cartoons.) So I’m always particularly gratified to see Wonder Woman get good material. The Amazons get a much better part in this movie. Their sequence fighting against Steppenwolf feels like it’s extended a lot. And they don’t look as sexed up either. (For example, when a character slides, we don’t start at her toes and gaze up into her crotch.) By virtue of being extended, some of the Amazons’ moments make more sense and also make them look better, stronger, more heroic.
Snyder also gives us a captivating scene in which Wonder Woman discovers the story about the mother boxes’ origins (which she later retells to Batman). I’m positive that the 2017 version did not include this moment of discovery. My husband and I also felt that the sequence showing the battle that happened with the boxes in ancient times looked new and different. (I’m not sure if it is, but it feels better. It may be extended, or we may simply understand better as we watch it because we’ve already been given additional context.)
As you’ll discover if you watch the Snyder cut, there are many, many other differences. It feels like a completely different movie. My husband noted, “You can see what a big difference editing makes.” There are numerous new scenes. (For the most part, these are not there because Snyder shot new footage but because Whedon did.)
This feels like a completely different movie. In fact, the moments that are exactly the same are so jarring because they feel like bits from a movie you’ve already seen somehow spliced into completely new material. (Now, to be fair to Whedon, what director couldn’t tell a more complete story if given four hours instead of two?)
To me, the biggest thing that makes this feel like a different movie is the new score by Junkie XL (which may be the old score that we never heard since Whedon fired the existing composer when he hired Danny Elfman). A movie’s score makes a huge, huge difference to the audience’s experience.
There are so many differences that I can’t name them all. One character my daughter and I know from Supergirl makes a surprise appearance. And Mera (Amber Heard’s character from Aquaman) suddenly has a British accent. I’ve always been innately suspicious of Heard (which seems unfair of me to me, so I compensate by trying extra hard to give her a chance). But I like her much better with the British accent. That she has it makes no sense in light of Aquaman, but a lot of the Aquaman material seems kind of garbled to me. (I haven’t watched Aquaman recently, but so much is packed into that movie that I can’t keep it all straight. I’m kind of confused about the timeline, and the relationship of this movie to that one. I’m going to have to watch Aquaman again.)
Best Scene:
This time, one of the best moments in the film is the same scene I considered weakest in the 2017 version. When the Justice League battles Steppenwolf for the final time, all the heroes come together to make a triumphant, unified stand. Everybody participates. They all save the day.
Best Scene Visually:
I like the last stand of Dr. Silas Stone, especially when the heroes realize what Dr. Stone has actually accomplished a bit later. (Why would Whedon cut this? It’s not long and improves the story on so many levels?)
Best Action Sequence:
If you’re a girl who likes Wonder Woman, then you should like the stand the Amazons make on Themyscira. Their scenes are extended in this version, and they get much better material. I also love the scene in which Diana learns about the boxes. It’s like something you’d see in an Indiana Jones movie, and I always loved that franchise as a child. (More Wonder Woman is always a good thing if you ask me.)
Best Argument for a Sequel:
The crazy scene at the end of this film (in the epilogue) plays like an audition for a sequel. I would watch that movie. And if I, who don’t usually like Snyder’s stuff that much, would pay to watch his idea for a Justice League 2, then you can bet that his legions of fans would buy tickets. I think Warner Brothers should make this movie. Are all the actors available? (Will Fisher and Heard be allowed to work on the film?) Snyder must be planning another Justice League. This film appears in IMAX ratio, which means it won’t fill your widescreen TV, but it will look great on an IMAX movie screen one day soon. Why would Snyder do this if he’s not planning a theatrical release and hoping for a theatrical sequel?
The Negatives:
The problem I always have with Zack Snyder movies is that the plot never seems to advance fast enough for me. Sometimes I feel like I’m watching a series of extremely slow moving comic book panels. I feel like I’m looking at a tableau instead of a scene. There’s not always a lot of forward progression of the story. We get caught in all these moments. I have less of a problem with that here. By breaking the movie up into parts, Snyder somehow makes it seem to move more quickly. Simply inserting chapter breaks improves the pacing of the story. I also suspect that I have less of a problem with pacing in this film because I’ve seen another version of the movie before and already know what we’re heading toward.
As I’ve said, this movie is a decided improvement on the 2017 version, but it is not without its flaws. First of all, the villain’s plan (although it makes more sense when explained in greater detail) still seems like a weak element. I don’t like Steppenwolf as a villain, not even when they give him cooler armor. (Some of this is personal taste. I prefer villains like Loki, people who are quick-witted, deceptively attractive, and occasionally heroes.) Plus, I’ve never been able to get past the idea that Steppenwolf is named after an old band. (I suppose both the character and the band are probably named after the Hermann Hesse novel. Still. Can you imagine? “I have come to destroy your world. Cower in terror of me. My name is Guns N’ Roses.” Or how about, “Surrender to Simon and Garfunkel.”)
Also, even though this film explains the reason the mother boxes awoke and gives us much more information overall, I still have questions. Superman didn’t arrive on this planet until quite recently. He certainly hasn’t been here since the time Zeus was running around, fighting alongside the Atlanteans and the Amazons. Was it his arrival that caused a stirring in the mother boxes? Then did they cautiously wait until he was gone to wake up? (Is that what the movie is implying? Does it say that, and did I miss it?) I’m confused about the gap between the big Zeus battle and Superman’s arrival. I get the other connection and appreciate it being explained.
The other issue that I have is that I actually liked a lot of the stuff in the Whedon version. I can see that this version is truer to Snyder’s original vision for the film (obviously) and also that it’s a stronger film overall (mainly because he gets four hours to tell the story, so we have additional information. Also, there are no stark tonal irregularities. It’s a much more even film.)
But a lot of Whedon’s material was fun and engaging. I loved the way Whedon gave us crazy Batman, the guy who’s willing to battle aliens alongside metahumans even though his mortal body really isn’t up to it. I felt the 2017 film focused a lot more on Batman’s everyman qualities, the fact that he was not a superhero by virtue of power, that he became a hero simply by behaving like one. These themes are pretty Whedony. Batman doesn’t have powers, but he hangs out and helps anyway. He’s like the Xander of the group. There’s a great conversation between Batman and Wonder Woman which isn’t in this version (so presumably, it was Whedon’s).
Also, I think Lois Lane had slightly better lines in the Whedon version. I won’t say that she had a better part because her part in this movie makes infinitely more sense. But she did get snappier dialogue and much more focus. As a fan of Amy Adams, I appreciate that Whedon’s movie let her show more range and gave her better lines. (I knew that “thirsty” bit was Whedon’s joke.) I will say that while the scene that we get between Diane Lane and Amy Adams in this version might not have snappy dialogue, it makes up for it with a big surprise at the end.
I also liked the opening scene of the Whedon version a lot. (In fact, I assumed from the odd bleakness of its hopeful tone that it was Snyder’s scene.) That said, the opening scene of this movie contributes powerfully to the plot and makes the whole movie neater overall. But I did love that first scene in the Whedon version. Part of me wishes that Whedon had been allowed to make his own Justice League movie from scratch. I would love to see what that would have looked like, too.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of all the slow-mo lighting. It looks cool, I guess, but it just takes forever. I will acknowledge, though, that that’s the look Snyder is trying to cultivate, and he succeeds at what he is attempting to do.
Even though I love Ezra Miller in general, his Flash seems like the weakest character in both versions of the film. I miss some lines Whedon gave him, but he’s probably more heroic, more helpful here. I actually don’t like either director’s interpretation of the character all that much.
Overall:
If you’re a fan of Zack Snyder, you must watch his cut of Justice League. (But you already have, right?) Even if you’re only a casual fan of DC comics, you must see this movie, and there’s a good chance you’ll like it. When compared to the 2017 theatrical release, the Snyder cut is a much stronger film, with a more consistent tone, a clearer vision, a plot explained in greater detail, and much better handling of Cyborg’s story. The Snyder cut also leaves out a lot of the weird, upside-down shots of Wonder Woman’s butt, so now we can look at Wonder Woman’s face when she’s talking to us. I hope Snyder is allowed to make a sequel. (I can’t believe he even found a way to work in Jared Leto’s Joker!)