‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’: Notorious Snyder Cut Is Improved, But Mostly A Collectible For Ride-or-Die Fans [Review]

For better or worse, filmmaker Zack Snyder treats superheroes, especially those from the DC Universe, not as human beings with relatable problems, but as gods and mythic archetype figures that have to carry the burden of humanity on their shoulders. His films are grandiose in that regard, epic in scale, but also consequently melodramatic, solemn, and sometimes thunderingly overwrought. To that end, there are great myths to dispel about the near-legendary Snydercut, aka “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.” This infamous director’s cut—demanded by fans for several years until Warner Bros. finally acquiesced last year—has seen itself at the center of the online culture wars. The home team puts Snyder up on the same type of pedestal of god-like reverence, idolatry, and worship that he places his heroes. The opposition, often irritated by the slavish loyalty and toxic fandom surrounding the film’s discourse, is often derisive and mocking. So, likely to the disappointment of both warring tribes, rooting for opposite outcomes (though both will claim victory regardless), “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” is neither masterpiece nor disaster. At four hours in length, the film is obviously overlong and self-indulgent. But it is more coherent and watchable than its original iteration and is at least not unbearably grim and overblown like “Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice,” nor as risible and incoherent as “Wonder Woman 1984.”

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021

However, despite suggestions to the contrary, it’s not much of a radical departure from Joss Whedon’s 2017 “Justice League”—the theatrically released version of the film that Whedon took over following Snyder’s departure because of the tragic death of his daughter and his warring with the studio over creative control of the movie. ‘ZSJL’ is very similar, the same story, and only really departs from the theatrical version distinctively in the last act. It is essentially, the assembly cut of the same story with two hours of extra or bonus footage.

READ MORE: Zack Snyder Reiterates That Snydercut ‘Justice League’ Is His “Last” DCU Movie & WB is “100% Moving On”

If most films ruthlessly trim themselves in the name of story propulsion, the Snydercut does the exact opposite, including nearly every frame of footage they shot, and luxuriating and lingering on every beat and moment. For example, When Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) meets Aquaman (Jason Momoa) for the first time, an Icelandic group of women sings a solemn hymn for him. You can glean (if you squint) that it’s because Aquaman is the savior of this small remote village, and they are singing his praises. But none of this is explained, and it goes on for much longer than is needed. And that’s the Snydercut in general, reveling in breaths and moments that don’t really help the story at all, but are neat texture at best (Superman “death scream” at the opening of the film that triggers the opening of the Mother Boxes plot device goes on for like a never-ending five minutes).

READ MORE: Zack Snyder Says ‘Justice League’ Ends With “Massive Cliffhanger” & Sequel Would Have Taken Place In “Knightmare” Setting

And yet, as frustrating as that can be at times—four hours for a superhero movie that could be told in about 2.5 or 3 hours can feel interminable—the unhurried pace has its advantages. For one, if you watch Joss Whedon’s version of “Justice League” before or after ‘ZSJL,’ it feels like the hyper speed-dating version of the movie that rushes from scene to scene with little flow or lucidity (Warner Bros. mandated to Whedon to make the movie no longer than two hours and much of that job is time compression).

READ MORE: Zack Snyder’s Ambitious Plans For ‘Justice Leauge 2 & 3’ Included The Legion of Doom & Deaths of Multiple Heroes

With two extra hours to play with, Snyder’s version is much more comprehensible for the story he was trying to tell. This means, much more backstory and character development for Victor Stone, aka Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and Barry Allen, aka the Flash (Ezra Miller), and much more about Stone’s father (Joe Morton as Silas Stone) and Lois Lane (Amy Adams). But there are positives and negatives to that too. Most characters get their own “new” solo moment, but Aquaman’s amounts to the character drinking whiskey in the rain in grandiloquent slow-motion to a sobering Nick Cave song.

READ MORE: Zack Snyder Reveals First Look At Jared Leto’s Joker & Suggests New ‘Justice League’ Teases Robin’s Death

So despite character expansion, the same, rather facile story remains. As much as ‘ZSJL’ pads and fleshes-out heroes, it’s still a movie about finding three magic (Mother) Boxes, recruiting a reluctant team, and bringing back Superman (Henry Cavill) to beat the evil invaders that want to conquer Earth (there’s some mumbo jumbo about an anti-life element that’s supposed to explain their motivation further, but it’s not rooted in anything other than “conquer” and most of it is seeded for sequels that will never arrive).

READ MORE: Zack Snyder Says His ‘Justice League’ Director’s Cut Is A Movie, No Longer A Series

In some regards, one is reminded how similar it is to Marvel’s ‘Infinity Saga,’ superficially, in its basic story. Heroes are trying to prevent (stones or boxes) from falling into the hands of evil conquerors (Darkseid or Thanos). Still, even Thanos’ warped mad man prophet logic of saving the universe by any means necessary is much more sophisticated than anything offered here. Steppenwolf, the main villain (Ciarán Hinds), is given more motivation—he betrayed his master, Darkseid (Ray Porter), at one point, and conquering Earth would be his redemption— but he’s still really empty and one-note (strangely enough, his new edgelord XTREME design is an eye-sore and yet, still better than the original version).

READ MORE: ‘Zach Snyder’s Justice League’ Trailer: The Ultimate Director’s Cut Has A Little Joker

There are additional drawbacks besides length and wandering pace. There’s no complexity in the decision to bring back Superman from the dead. In contrast, in Whedon’s version, the ethical decision of whether they should resurrect Kal-El is a central plot point that brings much-needed friction to the not-yet-fully-formed Justice League team (some elements of Aquaman skepticism remain). It’s this kind of simplicity that makes ‘ZSJL’ more of a “gods, trying to beat the demon conquerors coming to invade earth,” and not a lot more, certainly hardly ever rooted in universal emotional issues that audiences can relate to on an extra level (on a separate note, someone must please, please implore “The Flash” director Andy Muschietti to teach Ezra Miller how to run; spoiler, it does not look like swimming in the air in slow motion).

READ MORE: Zack Snyder Originally Wanted A Batman/Lois Lane Love Story In His ‘Justice League’

‘ZSJL’ changes the most in the last final act. Superman returns in his black suit (known as the “Recovery Suit,” in the comics), and this action sequence is definitely more entertaining, exciting, and more watchable than the original version. Cut into six chapters with an epilogue so long, it might as well be the seventh chapter; these breaks do help pause the viewing, should you need it, but they do not function like traditional TV, so one understands why that the initial idea to make ‘ZSJL’ a series was scrubbed.

READ MORE: New Deep Dive Into ‘Justice League’ Suggests Zack Snyder Quit Because WB Gave Joss Whedon Too Much Power

The less said about the epilogue, the better, however. Forget that it needlessly sets up a sequel that won’t come and feels like an obvious excuse to get Batman and the Joker (Jared Leto) in the same scene for one last time. It’s just longwinded, features some terribly cringe-y dialogue (a laughable f-bomb and a crass Joker joke about a “reach-around”), and if your patience is wearing thin by hour three, does the film zero favors (there’s also a Martian Manhunter beat that feels very tacked on).

READ MORE: Jared Leto Says He & Zack Snyder Have “Lots Up Their Sleeves”

While it feels like cultural factions have been fighting over “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” for years, the winners ultimately will be the fans. ‘ZSJL’ is a fan cut as much as it is a director’s cut, with all the indulgence that the notion applies. As for any continuation of the story, as the fans hope, that seems gravely unlikely considering the direction Warner Bros is headed. But for a director who had to abandon his grand superhero project because of a family tragedy and because a big movie studio tried to wrestle control of the film, which was too much to bear at the time, one supposes, this postmortem collectible for ride-or-dies fans, is about as good as an outcome as one could get. [C]