Zack Snyder's Justice League

Four years of annoying whining by teenage fanboys turned into a four-hour long comic book flick packed with a digital mess and an ugly style, and with heroes that are so cringe-worthy that it’s almost embarrassing. The only good thing is that I don’t remember anything about the original shite (Whedon’s cut), so I could take Snyder's cut as a fully new experience. What should be acknowledged is that at least the story doesn’t have any narrative gaps – that’s the only thing I remember from the original version: that it was very rushed and senseless as a result; Snyder's version is certainly not rushed. The problems for me remain: the characters are not even a bit likeable and the moment things go from the realistic interiors and exteriors to CGI action set-pieces what we get is an aesthetic holocaust. That’s something that hasn’t change from last time. That said, it’s nice to make people happy, especially in times like these, and if Snyder's cut fulfilled that goal, I’ve got nothing against it. Though I’d wager that 99% of the people that will like it already know it before watching it. (03/18/2021)

An uncompromising, sprawling comic book colossus. This time, Snyder arranged for the white collars to fail big time. The movie isn’t perfect, a little creaky here and there (Ezra Miller is awful in the role of Flash), but as a whole it works great. The dark tone is consistent with the two preceding pictures: a somber atmosphere, good character motivation and the action scenes are superb. Mainly, the baddies are not there just for a decoration, but there are motives for their behavior. Theatrical soliloquies, heroic entrances, a thunderous soundtrack. I’m happy. Maybe HBO will pay for the sequel too. (03/19/2021)

Except for the fabulously overstuffed chapter where Steppenwolf's headquarters is attacked, this is the first Snyder film where I'm sort of willing to accept digital mess. It is tempting to make a screenshot of each frame and add text bubbles to the characters, this is a living comic book, like from Crew or BB Art. Thanks for that feeling at least, but I can't say I'm jumping in joy. What works on paper doesn't work in the film, the 4 hours of perceptual inferno and the fuckton of slow motion make you tired, so you are grateful for every subtle scene where two characters just talk, which are few and far between. I could have easily done without the pathetic epilogue and Leto's awkward Joker. (03/20/2021)

Snyder can check off the final box, his League is better overall than the original, but it certainly won't be for everyone. It's more layered, more plot-driven, with more emphasis on all the main characters. It portrays them better, it focuses on their motivations and values better, so the overall emotional impact is stronger, and the same is true for the villains, especially Steppenwolf. But I can't shake the feeling that while the film is a patchwork of beautiful, sometimes darkly gothic, sometimes Sin City-like overstyled scenes, with plain cool shots here and there, that works with good story material, but it's ultimately merely an adaptation of a concept that didn't work then and still doesn’t fully work after the facelift. At times, the whole thing feels too artificial and over-artistic, and I couldn't shake the feeling that Superman was just like a sore thumb and he wasn't the Superman from Man of Steel anymore, as if Cavill wasn't Cavill anymore. And ironically, the most memorable and emotionally powerful scenes are those when Affleck climbs mountains to an impressive musical score, or when Zimmer's Man of Steel theme plays. 3.5 stars at most. (04/14/2021)

It took almost a decade before we were able to see the culmination of the Snyder Verse. In 2013 we got the reprise of the Superman origin, a much anticipated new beginning, and the promise of a whole new series of DC feature films. A full three years later, Wonder Woman rushed in for the first proper Superman/Batman reunion, and it took another year for Whedon's version of Justice League to hit theaters. After that, another four years had to be added until the release of the nearly four-hour-long director's cut of Zack Snyder's Justice League. How many other films have we waited for this long? Yet the truth is that the result is excellent. Distribution in the Covid era is primarily set for VOD and even in this environment, the film retains its IMAX format. The division into chapters helps to manage the mammoth length perfectly and makes you forget about the lighter version from 2017. The characters are restored to their seriousness, the individual lines are more thought out, their interconnections make more sense, and even a cartoonish villain like Darkseid evokes truly unpleasant feelings. Comparing a cut full of compromises and a cut with the original director's vision is ideal for many later analyses and generally for increasing audience literacy in the contemporary world. Even the re-release of such a film years later sets a precedent. But of course, the new version of Suicide Squad, which will be released after only five years, will be similarly atypical. (03/27/2021)