I have made my disdain for Zack Snyder as a director pretty clear by now. I find his hyper-focus on style over substance to be ill-suited for narrative filmmaking and his overreliance on uber-masculine symbolism to be alienating and distracting, not to mention toxic. The only film of his that I have ever liked was his adaptation of Watchmen. Even then, I am convinced that the only reason it was any good at all was that Zack Snyder did not realize the original graphic novel was intended to be a satire. That should describe Zack Snyder in a nutshell, in my opinion.
Even so, having now watched his much-awaited original vision of the ill-advised Justice League film, I can still say that, while I continue to dislike Zack Snyder as a director, his original vision of the film turns out to be a surprise upgrade from the original, albeit in only a select few areas. The entire concept as a whole is still incredibly misguided, cynically motivated, and definitively proves just how needed a change-in-course was for Warner Brothers and the DCEU.
Having sat through all four hours of Zack Snyder's original vision (his original plan was to divide the story into two films), I cannot go so far as to say that Snyder has redeemed himself, nor can I say that Snyder appears to have learned any valuable lessons when it comes to narrative growth. What I can say is that, at the very least, there are aspects of his original vision that I agree with and appreciate, but they are still not sufficient for me to overlook the many, many, many flaws that still permeate the film; flaws that were present in the theatrical version and in The Snyder Cut, along with a few new ones.
Strap yourselves in; this is going to be a massive undertaking!
In focusing on the differences between the two versions of this film, I will not be summarizing the story per my usual practice. The narrative is mostly incredibly complex and loaded with references and story turns that only the deeply initiated will understand and appreciate. Therefore, please indulge me as I go over some of the key differences between the two versions of this film, why some of them work, why some don't, and why I partially prefer this new version despite my many misgivings with it and its creator.
Furthermore, I will discuss these two versions of the film under the impression that you have seen at least one of them or are familiar with the characters. If you have not seen either of the films or are not familiar with the characters in question, I advise you to take a moment to examine the films Wikipedia page for a brief description of the film, the characters, and the reason there are two versions of this film in the first place.
Now, let's begin this breakdown. Starting with the few aspects that I genuinely liked.
Some of the characters are a bit more compelling.
The two characters who suffered the most in the film's original release were The Flash and Cyborg. Both are fine characters portrayed by talented and engaging actors, but they suffered from either a lack of development or misplaced comedic antics. Cyborg was not provided sufficient development in the theatrical release to make him a compelling character, outside of his relationship with his estranged father (who was also responsible for his cybernetic appearance and abilities) and his inability to completely control his newly found gifts. The Flash, while enjoyably goofy and sympathetic, suffered from too much awkward humor and annoying personality traits. His original arc of finding the courage to be a regular hero facing off against many kinds of bad guys made no sense within the story's context.
In Snyder's cut, Cyborg has much more needed characterization, making him more compelling and textured. You get a much better sense of his motivations and reasons for being the way he is. It also provides a much more satisfying character in terms of growth and engagement. The Flash is also fairly improved. While he still retains his somewhat goofy behavior, which made him likable, he no longer has issues with facing off against unusual enemies, nor is he at all cringe-inducing. Furthermore, he plays a much bigger role in taking down the bad guys and saving the day, providing a much more satisfying arc for his character.
The music is astounding, including the needle drops.
For those who don't know or need a quick refresher, needle drops refer to the use of non-diegetic music, as in music not emanating from within the scene but rather accompanying it. This is typically used with montages or moments that don't have many other sounds, including dialogue. A perfect example would be the opening scene to The Graduate, where Dustin Hoffman walks through the airport as the song "Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel plays over the footage. The song is not playing anywhere within the scene, like over the airport speakers, but is playing over the footage to accompany the scene's intended mood.
Whatever else can be said about Zack Snyder, I will say that his talent for selecting songs for needle drops is pretty awesome. Not only does he seem to have genuinely good taste in music, but he chooses songs to accompany his visuals surprisingly well. Again, this aspect of his talents is best showcased in Watchmen. Even so, his choices of songs for his original vision of Justice League feel appropriate and oddly poetic.
This also applies to the new score for the film. Rather surprising when you realize that the composer is Junkie XL, credited in The Snyder Cut as Thomas Holkenborg. Junkie XL has rarely hit me in the right spot with his music. Most of the time, he has the tendency to hit overly dramatic notes and repeat his melodies over and over again. His music often comes off less like he's trying to enhance the visuals and more like he's trying to distract from them. As if he's demanding more attention.
However, in The Snyder Cut, his music feels much more appropriate and sounds incredibly satisfying. To the point where I may consider downloading the soundtrack to the film. The use of drums and vocals throughout the score is especially delightful to me.
Okay, now that we've gotten the few good things out of the way, let's move on to the more fruitful section of this review. The parts that didn't work and I couldn't stand.
There's too much damn stuff in this movie.
One of the many problems that plagued Warner Brothers with their attempt at building their own superhero cinematic universe was their desire to play catch-up with Marvel. By the time they finally decided to hunker down and build up a cinematic universe with their own superhero licenses, Marvel had already completed their first phase and made over a billion dollars with their first Avengers film. This prompted Warner Brothers to finally get the ball rolling on their own superhero movie franchise. Unfortunately, they made a few choices that ultimately damaged their intentions.
You see, a big part of why Marvel was so successful with their first team-up film was because they had spent years building up to it with separate movies starring the individual characters. Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Captain America all had their own movies produced and released before their first team-up. This created a universal sense of anticipation and delivered a satisfying payoff when they finally joined forces as The Avengers. Which was, and still is, one of the greatest theatrical experiences of my life.
However, the guys over at Warner Brothers decided that they didn't want to waste their time properly building up their own universe with their own characters and decided to put all of their "build-up" into only two movies. This mentality of cramming in as much mythology and backstory into as few movies as possible would continue into the Justice League film, as the plot in both films required the introduction of a handful of characters who had not yet had their own individual films. Mainly Cyborg and The Flash.
On top of that, Warner Brothers, and by extension Zack Snyder, decided to put all of the build-ups to their "epic event" storyline within two movies or less. This results in a set of films loaded with references, callbacks, future characters, and foreshadowing that do nothing but pad the runtime with uninteresting context. In other words, Zack Snyder's DC films both demand that you be familiar with the history of the characters and comic events while at the same time insisting on reimagining them all into drastically different versions. It's a classic case of wanting to have its cake and eat it too, and it fails miserably!
Not to mention the number of scenes and build-up moments that could easily have been shortened, removed, or placed at different moments in the edit. But that would take too long to summarize. So, let's move on.
The presentation is pretentious.
I typically take caution when using the word "pretentious" while reviewing movies because it is often overused in criticism. More often than not, modern film critics, especially younger ones, tend to use the word as a means of criticizing things about movies they don't like, not because of a lack of narrative structure or compelling themes & characters, but because the critic in question simply doesn't understand the film as a whole. It's a case of a critic simply saying, "I don't get it; therefore, it's terrible!" This form of criticism is lazy, overused, and completely defeats the purpose of criticism.
However, in The Snyder Cut, pretentious is absolutely appropriate!
For one thing, his choice to shoot the entire movie on 35mm celluloid film and IMAX, both analog formats, is completely misguided when you consider that well over 90% of the images on the screen were created with computers and digital technology. While Snyder's argument that celluloid film is a superior format that delivers beautiful images is valid, that argument quickly loses its validation when watching the final product. Rarely are there any scenes (or individual shots for that matter) that were not artificially created using algorithms and computer animations! You can't praise the superiority of one format while relying upon its "competition" to create your vision. This is not a matter of personal taste or artistic preferences; it's about attitude.
Another piece of pretentiousness from the film is his choice of aspect ratio. Some of you may recall my blog entry about the unusual choice of aspect ratio for the film and why this creative choice was made. The short version is that Zack Snyder shot the film in a format that was better suited for IMAX and other larger screen presentations. This in and of itself is not a bad idea; however, its timing and the ultimate destination of the film make it so. Because it is still not yet safe to enjoy the movie theaters, the choice to present the film in its intended theatrical ratio only makes the presentation less enjoyable because we're not gaining the intended theatrical experience. Furthermore, watching a movie intended for epic proportions presented in such a small aspect ratio somehow makes the proceedings significantly less epic. If you want to create an epic presentation for home viewing, which is the ultimate destination for all films, present it in an aspect ratio that will encompass most of if not the entire screen!
Enough with the damn slow-motion!
Another recurring aspect of Zack Snyder's films is his obsessive use of slow-motion. As I stated before, Snyder tends to prioritize visual impact with his movies. As such, he tends to use slow-motion as a means of giving the visuals greater impact. The problem is that he's too reliant upon this technique. Many of his films are as long as they are because at least half of the runtime is taken up with scenes playing in slow-motion, and Justice League abuses this technique to a "T." The film is four hours long, but if you were to remove most if not all of the slow-motion used, the film's runtime would likely be cut in half at the most.
The excessive use of slow-motion not only affects the runtime but also its general impact as a technique. When you overuse a specific cinematic trick, it quickly loses the enhanced impact you wanted. This is why most other filmmakers will use slow-motion when they want to emphasize a specific moment for narrative impact. Zack Snyder uses it every thirty seconds (seemingly), resulting in a presentation that feels less like a story and more like an invitation to a deadly drinking game. Take a shot every time slow-motion is used. You'll die of liver failure before you reach the halfway point.
Conclusion.
While there are still many elements of this film that I have issues with, all I can say about it now is that I'm glad Zack Snyder got to finish his intended vision, even though I did not completely enjoy it. Artistic integrity and closure are both noble things to pursue, and I'm glad that one of Hollywood's biggest talents (however misplaced that talent is) got to complete his creation.
Having said that, unless you are at all curious to see how Justice League might have been, this four-hour beast of a film is not really worth your time. If you still intend to give it a look, I recommend watching it in sections rather than a single sitting. The film is kind enough to provide noticeable chapters for break times.
I can't say this movie is good, but I also can't say that it didn't do a few things better than before. As a curiosity, it might be worth a look. Otherwise, let's all just wait for when Warner Brothers and DC Comics inevitably retcon/reboot their entire superhero franchise with the upcoming Flashpoint film.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
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