‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ Review

The 2017 Joss Whedon version of Justice League left a sour taste in many people’s mouths. With all the behind-the-scenes details that are now being leaked about the difficulty of working with Whedon, fans have been clamoring to see the original vision from Zack Snyder. The Snyder cut movement began blowing up online and Warner Bros. finally confirmed the cut will be coming exclusively to HBO Max. 

While it’s obviously a marketing scheme to obtain more subscribers, it does serve as a nice way of allowing Snyder to finish his vision after having to leave due to a family tragedy. The new version of Justice League is a four-hour superhero epic that is miles above what came out in 2017. 

Premise

The story is essentially the same as the 2017 version. After the death of Superman, the world is trying to come to grips with the loss of its greatest hero. At the same time, ancient devices known as mother boxes have been awakened, calling out to Steppenwolf who has come to Earth to find them. If these mother boxes are reunited, they could serve as a gateway for a more powerful being called Darkseid to come to Earth and destroy all of humanity. 

Bruce Wayne must find the most powerful of Earth’s heroes including Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg. All of them must come together in order to stop Steppenwolf and save the Earth from certain doom. 

Every detail is developed so much better

While the story is mostly the same, there are so many new additions that make this narrative so much more cohesive. Many details that were cut from the 2017 version skipped key pieces of the story or didn’t give characters the proper arcs they needed. The character who benefited the most from the lengthy runtime here is Cyborg (Ray Fisher). 

His character in this version is almost entirely different than his Whedon counterpart. His powers are better explained and he actually has a backstory. We get to know who Victor Stone was before he became Cyborg and why he has a strained connection with his father. His journey to becoming a hero is so much more fulfilling in this version. 

Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) also received a better arc. His character didn’t change much, but he’s certainly less annoying as many of his cheesy jokes from the Whedon version have been cut. His version of The Flash is more powerful here and showcases his abilities in cooler ways. He has an amazing scene in the finale that makes his character feel completely essential while also giving him a great character moment. 

Even Steppenwolf is a better villain in this one. He does still feel like a typical supervillain who just wants power for the sake of it, but his motivations are much clearer. His design also looks sleeker and smoother. The CGI is way better, even giving his facial expressions more emotion. The addition of Darkseid here creates a more threatening scenario. He doesn’t have a lot of screen time, but the potential of seeing more of him in the future makes me want more. 

Other characters like Bruce Wayne and Aquaman (Jason Mamoa) have better arcs as well, just aren’t as drastically different. Bruce goes from being an isolated, brooding Batman to someone who’s more hopeful by putting his faith in others. Aquaman is still trying to become more heroic. Where he is as a character here gives more context into how his character was at the beginning of his solo film. 

Zack Snyder unleashed

In this version, Snyder is given free rein so if you aren’t a fan of his previous films, this may not win you over. To be honest, this is one of his better movies. With more time to stretch out the story, everything is more clear and Snyder is able to balance his love for great visuals with a good narrative. There are still moments where his direction became overwhelming. 

The first hour is the toughest part of the movie to get through. There are several scenes of characters walking in slow motion with a strange song in the background. Snyder’s musical choices in many scenes are questionable. Wonder Woman’s theme turns on anytime she appears and it started to get obnoxious. 

However, almost everything good from the Whedon version must’ve been done by Snyder because it’s still here. The action is still great, it’s visually pleasing, and it has a grand and epic tone. There are some jokes that miss here and there but the dialogue is good for the most part.

This edition is also rated R so it’s way more brutal. The violence is upped a few notches, even with some blood & gore at certain moments. It’s never over-the-top and it fits the gritty, dark universe Snyder has set up in this trilogy. 

Of course, since it’s four hours, there is plenty of it that could’ve been cut. The final 30 minutes is an epilogue that could’ve been dropped. Plus, since it’s Snyder, there’s a lot of slow-motion that pads the runtime. This version would’ve never worked in theaters unless there was an intermission, but even then, it would’ve had to been trimmed a good amount. 

Final verdict

Even though the Whedon version is only two hours, I will never watch that version over this one. This is what we should’ve gotten and gives so much more time and dedication to building its characters and narrative. Almost everything about this version is better, however, the first hour is quite slow. The final two hours are awesome and I was locked in the entire time. It delivers some of the best superhero action ever. I don’t know if Warner Bros will continue with the Snyderverse but I wouldn’t be disappointed if they did. 

Final score: 8/10