Zack Snyder's Justice League Review

 

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

So, after four years and the release of Zack Snyders Justice League we finally get to see what his original intention and vision was for the coming together of the DC universe in the form of the Justice League. Now just a quick recap just in case you weren’t aware during production of the film tragedy hit the Snyder family forcing Zack Snyder to stand down as director on the project allowing Joss Whedon to take over the reins which resulting in Whedon re-shooting the film to not only match his own style and influences but also to the liking of Warner Bros introducing a lot more humorous elements and shortening the films run time as well. The 2017 release of the Justice League was met with not just disappointing reviews from critics but also audiences around the world (myself included in that). After a lengthy fan campaign Zack Snyder finally got his chance to come back and finish the film the way he wanted resulting in a four-hour film that improves vastly on the original.

It is hard to review this cut of the film without looking back and comparing it to the 2017 version but at times it is a completely different film which uses some scenes, elements and story beats taking from the Whedon cut of the film but enhances and expands on them to form a film that delivers spectacle and enhanced character development. This is seen in the fleshing out of both Cyborg and The Flash’s role within the film. Cyborg gets an extended back story exploring in depth the events leading up to his transformation into Cyborg and a full explanation of what he can actually do. Cyborgs scenes in the film truly stand out as some of the best in the entire film, the same can be said about the Flash’s expanded role in the Snyder cut. Personally the Flash in the Whedon cut was underused and was used for comedic purposes whereas with the Snyder cut we still get a comical version of The Flash but the character overall plays a huge role in the coming up with the plan to stop Steppenwolf and features as a much more confidant individual with his powers and pushing the boundaries to what he can do which results in a visual treat in the final act of the film where the Flash has to run faster than he has ever run before to rewind time slightly.

The same can also be said for the films villain Steppenwolf, Snyder’s version is a much more threatening and visually intimidating character who has a lot more scenes that flesh the character out, whilst he is still not as three dimensionally fleshed out and some comic book villains it is still nice that they took the time to improve on Steppenwolf and make him a threat to the Justice League of course he is no match for Superman which we saw in the original cut of Justice League but that is toned down in this cut to at least give Steppenwolf a chance.

One of the impressive and also most daunting aspects of the film is of course that four hour runtime adding essentially just under if we exclude credits two hours of more footage, and whilst this is a four hour runtime the film didn’t feel long at all and allowed time to be taken to explore the rich history of DC comics and the characters coming together to defend the world. Time is taken to explore each of the characters, of course some more than others but it allows you as the audience member to get behind these characters and understand what makes them tick as a person which enhances the narrative moving forward.

It is also worth mentioning that there are cameos from Darkside which adds an extra threat behind Steppenwolf which also enhances his character and sets up a future threat for the DCEU but the film also expands on the nightmare sequence first seen in Batman Vs Superman and gives us a look at an apocalyptic world run by Darkside and apocalyptic versions on Batman, Cyborg, Flash, Mera,

Deathstroke and The Joker which is a great little sequence, although if this set up will every pay off we may never know, but fingers crossed we will.

Overall the film itself is a huge improvement over the original cut of the film, even though its four hour run time might put people off but I can reassure you that it is definitely worth the watch, if this was the film we saw back in cinemas in 2017 then personally I believe that the DCEU would be in a much better position and be setting up for some interesting projects moving forward.

Verdict 4 / 5 stars