After a couple of years of the internet campaigning for it, Zack Snyder’s Justice League made its official debut on HBO Max.
It’s a marathon watch. It clocks in a just over 4 hours. 4 HOURS! It’s broken up into 6 different chapters so if you need a break to let the dogs out or to make yourself something to eat you can. To me at least, it didn’t feel like a 4 hour watch.
The very basic premise of the story is the same as the Justice League movie that originally came out. Snyder’s version is the full story that he wanted released before he left the project and Joss Whedon finished...and butchered.
Snyder’s telling of his story is a much darker telling. Some of the humor that was in the Whedon version is still there and but it’s toned down. There are scenes that you’ve never seen before and there are scenes you’ve seen before but they look different.
Here’s the one big takeaway from Snyder’s Justice League actually makes sense! Strange concept, right? Steppenwolf’s story makes sense and he looks much more evil. The story is a lot like a puzzle, by the end it’s a clear picture. Everything fits. The Whedon version felt like they were throwing things at a wall and seeing what sticks.
My favorite part, and I’m going to try and not spoil anything, is in the Epilogue. In the chapter we take a trip to the apocalyptic worlds of Batman’s dream from Batman vs. Superman. Batman is joined by several other characters. I won’t name them all. But by now you should know that Jared Leto reprises his roll as The Joker. Here he doesn’t have face tattoos and is much more subdued. The back and forth between Ben Affleck’s Batman and Leto’s Joker is fantastic. We find out why Joker, Bats and the others are in this situation. The entire scene was great and it left me wanting more from Affleck and Leto.
Overall the Snyder Cut fixes everything wrong with the Whedon version. The story. The characters. Almost everything is better in this version. My one gripe, and what would a blog be if I didn’t find one thing to bitch about, The Flash. I hate that The Flash is made to look like a dummy. I get that in this story, he hasn’t been The Flash for very long, but he’s a brilliant person in the books and on the CW show. Snyder’s telling makes him seem like he had no business standing along side Batman, Wonder Woman Aquaman and Superman. It just rubbed me the wrong way and if that’s my only complaint, you did something right.
If you have four hours and want movie that tells a good story, this is it.
