90% Spicy
Synopsis: Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists newfound ally Diana Prince to face an even greater threat. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to recruit a team to stand against this newly awakened enemy. Despite the formation of an unprecedented league of heroes — Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash — it may be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: March 18, 2021
Format: HBOMax, SingTel Cast, related HBO platforms
Genre: Live Action – Super Hero / Action / Adventure / Fantasy
Runtime: 4 hours, 2 minutes
Beyond stating the obvious…that the 2021 “Zack Snyder Cut” of Justice League, clocking in at 320 minutes, is long… especially, when contrasted to the 2017 “Theatrical Cut” by director Joss Whedon, that clocked in at a hefty 120 minutes… these films, cut from the same Snyder cloth, couldn’t be any more different from one another.
While the 2017 DCEU “cannon” version, which I saw in IMAX, left me totally underwhelmed, scratching my head, wondering how anyone could screw-up a film that contained some of comic’s greatest heroes from Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman to Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg, along with mostly teased foes, in the likes of Darkseid, Steppenwolf, Lex Luthor, The Joker, Deathstroke and Black Manta… Somehow the mostly praised The Avengers (2012) director, Whedon, surly manged to royally mess up Justice League on a super scale.
Unlike this exceptionally long film, I’ll cut to the chase on how I feel about it. Beyond the substantially longer running time, more depth, more backstory, more character development, more defined plot, more action, more music, more stunning cinematography, more realistic visual effects, more heroes, more villains, more, more, more… everything, was Zack Snyder’s Justice League better than Joss Whedon’s reworking of Synder’s original film, before he was fired and it was re-shot and re-edited? Bottom line – Yes!
I doubt most movie watchers, even the most ardent fans of DC will remember the actual edit of the 2017 film. To be honest, as I watched the Snyder Cut, I kept asking myself… how was this different from the original. Sometimes the new and / or unused material was blatantly obvious, though there were other times when the more subtle changes were not so apparent. That said, I could certainly tell that the overall tone had changed, as it was now more consistent and both character actions / interactions and plot points was more logical and more coherent, within the overall narrative. I actually turned to YouTube, after watching the HBOmax version, to view several breakdown videos that featured side-by-side scene comparisons of how Snyder vs. Whedon crafted their versions of Justice League. If you are THAT interested, I would recommend that you do the same.
Alright, what are your thoughts on this long-form, super hero film, almost akin to a 1980s miniseries? Please offer you comments below. Consider becoming a member of the AppFlicks community as either an AppFlicker Critic, JoulePepper Contributor or AuteurX Creator via our Login page. Once you do, at the JoulePepper Contributor level, you can not only rate everything via our Icy OR Spicy JoulePeppers, you can also comment on anything, vote in the JoulePoll Polls and author your very own JouleView Reviews & JouleStream Forums. Don’t forget to consume all the curated entertainment buzz: news, gossip, trailers and popular: play (gaming), watch (video tv series / films) & listen (music) feeds across AppFlicks too!
I am looking forward to your JoulePepper rating of my review of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. In summary, if you enjoyed the DCEU: Man of Steel (2013), Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017), Aquaman (2018) and Batman vs. Superman (2016), you will find Snyder’s cut of Justice League far more to your liking. I caught The Joker (2019), Shazam! (2019), passed on Birds of Prey (2020) but these are non-essential to this review. With all due respect to Mr. Whedon, I don’t think anyone found the lukewarm theatrical cut memorable, much less, re-watchable. When it was on HBO, I watched for a bit, then turned it off. Had it been one of the other DC films I’ve referenced above, I’d have been drawn in for a 3rd or 4th viewing.
Honestly, the Snyder cut was too long for a single sitting, however, I would elect to watch this film again, say… during Thanksgiving, Christmas or when doing work around the house. I mean this in a good way. It would be the type of program, where, after seeing once, you could just jump in / out of it, again and again, while engaged in something else, much like classic films such as The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone With The Wind (1939), King Kong (1933 / 2005) and The Lord of The Rings Trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003) served as a similar backdrop in the past.
If it’s not already apparent, I give AT&T (owners of Warner Brothers) 5 stars for listening to the fans, overriding WB management, spending the money, to give us this unprecedented re-cut+ of the film. In execution, I give it an overall 4 / 5 JoulePeppers, just like the energy The Flash generated from the Speed Force to separate the three Motherboxes, it’s Super Hero – Hot!
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