Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Five years after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was first released, we finally get to see Zack Snyder’s intended vision for the culmination of his trilogy. This 4-hour epic is effectively a completely different film from the 2017 theatrical release, offering more character development, more backstory, more world-building, a more coherent plot, and a fitting conclusion to a far more unified trilogy.
Premise: The death of Superman (Henry Cavill) awakens the ancient Mother Boxes, three mysterious alien relics, one guarded by the Amazonians, one by the Atlanteans, and one now in the possession of the cyborg Victor Stone (Ray Fisher). They call out to Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), who intends to recover the Mother Boxes for his master, the alien warlord Darkseid (Ray Porter). To protect Earth and fulfil the vow he made on Superman’s grave, Batman (Ben Affleck) enlists Wonder Woman’s (Gal Gadot) help to find and unite warriors to defend the planet, including Cyborg, Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Flash (Ezra Miller).
Review:
I really enjoyed Zack Snyder’s 2013 Superman film, Man of Steel. I was also in a minority of people who really enjoyed Zack Snyder’s 2016 sequel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (which was, in fact, my second favourite film of 2016). So back in 2017, I was really excited to see how Zack Snyder planned to complete his trilogy – but unfortunately, it was immediately obvious to anyone who saw it that the 2017 theatrical release of Justice League did not feel at all like the film that Zack Snyder had talked about making. Man of Steel and Batman v Superman may have been divisive, “marmite” films, but they clearly reflected the vision of a singular filmmaker. The 2017 version of Justice League, on the other hand, played it safer in an attempt to be more accessible, but the end result was a pretty bland, vanilla and, ultimately, forgettable movie. Man of Steel and Batman v Superman elicited strong emotional reactions (both good and bad), and while it might be true that no one “hated” the 2017 version of Justice League, no one “loved” it either. Its disjointed and inconsistent tone, coupled with its lack of any real emotional impact, just left it feeling like a huge missed opportunity.
As I said in my review back in 2017, the theatrical release not only struggled to be coherent (with several inexplicable leaps in logic, and numerous plot threads from Batman v Superman completely forgotten about), but there was also a strong sense that the cuts that had been made to get the length down to a studio-mandated 2-hour runtime had created a number of plot holes and left other areas obviously underdeveloped (the same thing had happened with the theatrical release of Batman v Superman, but a 3-hour “Ultimate Edition” on Blu-ray had filled in all of the apparent plot holes from the 2.5-hour theatrical release). I said at the time that I couldn’t escape the feeling that a longer runtime would be provided more space to explore the backstories of the new main characters, as well as some of the supporting cast.
“…Zack Snyder’s very distinct visual style is particularly well suited to the larger-than-life material…”
Now, four years later, I finally get to see not only whether a longer runtime (this version is 4 hours long) really does fill in the plot holes and flesh out the characters, but I also get to see the story that Zack Snyder intended to tell to conclude his trilogy – and it’s now abundantly clear just how far the theatrical version deviated from his vision.
Tonally, Zack Snyder’s Justice League feels much more a part of a coherent trilogy with Man of Steel and Batman v Superman than the 2017 version ever did. Visually, the colour palette is much more in keeping with the earlier films, and Zack Snyder’s love of slow-motion is back on display – but as much as his filming style is sometimes mocked, he does have a very distinct visual style, and one that’s particularly well suited to bringing larger-than-life comic books stories to life on the silver screen (just look at 300 and Watchmen, as well as his other DCEU films). Aurally, the return of composer Tom Holkenborg (who worked with Hans Zimmer on the Man of Steel score before co-composing the score for Batman v Superman) means that the score for Zack Snyder’s Justice League is far more in keeping with the musical mood of the rest of the trilogy (unlike Danny Elfman’s score for the theatrical release, which always felt tonally jarring with the rest of the trilogy). Holkenborg’s incorporation of musical elements from the previous films contribute significantly to the feeling that this is now a coherent, unified trilogy, and his incorporation of musical refrains from Man of Steel for key Superman-related moments hits all the right nostalgic, emotional buttons with long-time fans.
“…most of the laughs still come from Ezra Miller’s Flash & Jeremy Irons’ Alfred…”
But it’s not just the visual style and score that now feel more in keeping with the rest of the trilogy, it’s the whole thematic tone of the film. The Zack Snyder trilogy has always approached superheroes as “gods amongst us”, elevating them to nearly mythical status (just as the director did with the real-life historical figures in 300), whereas the 2017 version tried to mimic the MCU/Avengers approach of showing the characters as being far more human.
The sense of humour in Zack Snyder’s Justice League (and yes, it does have one) is also markedly different from the humour in the 2017 version. Yes, in both versions most of the laughs come from Ezra Miller’s Flash and Jeremy Irons’ Alfred, but aside from those obvious comedic moments, most of the humour comes from more natural character interactions, rather than some of the glib one-liners (some of which bordered on broad self-parody) that were include in the 2017 version.
“…although the general plot of both films is essentially the same, they couldn’t be more different in every other sense…”
Ultimately, what stands out the most with Zack Snyder’s Justice League is exactly that – this is Zack Snyder’s version of Justice League, a film that reflects a single director’s clear vision, without external interference. In comparison and with hindsight, many of the changes made to the 2017 theatrical release now feel like cynical attempts to pander to those who criticised Zack Snyder’s earlier DCEU films. This is perhaps nowhere more clearly evident than in the Russian-set final act of both films – in this version, Steppenwolf make his base in an abandoned radioactive town precisely because there’s no one there, whereas for the 2017 version, they cynically created new civilian characters to be trapped in the town, just to give the heroes someone to have to rescue in the finale (I presume, to counter criticism that the heroes didn’t spend enough time rescuing civilians in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman).
In terms of the other differences between the 2017 version and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, it’s hard to know where to begin. This is a spoiler-free review, but there are plenty of articles online that will detail all the changes. Suffice to say, although the general plot of both films is essentially the same, and all of the key set-pieces are in both versions, the films couldn’t be more different in every other sense. Where dialogue-centric scenes appear in both films, the actual dialogue spoken differs significantly, and in all of the action sequences, the individual action beats and the flow of the scenes is completely different. Some of the most tonally jarring scenes and moments from the 2017 version have been removed, and a lot of new material has been added (this is, after all, 2 hours longer than the theatrical release). Very little of that additional two hours is action-orientated – instead, it’s mainly additional moments which significantly improve this version’s character development and mythological backstory, while also making sure that there are no real plot holes left in the film (or, importantly, the trilogy) by the end. This is particularly relevant in relation to explaining the significance of the “Knightmare” premonition sequence in Batman v Superman, which was never even mentioned in the 2017 version.
“…Cyborg & Steppenwolf are arguably the main beneficiaries of the extra screen time…”
Each of the main characters benefits from the additional character development, but perhaps none more so than Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds). In the 2017 version, Cyborg was a bit of a non-entity, but here, he’s arguably the most important member of the Justice League. He’s given a far more engaging backstory, and his introduction has a wonderful subplot demonstrating how he is able to use his incredible abilities to help “little people” forgotten by the system. His relationship with his father, Silas Stone (Joe Morton), is given much more screen time, and becomes a central driving force in the film both narratively and emotionally.
Meanwhile, Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) has gone from one of the biggest disappointments in the 2017 version, to genuinely interesting villain. Without wishing to give too much away, Zack Snyder’s Justice League depicts Steppenwolf as “middle management”, dealing with his own complicated issues as a “servant” of Darkseid, rather than just being the generic and unengaging “conqueror” figure that he was in the theatrical release.
“…serves as an emotionally satisfying conclusion to Zack Snyder’s trilogy…”
Although Cyborg and Steppenwolf are the main beneficiaries of the extra screen time, everyone gets more character moments – whether that’s exploring more of Aquaman’s (Jason Momoa) complicated relationships with Mera (Amber Heard) and Vulko (Willem Dafoe), providing Batman (Ben Affleck) with a more emotionally satisfying character arc from his beginnings as the disillusioned fascist seen at the start of Batman v Superman, expanding both the backstory for (and the potential of) Flash (Ezra Miller), or hinting at a possible return to Themyscira for Wonder Woman (a plot thread that could potentially be picked up in the recently announced Wonder Woman 3). Zack Snyder’s Justice League also gives supporting characters like Silas Stone (Joe Morton), Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and Alfred (Jeremy Irons) more to do, although J. K. Simmons’ Commissioner Gordon still feels underused (perhaps because he was always intended to have a greater role to play in the proposed future Justice League films).
Speaking of which, this version of the film clearly sets up not only where the rest of the intended Justice League trilogy would have gone (with the second instalment apparently intended to focus on the alliance of villains formed by Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), and the third instalment concluding the Darkseid/”Knightmare” future timeline story), but also how the (now cancelled) Ben Affleck directed Batman film would have focused on the clash between Batman and Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke. I would have loved to have seen all of these projects brought to life, but knowing now that they never will, this version does at least still serve as an emotionally satisfying conclusion to Zack Snyder’s trilogy of DCEU films.
“…if you’re a fan of Zack Snyder’s previous DCEU films, you should love this restored version…”
As much as I enjoyed Zack Snyder’s Justice League, it should go without saying that it’s not without its flaws. Some of the CGI is a little bit dodgy (although not nearly as bad as the awful CGI in the 2017 version used to remove Henry Cavill’s moustache in the reshoots), and there’s a fair amount of clunky dialogue too. This version is also 15-rated, and while the additional violence feels organic, the additional uses of the f-bomb feel forced and completely unnecessary. And one particular fan-serving surprise feels both a welcome addition to the cannon and also a very awkwardly crowbarred in revelation.
But ultimately, if you’re a fan of Zack Snyder’s previous two DCEU films (which I am), you should love this restored version. Even if you didn’t love his earlier films, there’s a good chance that you’ll enjoy Zack Snyder’s Justice League as a standalone movie more than you enjoyed the disjointed 2017 theatrical release. Yes, there will no doubt still be some comic book fans that feel that Zack Snyder’s interpretations of these characters (especially Superman) are not true to the comics, but you have to accept that this is just one director’s stylised take on the characters (just as I love Tim Burton’s stylised gothic-fairy tale take on Batman, even though I thought it diverted quite significantly from the comics). And then there’s also the novelty value of seeing just how differently the same story can be told by two different film makers. But in the end, even if this film only really appeals to the die-hard Zack Snyder DCUE fans (which, I hope, is not the case), it’s still great to see the trilogy given an opportunity to be concluded on its own terms.
