Zack Snyder's Justice League

Zack Snyder's Justice League is a special one for the memory, especially for filmmakers. It is truly inspiring that something fans requested and campaigned for was heard and made a reality! When the 2017 version was released, it was deemed an average feature. On top of being a critical and commercial failure, the project suffered countless production issues. To see a director’s cut release for a movie as such after 4 years, that too an extensive and expensive one which turns out to be not only a vast improvement over the original but a great freaking motion picture, it’s undeniably fantabulous! We begin right where we left off at the end of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Superman (Henry Cavill) sacrifices himself by killing Doomsday (Robin Atkin Downes) and this sends a huge painful beacon rippling across to all parts of the world. Something has changed and it's definitely not for the better. We see this event from the perspective of every superhero and principal characters, especially the owners of the three Motherboxes. Sufficient time is spent to mourn the death of Superman before we spring into action!

Everybody knows Zack Snyder is a master visualist. The high quality pristine images from start to finish are pure euphoria! Every single frame has been composed, shot and stitched together with utmost care! He maintained that same dark and bleak yet rich and vibrant color grading throughout. While at first the pure IMAX box format may put some off, as time goes by, you’ll realize how gorgeous and compact the whole show is! But what's truly surprising here in the Snyder Cut is how much the director has focused on narration! It's relaxed, calm, composed and steady for the entirety of the runtime! Zack Snyder's Justice League is a coherent end product that we've been wanting and waiting for, and this brings genuine tears of joy! It's by far the best DCEU installment to date! Transitions are seamless, dialogues are mostly all well-written plus there are solid focus on revelation, tension and all other aspects of good storytelling! You could see how the superheroes are struggling to keep their heads above water as they constantly try to find a way to one-up the antagonist. The same can be said about Steppenwolf's clear motivation as to why he's doing what he's doing, and every superhero fighting him has some sort personal vendetta / loss associated with him that runs as the undercurrent! On the same note, there's huge emphasis on the public's involvement with these occurrences that allows us to empathize with the stakes! Yes, certain soundtrack choices for some of the slow-mo shots just doesn't work well, and worse, it can be pretentious and cheesy too at these instances. The length is 4 hours and to watch it one-go is a task, but there's a reason why it's divided into parts and released via home media instead of cinema theaters.

One of the most surprising aspects of this Snyder Cut is how much Ray Fisher's Cyborg was shafted in the original film! He's pretty much the main star of this ensemble! He has a great character building, going from a computer hacker to becoming a computer himself! We follow this path of him hating who he has become just to stay alive to accepting himself and his usefulness at the end. And this journey is directly tied to the Motherboxes the primary plot is dealing with, so it all fits effectively with each other! Barry Allen's (Ezra Miller) introduction where he saves a girl he likes from a mobile accident while trying to apply for a job is nice. His jokes and awkwardness fall flat most of the time just like in the original. One part that will always be hilarious is his reaction when Superman spots his ambush effortlessly! Legendary Darkseid's (Ray Porter) induction into this franchise is welcoming, but he's defeated easier in the Zeus war and appears weaker than Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) though.

Action sequences, goes without saying, are fantastic! Motherbox heist in Themyscira where Steppenwolf relentlessly chases after the horseback riders, Wonder Woman's (Gal Gadot) rescue of the day against the museum terrorist organization, Kal-El's (Henry Cavill) combat with his fellow superheroes right after his rebirth, Batman (Ben Affleck) slaughtering Parademons with his Batmobile missiles, Strikers Island raid mission where the superheroes team up but barely escape the flooding tunnel, superheroes smuggling Kal-El's corpse to revive him, Wonder Woman chopping Steppenwolf's head off before it's sent right into a portal, underwater brawl between Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Steppenwolf, Superman almost annihilating Batman before Lois' (Amy Adams) arrival and the climax where Flash (Ezra Miller) reverses the time by running faster than the speed of light to undo their mistake are simply jawdropping!

Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) visiting Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), introducing himself to Barry Allen with his Batarang and buying back Martha Kent's (Diane Lane) house by acquiring the bank itself are hilarious! Diana's (Gal Gadot) cave discovery, her Zeus war exposition and Alfred (Jeremy Irons) teaching her how to brew tea are fun too! Clark's (Henry Cavill) visit to his spaceship, sporting a Black Superman suit and pummeling Steppenwolf down with repeated brutal punches are amazing! You could feel how expensive this magnum opus is, and rightfully so! Visual effects for Steppenwolf and his spider-bot, Darkseid, DeSaad (Peter Guinness), Motherbox stronghold's nerve nest and Cyborg reassembling a broken tape recorder are of prime quality! Sound design is profound and the mixing is seamless! Costumes and production design too are exuberant. Bruce Wayne’s Mercedes Benz, Nightcrawler and Batrover are just bonuses!

All in all, the Snyder Cut injects so much hope for the future of this version of DCEU, especially for these perfectly cast actors for the roles! With Darkseid preparing his army for the ultimate takeover after Steppenwolf's defeat, premonition at the Epilogue with Batman leading a team including Joker (Jared Leto) to go against evil Superman, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) hiring Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello) to hunt Batman, Green Lantern Corps member dropping the ring on Earth before departure and the surprise visit from Martian Manhunter (Harry Lennix) to join the newly scouted Justice League office are beyond exciting! Earlier we mentioned this motion picture is memorable for filmmakers especially. Zack Snyder’s Justice League truly prompts us to think about how all the bad or mediocre movies we’ve watched in the past would have actually turned out without any studio interference. With that thought planted in your mind, we’ll end this piece.