Snyder Cut

ZACK SNYDER’S ‘JUSTICE LEAGUE’ IS SO SPRAWLING AND EXCESSIVE YOU SHOULD GIVE UP AND LIKE IT

BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC

Fans demanded a director’s cut from Zack Snyder almost as soon as Justice League (2017) arrived D.O.A. at the box office and in critical reviews. Snyder’s run with the DC Extended Universe started well enough: Man of Steel (2013) rebooted the Superman franchise with Henry Cavill donning the blue tights.

The success of his Superman film put Snyder in the driver’s seat of the DCEU, planning a five movie franchise including Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and a Justice League trilogy. But when Batman v Superman’s dark mood and overly serious tone rankled fans and critics, Snyder found himself back on his heels and scrambling. Snyder and Chris Terrio rewrote the Justice League script and the director and cinematographer Fabian Wagner changed trajectory away from the more severe look they had planned. After nine months of filming, Snyder turned in his cut of the film only to have it rejected by Warner Bros. Joss Whedon was brought in to significantly re-write — again — the script with Snyder gamely staying on to direct. But the director’s daughter died by suicide in March of 2017 and Snyder left the project in Whedon’s hands.

Three years later and the Zack Snyder’s Justice League — A.K.A. the “Snyder Cut” — is now streaming on HBO Max. It finds Superman, Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Mamoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) forming the first version of the Justice League to defend Earth from some cosmic baddies: In some long forgotten ancient time on Earth, Darkseid and his legions of insect-like Parademons attempted to conquer the Earth by uniting three conscious machines called the “Mother Boxes” into a planet-destroying super-weapon called “the Unity.” Darkseid and his henchman, Steppenwolf — a 12-foot-tall, anthropomorphic hammerhead shark covered in silver armor and wielding a massive ax — were repelled by the united forces of the Amazon warriors, Atlanteans, armies of men and their gods from the sky. Each of these groups hid one of the Mother Boxes on Earth. Now, Steppenwolf is heading back to Earth to claim the planet and prove himself to his infernal master, Darkseid.

Man of Steel was good, and the Wonder Woman (2017) reboot is one of the best comic book films of this era. Otherwise, the DCEU movies are pretty bad. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is definitely better than the theatrical version, and that alone makes this streaming event worth the trouble. The big problem here is the script. The story is so sprawling and there are so many characters and plot points that the whole thing feels dangerously thin at times.

With any kind of fantasy movie, grounding the characters in real emotions or using cinematography, costumes, props and dialog to bring notes of concrete realism to the costumed goings-on can make all the difference between compelling storytelling and low calorie eye-candy. During his four-hour cut, Snyder serves up more quantity than quality, but some of it is really delicious. On one hand the reliance on digital effects makes this movie feel too much like a video game. That said there are some astounding set pieces in here that can’t help but wow: When the Flash turns his super-speed on for the first time to save a girl from a deadly car wreck, the time-stopping effect is moving and transcendent. And a Batmobile sequence in the third act offers a glimpse of the hard-boiled bruiser Affleck’s Batman might have been all along. The Flash ultimately steals this show with a gorgeous sprint at faster-than-light-speed that somehow delivers both a massive dose of teen angst and some of the wildest, most psychedelic visuals I’ve seen since Doctor Strange (2016).

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is streaming on HBO Max

Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.