Zack Snyder's Justice League

Zack Snyder's Justice League
Starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa
Directed by Zack Snyder

In the world of golf - a world I am entirely not at all familiar with - there is the concept known as a "mulligan," where a golfer gets another shot at swinging his golf club at the ball when his first attempt failed miserably; a do-over, if you will. Cinema doesn't often adhere to the aspect of a complete do-over for a movie that performed miserably in theaters, except in the case of home entertainment, where they release a different cut of the film, often known as an "Extended Edition," "Uncut Version," or "Director's Cut" affixed to the main title. In 2017, Warner Bros hurried out "Justice League" to theaters, resulting in a box office bomb, a film that was supposed to be the Warner Bros/DC equivalent to the Disney/Marvel film "The Avengers," but failed at every level. For years later, the DC fandom pleaded with director Zack Snyder to release "his" version of the film, as the one that hit the big screen was a Frankenstein's monster of a mess, and finally in 2021 Snyder released his fully visioned "Justice League" film, and the result was nothing short of a masterpiece - a film that, if Warner Bros had taken their time and allowed Snyder to really bring his vision to life, would've rivaled "The Avengers" and propelled the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) to the forefront.

After the death of Superman (Henry Cavill), Batman (Ben Affleck) chooses to fulfill his promise to protect the world by bringing together a team of superheroes to defend the world against evil forces, but his search isn't going very well. So far the only member he's acquired is Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), who fought alongside Superman and Batman against Doomsday, and his efforts to bring in Aquaman (Jason Momoa) was met with resistance. Yet his search begins to intensify as Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) arrives on Earth to retrieve the now-awakened Mother Boxes that will usher in the end of the world and bring in the arrival of his master Darkseid (Ray Porter). Batman and Wonder Woman manage to bring in Aquaman, as well as Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) to combat this new enemy, but they realize the only chance they have is to resurrect Superman, but this action could in itself bring the doom of the world. As tensions rise, these heroes come together to prevent the end of the world.

Back when Warner Bros began their own DC shared film universe, Zack Snyder directed the first two outings ("Man of Steel" and "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice"), and the results weren't what Warner Bros was expecting, especially against the juggernaut Marvel Cinematic Universe: the audiences didn't like these films as much because they were "too dark" and "too serious," whereas the MCU had great character development, action, and lively humor that drew in larger crowds and more favorable reviews (for the most part). To combat this, they told Snyder that his "Justice League" movie needed two things: to be two hours at max (because they felt audiences wouldn't sit through something longer), and more humor. Snyder had over four hours of filming completed when tragedy struck his family with the sudden, unexpected death of his daughter Autumn (whom his film is dedicated to), and he and his wife (who serves as his producer) stepped away from the project postproduction. Warner Bros didn't want to wait, so they brought in Joss Whedon (who directed the first two "Avengers" films to massive success) to finish the film, resulting in extensive re-shoots and editing that left only about 20% of Snyder's original vision intact, while the rest came from Whedon's participation - and the result was disastrous. The film didn't make a lot of sense, the action was dulled down, there was no real character development, and for a film that needed to introduce three major characters (Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash), the film didn't really achieve that aspect at all, especially in the case of Cyborg, who existed it seemed merely as a plot point more than anything. Snyder never saw the film, as he was warned by both his wife and friend Christopher Nolan that it would "break his heart" to see it.

Ever since 2017, fans have been clamoring for the release of the "Snyder Cut" of the film, and it seemed that it would never happen - until 2021, when Zack Snyder finally released his full, intact version of "Justice League" to HBOMax, a film that's more of an epic than anything, running at two minutes over four hours long (comparatively, its longer than most epics like "The Godfather" movies, "Lawrence of Arabia," "Avatar," and "Dances With Wolves"). Yet the result is something that cannot be denied - it is a modern masterpiece (coming from a Marvel fanboy, that's saying a lot) that could've breathed new life into a dwindling DCEU (currently there's rumors that Warner Bros wants to completely disband the idea of a shared universe at all), and would've been a travesty to have been kept under wraps for viewers to never see and appreciate this for what it was supposed to be - what it was meant to be.

If you would put the two films side-by-side, you would notice something almost entirely new with this product, as any interference from Joss Whedon is completely erased (too bad it can't be erased from our memories), and what you see is 100% Zack Snyder (humorously in a sense where it seems that the entire film was shot on a sound stage with green screen, as Snyder is famously known for since his epic "300"). This epic allows the new characters to come to the forefront, especially Cyborg, who is given front-and-center prominence even over the likes of Batman or Wonder Woman to really get a chance to tell his story, prove his worth, and show that he exists more than just a mere plot point.

The action and effects are top-notch, as both rises higher than what was seen in 2017. The fighting sequences are more intense, violent (earning the film a R rating), and fast-paced, with the effects rising even higher than its predecessor, especially in the CGI rendering of Steppenwolf, which was designed more closer to Snyder's original design than the laughably bad rendering from 2017. Along with that, the music score was much more improved with the return of Junkie XL, who provided pulse-pounding, swelling, intense scores for the characters (especially the ethereal yet thumping accompaniment of the battle in Themyscira, as well as Wonder Woman's fighting scenes).

The performances in the film is filled with what you'd expect from A-list actors at the top of their game, a group of actors fully committed to the vision brought to them by Zack Snyder, who trusts their director and his vision and fully immerses themselves in the product. Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Amy Adams, Willem Dafoe, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Ciaran Hinds - I could go on and on - all give commanding performances that rises above the typical "superhero" film and gives their characters depth, emotion, and real-world problems mixed with the end-of-the-world antics. Most obviously is the concept of family, where each superhero deals and struggles with their own family dynamics (Batman in dealing with his parents' deaths, Superman with his mother in dealing with both his fathers' deaths, Aquaman with living up to his birthright, Cyborg with resentment toward his father, Wonder Woman with leaving her Amazonian family in Themyscira, and The Flash trying to make his falsely imprisoned father proud) as they face their own struggles to come together as a family themselves.

Oftentimes you don't get what you want, but Zack Snyder finally gave the fans what they wanted with his "Justice League" cut, a film that's a cut above every other superhero movie to be released, a movie that's more an epic than a generic superhero movie, a film that's superior in every way that demands to be seen and appreciated for the piece of art that it is.

The Score: A+