Zach Snyder’s Justice League — Non-Spoiler Review

The original cut of Justice League was, to put it lightly, awful. The story was a bloated mess, the pacing was uneven and half the cast were given almost nothing to do. I was not a fan of it, although most people weren’t, and to be quite honest I’m not the biggest Snyder fan either. I think his films are very hit or miss and are the epitome of style over substance, so when I heard a 4-hour long Snyder cut of Justice League was coming, I can’t say I was enthused. However, as a film fan, I was still intrigued to see what Snyder’s original vision of the film was and to see if in those extra 2 hours, it was possible to fix the damaging flaws of the original cut. So with this in mind I sat through those 4 hours and I must say, the improvements are nothing short of extraordinary. I would even go as far to say that outside of Dawn of the Dead, this is Snyder’s best film. Now this film is still far from perfect (reasons for which I will note on later) and if I were to compare it to the Avengers films, for example, it would be lucky to make the top 3. That being said it is a very enjoyable film and far exceeded my expectations.

The absolute biggest compliment I can give this film is not one that I can sit down and analyse easily, it is something that is completely subjective and cannot really be quantified. That compliment being that after watching this film, I am so incredibly disappointed that, in all likelihood, we will not be seeing a continuation of this story with these characters. I ended the film wanting to see what was next, I wanted to see these actors portray these characters in another Justice League film and sadly this is something we will probably never see. When leaving the cinema after the original cut I really couldn’t care less about seeing any form of continuation, I didn’t care for the characters, the story, nothing. I would have been quite happy for the universe to end there. But this film, for reasons I will try to explain, brought this universe back to life in a way I really wasn’t expecting. This is down to a lot of things, the pacing is infinitely better and for a 4-hour long film it is a surprisingly breezy affair, it rarely drags and this alone makes it so much more enjoyable. Another improvement being the graphics, the film just looks so much better than the original cut, you really see Snyder’s vision brought to life and it is vibrant and a joy to look at. However, the main thing I think improves this film the most and what I want to explore in more detail; what gives it some much needed grounding and heart, is Cyborg. He is without a doubt the most improved character and for a lot of the film, carries the emotional weight solely on his shoulders.

Almost all of what was added in this film feels like it is placed to benefit two things the structure and sense of the story and Cyborg’s character. The latter is completed to great affect. If you had asked me who my least favourite character in the original film was, it would have been a toss up between Cyborg and The Flash, both of them just seemed insignificant to the story and were barely given anything to do. Luckily with those extra two hours, both of them get a chance to shine, Cyborg especially. There is probably about 30 minutes of extra footage solely based on his backstory and his struggles. He is the most tortured of these characters and has the most heart-wrenching story and the film puts all of the effective emotional weight on his shoulders, to great effect. There were moments that nearly put tears in my eyes, Ray Fisher’s calculated and touching performance is the best in the film. I have no idea how someone could have looked at the footage and decide to cut almost all of his character development, it is astonishing to me that they thought that was the correct decision for the original. If there was one thing the original cut needed, it was a character that the audience could relate to, could latch on to and sympathise with. Just by including these scenes, a whole new dimension is added to the film, one that turned it from soulless to touching. Fisher portrays more emotion with one look than any of the other characters do in the entire film, this is no criticism to them because they’re all great, it’s just how highly I would praise Fisher’s performance.

However, as I said, this film is not perfect and I did find a few issues with it, all of which were evident in the original cut. My first issue is The Flash, as I said, he has been improved upon from the original cut, extra scenes and character building work well to make him feel more 3-dimensional and to feel like an actual person but this doesn’t fix all the glaring issues. Him and Batman, of all people, are the films main source of levity, Flash especially being there for the comic relief. But these ‘jokes’ pretty much never land, I don’t remember laughing in the cinema once in the original cut and I definitely didn't here. He feels like a parody, like a slapstick satirical look at his character and it just never works. I’m all for levity and humour in a film like this but here it is just cringe-inducing. The extra scenes they use for him work because they add a serious level to him, like he actually cares about what’s happening, whereas in the original cut he was confined solely to being the comic relief. Now I understand they couldn’t take those scenes out but it only works in detriment to his character, the jokes don’t hit and every time he makes one it makes you like him even less. It’s a shame because every other character works so well in this universe, even the villain works a lot better, him and Cyborg being the most improved characters. Then there is just The Flash, working against the film the entire time.

Overall, with The Flash, some cheesy moments and the occasional collapse in story-telling and logic, this film falls at hurdles far too often to be considered truly great, but then again I never expected it to be. This being said, there is not a single thing this cut does worse than the original. What it does do, however, is take almost all of the glaring issues of the original and fix them, the villain, the story, the pacing and half the characters are all improved greatly upon here. It’s easier to watch and more fun than the original despite being 2 hours longer and that alone is an achievement. What Snyder has done here is take a 3/10 2-hour film that's difficult to get through and turn it into a 4-hour film that is breezy and extremely entertaining and I would definitely recommend it.

7/10