Admittedly, I don’t know as much about DC as I do about Marvel. However, I’m fairly well versed in them and the Justice League is my favorite DC team. When it was announced that DC would come out with a Justice League movie after the Avengers, I had hope...that is until I learned that they’d be doing a team movie first and individual movies afterward. This is the exact opposite of what Marvel did.

During the production of the first movie, Zack Snyder had the incredibly unfortunate disposition of learning that his daughter had committed suicide. Understandably, he took a break from the movie. Because Warner executives don’t understand anything, they went on with the production.

Hiring Joss Whedon to finish the production, the final product was lackluster at best. In typical Zack Snyder style, it was more flash than substance. After it came out, Zack went public and said that the movie was nowhere near his final vision. Not long after this, the hashtag #releasethesnydercut was trending on Twitter. Four years later, the director’s cut was completed and we got a monstrosity of a movie. Now the true question is “Was this movie worth the hype?”

Honestly...not really.

Now I write this from the point of view of one who’s been a comic book fan for 32 years. Also realize that there are MANY stories that I haven’t read and equally as many storylines that I’m ignorant to. However, I understand the characters. I’m a firm believer that character develops story. George Lucas said: “A Special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing.” This is a lesson that Zack Snyder has never learned. Now, Joss Whedon gave us an amazing movie with The Avengers - and that’s the only comparison that I’ll make - so it’s possible that WB wanted some of that lightning in a bottle for JL and that’s why they brought him on.

When Ray Fisher went public and said that Joss created a hostile work environment (as well as one of the producers), the way it was presented was that he didn’t get things that he wanted, so he’d complain. I’m glad to admit that I was wrong in that assumption. Ray actually opened the floodgates against Joss and it turns out that he’s not a good person - he’s a great writer and filmmaker, but that doesn’t make up for his behavior. This is relevant (and the last time I’ll mention it) because a good portion of this movie has Cyborg in it. The majority of his scenes were heavily cut from the first movie. Like 90% majority.

I appreciate Zack wanting his vision to get out - every director has the right to tell a story the way they want to - but I wish that he’d step away from the writing process. He’s a great filmmaker but not a great storyteller. He needs a writer that has synergy with him.

That being said, the special effects are very well done, although I REALLY wish the comics would have been honored better. Simple things like the way the Boom Tubes were portrayed would have been great fan service. Also, the boxes are FATHER Boxes. A Mother Box is a little bit larger than a cellphone. Father Boxes are used for evil on Apokolips and the Mother Box is used for good on New Genesis. If a feministic agenda caused that change, then I disagree with the studio’s decision and a quick 15-second explanation (like what I just did) would have solved that problem and added more to the plot (all the while giving a nod to the New Gods). Yes, I’m critical but it’s important.

My favorite of the cast is Gal Gadot. She captures the essence of Wonder Woman perfectly. I also like Ben Affleck as Batman - I’ve always supported him in the role and he does a really good job with it. In fact, he’s second only to MIchael Keaton.
Now this is where I’m probably going to get a lot of hate, so if if happens...bring it on…

EVERYONE else in the cast I hate. EVERYONE.

Ezra Miller is easily the worst Barry Allen ever. He’s supposed to be Barry, but he acts like an immature Wally. Absolutely terrible.

I HATE Henry Cavill as Superman. He’s bottom of the list for me. I think Man Of Steel sealed that opinion for me, but he’s just terrible. His suit in this was sharp, so I’ll give credit where it’s due.

Ray Fisher actually didn’t do a terrible job as Cyborg, but I’d never put Cyborg in the Justice League. If they wanted a robot-type character, they could have easily used Red Tornado.
Jason Momoa is just awful. He’s not Aquaman. I don’t care that he doesn’t have blond hair. He doesn’t fit the role. It would have been much better if he was cast as Lobo. He’s a much better fit there.

We also get a brief cameo by another Justice Leaguer that was a wasted opportunity but sets up a sequel that will probably never happen.

I understand that Zack likes big spectacular shots in his movies. I understand that he wants these heroes to be larger than life. However, his style is very arthouse - there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. There’s quite a few superheroes that would benefit from that style of filmmaking. These aren’t those superheroes. Zack needs to understand that many times less is more.

Ultimately, this movie is an anomaly. It’s an improvement on the first movie, but it’s not better. It tried to do so much, but had the individual hero movies come out first, there would have been so much more to the story. Instead, everything is crammed into this four hour long beast that doesn’t accomplish as much as it wanted.

Because of the improvements, and only because of the improvements I can only give this a 3 out of 5.

This is DC's best so far...easily.
Although not flawless- there are a couple of scenes that didnt need to be included - this is the version that we needed to see.
There is so much more time given to the characters in this, the plot is better thought out and structured, and Steppenwolf is no longer a joke. There is actually an urgency in his battles with the JL now. And OMG, Darkseid and Desaad look and sound boss.
The recruitment is harder, the fight between the JL and Supes and then the JL and Steppenwolf is more brutal, and Superman's 'recovery' is better paced and makes more sense.
This also follows directly on from BVS and links directly into Aquaman.
And the closing cover of Hallelujah is glorious (it near comes close to Jeff Buckley's angelic version)

It's flaws - Timing of release - I need to watch this in a cinema. FU WB for not giving Snyder the time to finish this as he envisioned. THIS is what we should have gotten, not the tripe that was Josstice League. This movie shows that Snyder was not just trying to catch up to Marvel, he was their own version of their stories and it should have been allowed to come to the end of the cycle.
Also, I was underwhelmed by the score and would have loved Zimmer to have returned to complete this.
And there are a couple of initial set-up scenes that could have been let go or shortened and the gapping continuity error scene in the middle where the JL get introduced to Alfred after theyve already met him should have just been left out.

But we got what we asked for - the Snyder Cut in its entirety.
And I am grateful for that...thankyou.

Now, could we please create ZSJL2 so we can see the Injustice and Darkseid stories.

Say what you want about this movie! It's great and everything. But what do you say about this app? I think you guy should hire this one. He's a keeper.

_Zack Snyder's Justice League_ is able to turn one of the worst superhero movies of all time into a fantastic film filled with great action, heart, and depth.

The original 2017 _Justice League_ cut was unbearable to watch, each line of dialogue felt out of place and extremely corny. I was physically cringing at almost every scene. These problems are completely wiped away in the Snyder Cut allowing for a more character focused and emotional telling of the dawn of the Justice League. The entire film is completely different, with scenes completely cut and the order adjusted to have a more organic viewing experience.

With a runtime of four hours, I was really nervous of feeling bored or the movie having a large amount of filler to pad the runtime, but that is not the case. Each scene is crafted perfectly to deliver important character depth, allowing the viewer to gain an emotional connection with each of our heroes. Cyborg, Flash, and Aquaman all have very fleshed out introductions, giving the audience a glimpse of their motivations and struggles living in a world with their powers. Cyborg has a tremendous arc with his struggling relationship with his father, which gets great pay off in the end of the film. The Flash feels grounded too with his motivation for fighting crime to help prove his father's innocence. With this new perspective and tone, his quips feel more like that of an immature kid (much like Spider-Man) rather than infused comedy that was forced by the corporate overlords.

Batman and Wonder Woman are great in this film, with each giving arguably their best performance as their respective characters. Batman feels like a man who has truly learned from his past mistakes and wants to gather and lead his team rather than divide. Wonder Woman is a confident bad-ass Amazon who's heartfelt and understanding presence is the glue that holds the team together. Aquaman does not have all that much of an arc in this film but has a great lead into his solo movie which is noteworthy.

Not only are the hero's more fleshed out but so are the villains. Steppenwolf has an actual motivation that the audience can sympathize with and understand. This leads him to feel more genuine in his conquest to take over the world. Steppenwolf plays really well with the backdrop of Darkseid who is looming in the background of every scene of our villain. It really creates a relationship akin to the Emperor and Darth Vader. The introduction of the life equation adds much more stakes and an emphasis on what the conquest is actually about.

The action in this movie is great. The R rating added more room for the scenes to be more brutal and visceral with blood and gore, and even a beheading! While the majority of the film had pretty decent CGI, there were a few scenes that looked really out of place. Especially the ones with Darkseid and his lackies, which reminded me of a character straight out of a PS2 game. This largely had to do with the limited budget and time constraints the Synder Cut was given.
This film delivers on Zach Snyder's vision of Justice League, and I am so happy it exists. Although it also brings a sense of sadness as well, because the movie sets up for so much potential for the DCEU and now that future has all but vanished.

**Score:** _88%_

**Verdict:** _Excellent_

I really, really REALLY wasn't expecting this - it felt like the extended edition of Lord of the Rings, if Zack Snyder directed it!
No, this was Zack Snyder's vision of Justice which we should've seen, if it wasn't for Joss Whedon hadn't pissed all over it. I mean, I understand why Snyder had to pull out the production, I really do, but Whedon could've had the decency to keep to heart on Snyder's work. Looking back, it was a total disrespect to the visionary director. This film...wow! It was truly and 100% amazed me.

Plus, my best highlight was the voiceover of of Superman's dads Johnathan and Jor-El reminding him of who is he - it felt poignant.

That said, a couple of things I feel I must complain about this, just small things; 1) I noticed Mera had a change of accent. Probably an original idea, but it sounded funny especially soon after 2018 Aquaman was released. 2) Victor Stone's dad Silas sacrificed himself - not only was it upsetting but it changes everything for the future of DCEU films. I guess this means they;ll have to rewrite everything for that Cyborg movie!

At least we got the introduction of the Joker (Jared Leto reprising his role) as well as the (not so) surprising twist of the Martian Manhunter!
Not to mention we finally got to see the appearance of Darkseid - it was all like a fusion of 300's Persian empire and LOTR's Sauron!

In the end, this was a true masterpiece from Zack Snyder, since Watchmen and Sucker Punch, and I am so pleased - no, grateful this was made. I thank not just the director himself for returning to this project but also the many fans who petitioned this director's cut to happen.
For once, we finally had something good out of all this chaos that was covid 19, hence why they chose the song Hallelujah for their Snyder cut trailer!

Thank you so much, Zack Snyder - you have always been my fav movie director.
Joss Whedon, you are officially dead to me!