A Reel Review: ZACK SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE

ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE, the four-hour long, second attempt at DC Comics’ famed superhero team, has mercifully arrived after nearly four years of endless noise by overzealous fans and click-baiting websites. It is a re-do of the much maligned JUSTICE LEAGUE film of 2017, which was famously re-edited and re-shot by Joss Whedon after Snyder left the project due to a family tragedy. Now that it’s here, there are questions to be answered; First, is it better than the 2017 version. And second, is it worth the four-hour runtime? 

 

After the death of Superman (Henry Cavill) in BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (2016), Batman/Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), assembles a team of superheroes to fend off an invasion by the demon Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds); a team that consists of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and the Flash (Ezra Miller). 

 

In broad strokes, the plotline of JUSTICE LEAGUE 2.0 is the same as last time. Batman and his super friends run around the world preventing Steppenwolf from collecting otherworldly devices called Mother Boxes; objects of immense power needed for his world domination. And just like last time, the Mother Boxes are eventually used to bring Superman back to life. 

 

That much is the same. What’s different? The hefty runtime allows a shit-ton of time to be spent on characters, and this is welcome considering the lousy job that has been done with these famous comic heroes in the last 10 years on film. Cyborg benefits the most from this, so much that it almost feels like his movie above all else. Character-wise, Cyborg is the only one that gets a complete arc, with the rest of them there as pawns or more plot-points. It leads to a very cold-feeling movie, with very little laughs and certainly no tears. Superman fans will be disappointed to see that he is back to being a plank, along with his classic red-and-blue suit traded in for an edgy sliver-and-black.

 

A lot of time is also spent providing background on the Mother Boxes, and an even bigger villain waiting on the bench. The added material is beneficial, but it also means way too much exposition; so much that it saps the energy out of the entire film. The four hours feels just that long. Many scenes from the first version remain intact (including several that we all thought were made up by Whedon, not so), while others are just made longer. Other significant changes include Steppenwolf getting a redesign; his new pointy armor making him look like Betelgeuse when he was feeling anxious. Steppenwolf as a character is the same; once again a Big Bad looking to muck up the Earth to make way for that Bigger Bad…who this time shows his face here and there. 

 

Snyder films everything with his usual visual style. Slo-mo comes in when it’s needed and not needed; sometimes we just want to see things keep moving. The action scenes are well-done despite some poor CGI here and there. The new 4:3 screen ratio is stupid and takes away from the action. The cast does their best with the thin script. Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot are the highlights, with Ray Fisher pulling a few surprises. Danny Elfman's 2017 score, which incorporated the classic Batman and Superman themes, has been replaced with the most generic music ever. 

 

After the final battle, the film moves into an epilogue that runs nearly half-an-hour, setting up a potential sequel that may or may not happen. There’s a lot of oddness to that epilogue that detracts from a decently improved JUSTICE LEAGUE. Overall, this is the same film that we saw in 2017,  the major difference is that it just takes a very long time to get from point-to-point. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it