Was the Snyder Cut an improvement over Joss Whedon and Warner Bros’ 2017 Justice League? More importantly, does it even matter?
Having finished the endurance test known as the Snyder Cut, not so much because I was one of the diehard fans clamoring for it but because I felt like, considering the shitstorm and hype surrounding it, I had to. For what it’s worth, it was certainly a marked improvement from the initial Justice League. Maybe that’s because the 2017 version set the bar so low, there was nowhere to go but up. Ultimately, this film should have been two movies (which I believe was the initial plan) or, given the recent advantages of the HBO Max straight-to-streaming distribution model and the runaway success of WandaVision on Disney+, this could have potentially worked even better as a four-part mini-series.
So, yes. The Snyder Cut wins in a showdown between the two JL movies, but there’s still a distinct level of disappointment seeing how ass-backward the whole DCEU unfolded. This version gives you a look at the epic scope and scale Snyder was trying to bring to life, other worlds, realities, and alternate timelines, but also serves as a reminder of how the story on screen wasn’t earned. You have to learn to walk before you can run and that’s something Warner Bros was unwilling and/or unable to recognize in their hasty efforts to compete with Disney and Marvel.
Keep in mind, there were only four DCEU films prior to JL and one of those was Suicide Squad that really had nothing to do (only a tiny little bit) with the bigger picture. In those three movies, only half of the members of the JL had been introduced so motoring ahead into the kind of world-building that Zack Snyder had in mind didn’t make any strategic sense. At a minimum, the Snyder Cut had introduced four villains, three new heroes, and a number of other easter-egg type roles from DC comic lore. Of course, the movie was going to be four hours long if you want any shot and giving any of these characters some room to breathe. Releasing this version of the film in 2021 at least had the advantage of feeling more at home in the bigger picture with an Aquaman film and Wonder Woman sequel established, but there’s no way around how rushed the project was from the very beginning.
The lack of character development was one of the biggest problems with the initial JL and Snyder did a great job reconciling that with more character foundation for Aquaman, the Flash, and Cyborg in particular…even Steppenwolf for that matter. All of them should have had solo films or tandem, buddy adventures, or something, anything beforehand, but oh well. On that same note, the cameos including one of the Green Lanterns and Martian Manhunter (which were leaked and confirmed prior to release) didn’t land at all for me. Those are two of my favorite Justice League characters but neither had any traction in any of the DCEU films prior to the Snyder Cut, so their inclusion is out of place and felt like fan-service pandering. And then there’s Aquaman’s dad, Zeus, Artemis, and Ares who are all just thrown out there for a battle scene with very little grounding while Wonder Woman walks us through it with voiceover narration. It’s all incredibly cluttered and, as a comic book fan, I enjoyed the inclusion but they weren’t earned through storytelling and were ultimately unrewarding.
There were still a number of positives. It felt more epic. Just bigger, grander, and also more cohesive. The music supervision was strong and it gave the whole presentation a much different tone. Muting the color palette didn’t really have as big of an impact as I would have thought, and it keeps the film in a totally different register than its colorful Marvel counterparts (which I’m sure was part of the plan to differentiate the Snyder-verse brand). The 4:3 aspect ratio presentation was also a surprise, but I guess I wasn’t paying attention to the trailers. Honestly, it doesn’t even detract from the experience once you get rolling and visual storytelling has never been Snyder’s problem.
While not without its own problems as well, mostly due to some script deficiencies that make for some utterly dumb moments, I’d say this is a W for those who wanted this director’s cut released. There’s still a huge void pertaining to its place in the bigger DCEU and what Snyder was trying to accomplish vs what actually happened. I’ll be curious to see what Warner Bros wants to do considering the more adult-oriented context and price of the reshoots, but both versions of the film were hung out to dry due to a lack of cohesion under the DC film umbrella.
More than any other movie in the cinematic universe, Zack Snyder’s Justice League (with all its faults) stirred more interest in me as a fan than anything else the studio has put out. If anything, this will only serve to strengthen the cult of Snyder and it’s actually kind of sad to see it end when this was the most interesting thing they’ve done but, with J.J. Abrams heavily rumored to be rebooting Superman with Michael B. Jordan in the lead, it’s pretty clear that WB is moving on.
Recommendation: DC Comics fans and Zack Snyder loyalists have something to celebrate with this release because the movie did deliver on its promise to bring a different vision to the screen and it was decidedly better than it’s predecessor. However, if you weren’t interested in Justice League to begin with, this won’t change your mind.