Zach Snyder’s Justice League (or the Snyder Cut)
Director: Zach Snyder
Writer: Chris Terrio. Zach Snyder, Will Beall, Jerry Siegel (Superman co-creator), Joe Shuster (Superman co-creator)
Starring: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck (he may do better stuff with his movie career with the stuff he direct but nothing will top this scene from Good Will Hunting), Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa (the only cool justice leaguer), Amy Adams, JK Simmons (who’s only here to sport a dope mustache and bounce), Willem Dafoe, Diane Lane
Reason for watching: first time viewing
Number of times I’ve watched it: twice this weekend, which totals to almost eight hours of my life
***
The story about how the Snyder Cut came to be is more interesting than the Snyder Cut itself. Now, maybe that’s because this movie is essentially the same as the theatrical release of this movie that came out in 2017, minus a lot of long tracking shots, gray colors, and really quick zooms. But let’s cut past all of that. I have to talk about the movie itself before I talk about why this movie is actually a triumph for filmmakers who struggle against movie studios. Because any time a director builds fans and admirers loyal and vocal enough to motivate a movie studio to shell out $70,000,000 to finish his movie is win for movie lovers everywhere.
The story isn’t that shocking. The league has to come together to fight Steppenwolf who wants to end the world. They struggle to justify their differences. Superman’s return (without mustache I might add) unites them. It truly is not that different from the original story. There is some nice setup for the Justice League to square up with Darkseid, a much bigger baddie in the DC universe (don’t watch those hyperlinks unless you have an hour and a half to kill), and a world where Superman really has become a villain and where Jared Leto is still the clown prince of crime.
The fight scenes are long and epic and violent. The heroes get more development time, particularly cyborg. His journey as a hero and discovering his abilities is quite touching. He may have some of the typical superhero elements like dead parents, but his capabilities are something not really explored in this genre before. A hero who has access to the entire internet and the most advanced technology possible is new territory to be explored. Ray Fisher gives an emotional performance as Cyborg as well. We can understand more why this fight means something to the heroes and even why Steppenwolf wants to win this fight.
Where I get taken out of the movie is the long tracking shots and extensive slow-mo camera work. I get that this director Zach Snyder’s personal touch, but it can really make a movie take its time and drag a story out. Plus the unoriginal story seems to borrowing a lot from other team-up movies like Avengers and X-Men. Funny how DC tries so hard to try and be something different than it’s Marvel competitors, but it ultimately has to go back to the well for its most important movie.
6/10
Okay, now onto why this movie matters in the grand scheme of Hollywood movies. Franchise movies and previously existing IP is dominating the box office these days. And if you watch them, like I do when I can go to theaters, they can often feel as if they are made by committee. Which to some extent makes sense. If a studio run by businessmen is going to back a project with a budget of $250 million or more then it has to make sure it gets its money back. Like corporate businessmen or not, but people work for them who have families and need money to support those families. But to a moviemaker or an artist, that can feel a bit constricting. So it makes for an interesting setup when someone like Zach Snyder comes along who has a known and easily identified style of movie. He works with Warner Brothers and makes two movies with the biggest superheroes ever where he tailors the movies to his liking. And what goes to his liking is not usually enjoyed by the masses.
So when Snyder had to step away from making Justice League initially because of the tragic death of his daughter, the studio used it as an excuse to pivot away from his vision and make sure they made their money back. Reshoots of the movie are done. Jokes are thrown in to lighten the tone. Everyone is happy this time. Right? Nope. Fans know who their director is and what he wants to do. And Snyder and his cast stand together to push back against decision-makers who only thought about the money. Eventually, as Warner Brothers is bought by AT&T, an even larger corporation, he finally gets his wish and gets to make his version of the movie a reality. It’s a victory for Snyder to be sure, but let’s not get away from the fact that he only got his wish because another big company made a business decision to try to get more people to use their streaming service and spend more money on data and wifi.
Look, everything that I just ranted about in the last few paragraphs can be summed up like this. Business is business, and sometimes an individual with an artistic dream can be forgotten when there’s money on the line. And even if business goes on regardless, it’s always good when we can celebrate an artist (and I really hate calling moviemakers artists) for getting to fulfill their vision for a specific piece.
Until I see another one
PS - I am sorry I said business so much.