March 2021

Review – Zack Snyder’s Justice League Directed by: Zack Snyder Produced by: Charles Roven & Deborah Snyder Written by: Zack Snyder, Will Beall, and Chris Terrio Starring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, and Ezra Miller Release Date: March 18, 2021 It’s difficult to talk about Zack Snyder’s Justice League without talking about its older bizarro clone from 2017, simply titled ‘Justice League’ sans author attribution. Likewise, it’s almost impossible to watch the film if you’ve seen the original Frankenstein’s monster of a movie without constantly thinking back to that experience and noticing what’s different without much effort. When it comes down to it, Zack Snyder’s Justice League (which I will henceforth refer to as ZSJL for the mercy of my fingers) is the same skeleton as the 2017 film. The story beats are, at their core, either identical or very similar. However, like a house that’s been remodeled, though the floor plan might be recognizable, everything from the roofing to the baseboards is new and ever so slightly different. Also, someone added a few new rooms. Some of those rooms feel like they should have been there from the start, and some of them are glorified storage cabinets that probably weren’t necessary. But when WB gives you a renovation budget of 70 millions USD, you make the biggest damn house you can. Review – Shazam! And so it goes with the release of the long fabled Snyder Cut, finally unearthed, finished, and unleashed to the masses on HBO Max at a whopping four hours in length. It feels like a strange side effect of the Covid pandemic that’s gripped the world and shut down movie theaters for the past year as of March 2021 along with the long of WB’s burgeoning streaming service, and would almost certainly not exist without that mixture of elements. Yet, here we are, four years after the critically and commercially maligned theatrical draft of the project, ready to watch a product that we were told multiple times over the years was not real, and never would be. The real question now is, does it outshine the 2017 version of the first ever big screen DC superhero team up? Find out in our review of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. STORY For those just joining us, or who skipped or don’t remember the original theatrical version of this movie, the premise goes a little like this: Superman is dead at the hands of a cave troll. Sorry, I mean, Doomsday. Batman has been warned of an enemy of some sort coming to earth by a twitchy Lex Luthor via Jesse Eisenberg, and has told Wonder Woman that they need to find and unite the other super beings in their world to combat this nebulous threat. The threat comes in the form of an invasion by the demonic Steppenwolf from the hell world of Apokolips, searching for three artifacts known as Mother Boxes that will unite and do… something. To stop him, Batman will have to gather the world’s soon-to-be greatest heroes and, inevitably, when that isn’t enough, resurrect the fallen Kryptonian. This all remains more or less true in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The biggest change in this restored, original vision of Zack Snyder’s Superhero get-together is just a general addition of breathing room. Though we’re familiar with Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, and Diana Prince from previous films, ZSJL bears the burden of introducing the audience to two new characters almost entirely from scratch. The 2017 cut of Justice League made some significant changes to the presentation of Barry Allen and Victor Stone, and after watching this new cut of the movie it is immediately apparent how much these cuts really hurt the perceived soul of the film. Some might call this new version ‘bloated’, but the increased scope for these two heroes is appreciable. Review – Aquaman Victor Stone, also known as Cyborg, is elevated from a moving, breathing plot point in what might be the biggest set of additions. Whole sub-plots, scenes, and backstory are reintegrated into the movie that make victor a much more well rounded character with an actual arc throughout the movie. Somewhat ironically, the portrayal of Cyborg in the Zack Snyder cut and the fleshing out of his relationship with his father and the world around him makes him far more human. Second to that are the changes made to Barry Allen. Barry only really receives one additional scene in the film, and arguably it’s a scene that could easily be removed without losing much in the plot or character. What really sticks out for Barry is the actual tone and importance of the character. In the 2017 cut, Barry is very much the inexperienced new kid, requiring a pep talk from Bruce Wayne before engaging in the very first major battle of the film. His role in the ultimate climax of the film is essentially played for laughs as he’s shuffled off to the side to rescue a stranded family and play second fiddle to a CGI Henry Cavill carrying an entire building several feet away. Barry is still the same hyperactive, somewhat awkward ball of energy as played by Ezra Miller in this version, but he is noticeably more competent. Requiring neither pep talks, nor pratfalls onto anyone’s chest for giggles, this version of The Flash clearly knows how to use his powers. Thanks to that, he’s granted a much deeper level of agency in this film. Without giving too much away for those who haven’t braved the four hour journey yet, Barry now plays a crucial role in the final third of the movie that is both awesome to watch, and perhaps lays the seeds down for the upcoming Flashpoint movie that is still planned as of 2021. eview – Man Of Steel Finally, third and perhaps most unexpected, is a complete overhaul of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf in his 2017 incarnation was entirely forgettable except for just how jarringly generic he was as a villain.