Zack Snyder's Justice League

Hollywood has a long history with meddling in films that often suffer as a result but sometimes wrongs are righted as we receive director's cuts that drastically improve on the theatrical release, as seen with Kingdom of Heaven and the 2007 final cut of Blade Runner. Both films by Ridley Scott who is fortunate enough to be able to re-release his intended version while still satisfying the studio execs. Other films aren't so lucky leaving fans to scour the internet for what might have been and for a long while that was the case with Justice League from 2017; a forgettable mess I never intended to see again until Zack Snyder's Justice League released this month. Would this four hour version deliver the director's vision and satisfy fans or just be an extended, endurance test with many of the same problems?

The story goes Snyder has directed a mammoth sized epic that didn't quite satisfy the studio and during production he had to leave for personal reasons. Joss Whedon was brought onboard to help reshoot the film and bring the running time down to something more manageable. The end result was a pale imitation of Marvel's cinematic universe while bearing a few similarities to Infinity War with its villain that would release a year later.

Zack Snyder's version follows a similar template to Whedon's cut as we see Batman form an alliance with Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg to protect the world from Steppenwolf, who comes to Earth for the four 'Mother Boxes' and obliterate humanity in order to win approval with his evil ruler. There is also the plot around the death of Superman which remains largely the same in premise but over three quarters of the entire film is unseen material. So is what's new here any better than what Whedon was able to do? Well, yes we get a more fleshed-out experience with more time dedicated to developing the characters but there's nothing here that warrants such an excessive running time. 

The original Justice League was light-hearted entertainment that failed to bring anything new to the table. Snyder succeeds in developing Ray Fisher's Cyborg character into the heart and soul of the film but he takes out much of the joy Whedon implemented in favour of something darker and more serious which causes the film to fall flat. The first hour in particular dragged from one uninspired scene to the next with little of interest to keep me engaged and while having more scenes with these iconic characters will scratch that itch for the hardcore fans, everyone else will likely come away feeling empty. 

Every now and then Snyder occasionally hits the right notes with an exciting flashback action sequence where we see the director's creative mind really shine or with the Amazonian warriors but I'm not convinced Snyder's style suits this type of film when compared what what the Russo brothers achieved with Marvel. With the exception of aforementioned action scene, the rest of the action is overlong and lacks much in the way of any urgency, even if it still looks pretty, which has plagued DC's other recent entries.

The cast do try their best with Fisher and Ezra Miller's Flash benefitting the most from the extended cut while Ben Afflecks' Bruce Wayne is given very little to do. Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman remains largely the same but her character still suffers from not having Patty Jenkins directing to bring more of that charisma the film so desperately needs. Speaking of, Jason Mamoa's Aquaman and Henry Cavill's Superman are just dropped in the background with some very stilted dialogue. Meanwhile, Willem Dafoe, Amy Adams, J.K. Simmons and Ciarán Hinds, as the baddie, are wasted here and worthy of so much more. 

If you have enjoyed DC's other films since Man of Steel then there will be something here for you, and I'm glad the fans were able to will this film into existence through heavy petitioning. It is fan service of the highest degree, particularly in the closing act as Snyder promises a sequel that would never come, but if you didn't enjoy Whedon's cut then there is ironically little here in the four hour version to justify the investment. I would say Snyder has improved on what came before but sadly I think DC are doing the right thing putting this expanded universe to rest.