Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)

User Review

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  d_riptide

  8 / 10

  4 years have passed since Warner Bros hacked-to-pieces theatrical cut of Justice League left many DCEU and Snyder fans either underwhelmed or disappointed. However, thanks to concentrated fan support and campaigning, “Zack Synder’s Justice League” has hit HBO Max this week and I, for one, had every reason to be skeptical. Snyder isn’t the best action director or storyteller out there despite his ambition and passion but I’ve grown to appreciate and eventually like Man Of Steel and BvS after multiple viewings so that’s saying something. Of course, the million dollar question is....is his cut of the movie any better than the one we actually got?
  
  Yes, yes a thousand times yes! Zack’s intended vision for the Justice League film isn’t just an improvement, it’s like it assimilated all of the good that the theatrical cut desperately tried to squirm away from.
  
  
  The film looks and feels miles different than what we got before. Not only does the dark blue/grey tinted color palette matching that of Man Of Steel reflect the 4:3 aspect ratios rather claustrophobic and psychological grounding between spaces but the cinematography reflects this also. It doesn’t move unless it absolutely has to and while it’s not always easy on the eyes to absorb, it still feels hypnotic. The League members (and even minor characters like Lois and Silas) are finally given depth and layers to their characters regarding their positioning in the world and their upbringing after the aftermath of Superman’s death with Ben Affleck, Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller getting extensive redemption to their characters arcs while Ray Fisher once again steals the spotlight with a mesmerizing performance. Production quality was a lot higher than anticipated, it kept and maintained a brisk pace to keep everything leveled, there’s actual attempts at installing tension and urgency into the matter, action sequences are twice as compelling and innovative and Zack’s direction feels....meditative. Sure, mock the man all you want but you can’t deny now that the man genuinely had a a vision for these characters and where he wanted the story to go. If only the current state of the DCEU had a better grip on its own set of blueprints.
  
  It wasn’t a flawless victory by any means however. The CGI can show its ugly head a few instances and there’s maybe a scene or two that I would’ve like removed and it wouldn’t have taken anything away from this experience but still.....this is still justice served. I’m glad Snyder got to show his vision of the film to audiences and it gives me hope that Hollywood can maybe finally respect directors and their intended visions for the screen.

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