After three and a half years of fan outrage, support and unification, "Zack Snyder's Justice League" or the "Snyder Cut" is finally out for everyone to watch, practically destroying whatever sympathy people had for the gross, dishonest product that was the theatrical cut of "Josstice League". At first, the story seems like it's still the same narrative with Batman and Wonder Woman forming a team of super-powered beings in order to stop an invasion led by Steppenwolf and his quest to find and unite the three Mother Boxes. However, considering the film has double the original cut's runtime, it's clear that the story will have differences. I won't touch upon spoilers or huge changes, but the four-hour runtime is practically perfect at giving what is otherwise a typical superhero adventure as much depth, heart, character and personality to it. The story is just vastly improved with a larger sense of mythos, continuity from previous films, explorations for the characters, and incorporating the established themes and morals from the previous two films. The tone is also a perfect balance in regards to hope, dread, drama and comedy. Even though I enjoyed the previous Snyder films, I can understand why people can't get into how brooding and serious they can be. Here, the characters act serious, but the story itself knows that it's not thought-provoking or methodical. As for the humour, there's actually quite a bit of levity and laughs that people can get behind. It's not overkill to the point of cringe like in the theatrical version because everyone made jokes, but it's appropriate as the characters who have jokes are the ones that would be in nature to make them such as Flash and Alfred.
Much like "BvS", there's a full ensemble of characters that all manage to feel fleshed out as characters. However, due to the sheer amount of characters and newcomers, it can be granted that few aren't as interesting as they could be. Henry Cavill's Superman, Ben Affleck's Batman, and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman don't have much of a character arc given their previous films and it does make them a bit bland. Even though these three all have their heroic and awesome moments as well as Diana having an interesting rivalry to Steppenwolf, they clearly grown too much that they can't really learn much as characters. Jason Mamoa's Aquaman has a bit more depth as this was made prior to his solo film and it does make his involvement interesting in retrospective, but he doesn't really blow the audience away in his action scenes or character moments. Ezra Miller's The Flash is dramatically improved as he's no longer the comic relief that's the butt of the joke in his heroism. He still makes jokes, but the film gives him some of the best heroic moments in the DCEU. The best performance and character by far in this film is Ray Fisher's Cyborg as he practically has a solo film's worth of story and growth in this ensemble event with his bond between his father and his importance to the story compared to the bare-bones portrayal in the theatrical cut. Ciaran Hinds's Steppenwolf is also greatly redesigned and expanded upon as a villain in regards to his motivation and what he represents to the world as a New God. Ray Porter's Darkseid is not in the film much, but his voice and demeanor captures the threat and limitless power that the iconic villain is capable of. In regards to the side characters, there are too many to list, but I will try and point out the most notable. Amy Adams as Lois Lane is actually likeable now in her scenes of grief, Jeremy Irons as Alfred is fantastic as usual, Joe Morton as Silas Stone is extremely engrossing, Zheng Kai as Ryan Choi was nice and more than just a wink to the fans, Billy Crudup as Barry's father is so good despite being in two small scenes, and the list goes on. Even minor roles are acted with so much heart and soul, particularly an actress involved in Cyborg's heroism. There's not a single performance I can point out as bad. Not everyone is fully utilized from some of the main characters to minor fan-favourites, but I find it acceptable given the vast development given to the other characters, especially for Flash and Cyborg.
Snyder takes his rightful spot as director and goes full-in on his vision and filmmaking, even if it can be too much at times. While the zoom-ins and dark aesthetic of the previous films have been removed or improved in this film, with the latter having far more visual clarity to the action, the polarizing director still tends to overuse a bit of the slow-mo at times. While I don't mind it, it can be a bit annoying for those who aren't fans of the film being four hours long. The cinematography by Fabian Wagner is great with how everything is captured on-screen in such a pristine look and some nice flair with the camera movement with the panning, wrap-arounds, tracking, and one-takes. It just screams Snyder and cinematic event. The 4:3 aspect ratio is no issue for me as you can tell that Snyder and Wagner wanted the IMAX-filmed motion picture to be viewed with no real compromise whatsoever, despite how ignorant haters want to claim. The score by Tom Holkenburg/Junkie XL might be his best work to date. Not only does he reutilize some of the older themes in the other Snyder films, but the original music and revamped themes for characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and the Flash are just fantastic and offer so much personality and identity to the music and film. Wonder Woman's theme does get overplayed too much, but it's such a great piece that I don't get tired of it that much. The licensed songs/covers are also inspired choices with the most notable being Hallelujah by Allison Crowe and Song of the Siren by Rose Betts. The visual effects are pretty good with some nice polished textures on Steppenwolf, Darkseid, and Cyborg. However, there are times where the CGI is pretty obvious and awkward, particularly in reshot scenes. The scene in the beginning with Lex contacting Steppenwolf as a refresher of "BvS" has him in CGI water compared to real water in the previous film. The use of echolocation as the language for the Atlanteans and the use of the air bubbles to talk is pretty awkward and laughable, but it was clearly done to avoid spending a lot of money on the underwater effects. The action sequences are practically the same from the theatrical cut, but they are not only better directed and edited, but are extended to have far more engaging moments and tension. The R-rating complements the action as it's not gratuitous whatsoever and only uses the violence when appropriate for the mood and tension of the scene. Love him or hate him, you can't deny that he made a far better film than what was offered from before.
Overall, Snyder has not only redeemed his original film, but also won over the critics and fans. Not everything is perfect as some characters don't feel as developed or engaging as others and there's an occasional awkward edit or effect along with a few minutes that can be cut for time. However, the fact that these are the only issues is an achievement given the disaster that was the theatrical cut. From an expanded-upon narrative, a perfectly-balanced tone of dark and light, humour that's well restrained yet welcoming, great development for characters such as the Flash, Steppenwolf, Cyborg and Silas Stone, the entire cast, major, side or minor, all act their heart out and take their jobs seriously, Wagner's cinematography is cinematic and epic with wonderful use of the 4:3 aspect ratio, Holkenburg's score and soundtrack is perhaps his crowning achievement in the industry, massively improved visuals contrasted to the theatrical cut, action sequences that are more professionally-paced, shot and played-out, and Snyder's direction shows that he's able to not only improve on himself in his work, but give back to both fans of his films as well as those who didn't like his previous efforts. "Justice League" is nearly on par with his work on "Man of Steel", even if that aforementioned film is slightly better. Regardless, all three films are a blast to watch, despite the overbearing runtime.
Verdict: 8.5/10. An improvement from "BvS" and almost on the same level of quality as "MoS" if Snyder could iron out a few issues. Please take some time to watch this and support Snyder's vision. #RestoretheSnyderverse
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