After three years of waiting and discourse as to whether this version of the film existed, and once it came out that it did exist, it was still another year and a half of waiting for Zach Snyder to put together his version of Justice League and refilm certain scenes. This all came about because Snyder had been directing the movie, but it was not going the way he wanted, and he went through a family tragedy, so he stepped away from the film. Thus it was no longer his creation. When the movie came out, it received a vast amount of negative feedback and was a massive disappointment. So when word came that there might be a secret alternate version locked away somewhere in the vaults that might right the wrongs of this film, people did what they do best now a days, and they clamored for it all over social media. So on Friday the new version released on to HBO Max, and it was no normal movie, the Snyder Cut was a four hour epic.
So to summarize the Justice League movie completely would be hard because it felt like there was some side story telling going on throughout the movie, but there was a main plot line that was “easy” to follow. When Superman died at the end of Batman v. Superman, he sent out a yell that sent vibrations throughout the world, and the yell kind of activated these cubes that had been dormant for thousands of years. This also caused Steppenwolf to come back and attempt to conquer Earth again after previously failing. When this became apparent that some outside force had come to try and destroy the world, Batman decided he was going to put together a super team, and eventually it comes together, but they realize that they are not strong enough to beat Steppenwolf, so they find a way to bring back Superman from the dead. Superman initially does not seem interested in joining them, but at the end of the day he joins them when they needed him most. Then there was a whole epilogue that was its own sort of confusing.
This weekend I spent six hours of my weekend watching The Snyder Cut and then the original Justice League movie because I had not seen it yet. It was probably better to watch the new version then the old version because the new version filled in some gaps that were missing. The Snyder cut gave a whole back story and introduction into Cyborg and his troubled past that led him to being a cyborg. It also went more into the mythology and the motivations of Steppenwolf. They also did some changing to the CGI in how characters like Steppenwolf were presented. They also gave Superman a black and silver suite, which was very smooth. The aspect ratio of the film was different as well, and the coloring was made darker, but it was not just the color that was darker, but the story was darker as well, the comedic points in the movie had mostly been removed, but the comedic points were not that funny anyways in the first place, so this helped. They also made the new version bloodier, but in a graphic video game sort of way.
The main goal for Steppenwolf was to collect the three cubes, and if he controlled the three cubes, he could then control the planet. It would turn into a lava filled wasteland, and he would enslave humanity. This story line seemed very reminiscent of the Infinity War and End Game. In those Marvel movies, Thanos was trying to collect all the infinity stones so that he could make half the population disappear. This was not the only comparison that could be drawn between the two franchises. Marvel is exceptionally good at introducing levity to their films, even in the serious moments that can put a touch of comedy into it, and it fits so well. Whereas in the original Justice League, they tried to have multiple points of levity and comedy and they just fell flat. From the time when Superman drops Batman when he sees Louis, and Batman drops a line. To the time when Cyborg and Superman just disconnected the cubes, and they just start laughing. Neither of those points hit at all. So when the Snyder Cut went away from those gimmicks, it helped make the movie better.
The most interesting part of the Snyder cut was the new Epilogue. It took one of the scenes from the post credit scene from the original movie, but it also added some new scenes as well. Instead of Louis Lane doing the voice over for the end of the movie, this time it was Cyborg’s dad giving him a speech that would help repair how Cyborg thought about his dad, but then it gets weird. It turns to a scene of Batman and some of the other heroes in a postapocalyptic world that seemed like Steppenwolf had won. There was a massive desert, and the heroes were wearing their gear plus an added layer of desert protection. Then the Joker makes a surprise appearance. It had been put out into the world that the Joker would make an appearance, but it was so short and odd. He seemed to just be there to poke at Batman, the whole scene just felt odd. Then it turns out, it was only a dream and Batman woke up. I do wish this idea could have been more fleshed out. That would have been quite the cut if it went that far in the other direction, but it does open the door for alternate realities based on something the Joker said. After Batman woke up the film had its second interaction with the Martian Man Hunter, which I wish he had more of a role in the film.
All the epilogue led to one question, will there be a second Justice League movie? They had so many teases leaning to the fact that there will be a sequel, and this was originally the plan, but even if they did decide to do a sequel would it be the same? Since the first film came out Ben Affleck announced that he would no longer be Batman, so that throws a wrench in the sequel idea. Also they have talked about casting a black Superman for the next Superman movie, specifically Michael B. Jordan, also a huge change. So if Snyder were to get permission to do the sequel, would it be with new actors for some of the heroes, or would Affleck and Cavil be more likely to return after seeing the new cut? It is too early to tell. Also there is already a Batman movie set to come out next March starring Robert Pattinson. It just seems so wrong to give credence to so many potential ideas of a sequel in the end to only have them shutdown completely leaving fans wanting more. It reminds me of the end of the Dark Knight Rises when it seems like they were setting up another movie at the end with all the scenes at the end, specifically either having a Robin to co-star with Batman, or having Joseph Gordon-Levitt take over the mantle. More than anything D.C needs to pick a direction and stick to it. If they continue to start over, then they will never reach the level of Marvel. Marvel did not stop and start over when Thor: The Dark World came out and completely flopped as an awful movie, they stuck to their plan, and it turned out magnificently.
One of the biggest changes to the movie that was present throughout was the change in the aspect ratio of the film and the colors that were changed. The ratio of the new cut was in a 4:3 ration instead of a more typical wide screen ratio. This would have made the film a better viewing experience on an IMAX screen, but it does not look bad on a normal tv, it is simply different than what most people are used to seeing. This ratio is also known as the academy ration because it was what was standardized by the Academy of Motion Pictures in the 1930s, and so with more modern films it has more of an artistic feel to it because they are going back to something that was popular in a different time. Next although there were many scenes that were the same in both films, in the Snyder cut, they made the lighting darker and the contrast lower. In the original, the contrast was high, and the feeling was different, but in the new version, Snyder flattened out the color and darkened all the scenes. It made the movie feel more serious. So even when scenes were the exact same, it felt different watching it from one version to the other.
The last big change I wanted to address between the two films was that in the Snyder cut, they added more gore to the movie. They upped the rating from PG-13 to R. This was due to language and violence, specifically the blood that was added to the battles. The blood that was added to the battles seemed a little extra. It had remarkably similar vibes to that of a Mortal Combat video game. The gore in a war movie and this movie were different. The blood in this movie that came out when a person was hit looked very CGIed, whereas in war movies, it comes out with a more realistic red liquid feel, whereas this looked more like red gel coming from the characters. One of the biggest areas where this was present was during the mythological retelling of the first Steppenwolf battle. This scene seemed to have inspiration from the Lord of the Rings movies, especially the first one where they do the flashback of how the ring was initially created and fought over. Since this was basically a giant ancient war scene, they went very gratuitous with the amount of blood they placed into the scene, but the time it was best used was when they killed off Steppenwolf and sent him back to Dark Side decapitated, which was quite the moment to punctuate the action part of the movie.
Overall the Snyder Cut was better than the original Justice League. As far as recommending to watch it, it honestly would probably be better to watch it in multiple parts. It has it segmented throughout, so if you are a normal person and do not have four straight hours free to watch a movie, you could stop at the end of each “episode.” If you have not seen either, just watching the newer version will give you a better explanation as to what is happening, and all around it was just done better. Still it only reached the level of the middle tier of Marvel movies. I wanted it to be a lot better because I love these characters way more than the Marvel ones, but it just does not reach their level. I gave the new version and 85 and the old version a 79.
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