In all my years of movie viewing, I have never seen…a four-hour-long movie. I know that a few famous titles like Lord of The Rings and Kill Bill both have extended cuts that reach the four-hour mark, but I simply have had neither the time nor interest to watch either of those. But you also may ask: “Why did you skip over those two critically acclaimed films to watch a movie that wasn’t good, to begin with?” And I would answer: “Because I believe in change!” I believed in it when I went to go see The Rise of Skywalker, even though I was still disappointed, and I believed in it when I watched this. I have a great love for the DC universe and its characters, and giving second chances to movies isn’t exactly a new concept, so the thought that they could give me a good Justice League movie was too good to pass up. Now for a little context. Justice League was a film released originally in 2017 and was co-directed by Joss Whedon and Zack Snyder. The two directors, admittedly, had different artistic views of the finished film, with Joss Whedon’s version ultimately being shipped out to theaters, and was immediately panned by critics, and me because it ruined one of my favorite superheroes. If you can guess which one before I explain it, you win a prize. Anyway, what ruined the movie?
First, Whedon didn’t consider building on the characters and instead focused on the bare minimum, getting through with a couple fight scenes, determining that people would already understand characters right out of the gate, and giving the film a very paltry villain that no one cared for. Second, he also threw completely new actors into roles that were too big for their first big-screen appearances, but we’ll get into that later. Anyway, Whedon’s version was hated by fans of DC and was declared a failure. A couple years pass and eventually rumors circulate about the film’s re-release with the Snyder Cut. No one knew at the time what would be different, but as information kept coming in and getting leaked, fans became all the more excited. Now by this point, Henry Cavil and Ben Affleck had both retired the capes of Superman and Batman as they went on to other things, with much more focus being put on the Aquaman and Shazam! films, but fans still held out hope for the release of a better Justice League film that could utilize these actors better than they had been. And finally, in March of 2021, the Snyder Cut was released on HBO Max. People have since given it positive reviews and even critics put it in the 70s on Rotten Tomatoes.
But what did I think of it? Well, it’s an improvement…in some ways. You have to remember going into this that none of these scenes are new, they had all been shot and made for the movie back in 2017, but half of them never saw the light of day due to time constraints and the opinions of Joss Whedon. So nothing new could be added and they simply worked with what they had, and thankfully there turned out to be a good movie in a few of these scenes because adding them made all the difference. But it still fell short I think, and I’ll tell you why in this next installment of Bomb or Blast. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Film Work
The first version of this film was known to be an eyesore to some fans as the camera angles and cinematography were so inconsistent that it didn’t feel like the same movie at times. They improved this a little in the Snyder cut by giving us better transitions to follow, but the cinematography was still so everywhere. In one of the last scenes of the film, we see an interaction between Batman and the Joker in a post-apocalyptic dream sequence where the camera focuses in and out on the Joker’s face. It was a confusing effect that kind of broke emersion half of the time, and they had some weird close-ups with the Joker’s face as well that had a similar effect. Overall the camera work was good but a little all over the place in some parts of the film.
Next was the special effects. If there was ever a time that I said “Ugh!” out loud, it would be during this film. I disliked the special effects in the first version of the film, and they were not improved very much at all in this version. Cyborg is a prime example of why. I consider him one of my favorite characters in DC, and they ruined his look. His render, the way his body moved, and the way his actual face interacted with the CGI on screen, it just didn’t work. And his body’s design was terrible, it’s so jagged and complex that it’s hard to look at times. I had a friend give me this wonderful comment for his character: “Practical effects would have worked better,” to which I wholeheartedly agreed. It really disappointed me because I thought that they would make him look a bit better than he had in the original, but they didn’t even touch him in that regard except for the mask they gave him for when he flies. And even worse in the last scene we see him in, which is Batman’s apocalyptic dream sequence, he has one of his smaller back arms holding a minigun and it looks so clumsily put together like the arm was just pasted into the image.
Next, there was the most noticeable change. Steppenwolf, the main villain for this film. In the original, he had a rather bland design which was a common suit of armor and a helmet to cover his horns. In this version, they redesigned his figure, making him more monstrous, and gave him an extremely flexible suite of moving armor that was a lot to look at. It was a great improvement from the original, but it also gave me a bit of sensory overload because of all of the moving parts.
Now there was some good CGI in this movie. The completed form of Darkseid was incredible, I absolutely loved how he looked and I thought they nailed the design for Martian Manhunter who was only in the film for a few brief scenes, but the fact that he was there at all made it all the better. They replaced the scene of Steppenwolf taking Earth with Darkseid doing the same, making the scene all the more intriguing with closer visuals and a better storyline.
Overall the CGI in this movie was lax, with very noticeable flaws and errors, but there was enough good to make up for the bad in the end. But decent CGI isn’t the only thing that’s needed for the improvement of a film
Story
Next to Steppenwolf’s redesign, the story was the most notable change throughout the film. Originally, the film was centered around Steppenwolf attempting to take back Earth and the mother boxes after he failed to destroy the planet millennia prior to the Justice League’s existence. It also very loosely covered the backstories of each hero in the league, but not enough to make us care about any of them other than perhaps Superman or Wonder Woman. In a lot of ways, the 2017 version of the story felt bland and phoned in, and, again, only covering the bare minimum.
Now the 2021 version of the story is much more interesting. Instead of focusing entirely on Steppenwolf, they give plenty of scenes to the main villain of DC, Darkseid who made his first live-action debut in the film. They replaced Steppenwolf’s failed attempt at Earth with Darkseid’s failed attempt, switching him out for his relatively boring subordinate in the flashback. They also mentioned the Anti-Life Equation, which is Darkseid’s main goal in the comics, using it to condemn every planet he comes across and control everything through anti-life. So the main objective of the film was morphed to fit this and it made much more sense.
Next, there was the addition of several character backstories. In the original film, we got a single glimpse of the lives of The Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman. However, in the 2021 version, we get a bit more background on them as people to show their humanity, their relatability, and their flaws, which the original did rather poorly. They showed their ties with their family, their day-to-day lives living with their abilities, how they seem more like outcasts. This made me more enthused and engaged with the film, so I’d say this was a major improvement from Whedon’s take on the characters. They also added Martian Manhunter as an observatory character which I thought was less than he should have been, but I can see how working him in would be a difficult thing to do.
The only downside to the story is that there is far more exposition than I thought was necessary; single scenes without dialogue or action that dragged on for longer than they should have. Adding backstory to characters is good, but extending certain scenes that are unnecessary to the story seems like a waste of time, though I understand this is the uncut version.
So overall, the additions and replacements made to the story improved the film, even if some parts felt longer than others.
Acting
Most of the main cast has plenty of acting experience and impressive filmographies and most of them played their parts with gusto. My personal favorite performances were by Henry Cavill and Gal Gadoe as they both fell into their characters beautifully. Steppenwolf’s voice was drastically improved in the 2021 version, still very well done. The only performance I disliked was was Ray Fisher as Cyborg. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not a bad actor, I just feel like he doesn’t exactly click with the role. He had some good moments, but at times his acting felt bland and monotone. Jason Momoa was kind of the same at times, but I felt his performance was better delivered so it made up for it. This was also Fisher’s first major on-screen role according to his filmography so that was also a bit of a red flag. Perhaps I’m being biased, after all, I grew up watching Teen Titans, the show that put Cyborg out there, to begin with, and perhaps I have a set appearance and behavior for that character. However, I can’t help but wonder what a recast would look like with someone a bit more experienced. Michael B. Jordan, even after his less-than-great run-in with superhero movies, would be a much better choice, again in my opinion. Although, I admit that Jason Momoa did poorly in the 2017 version. In his own film, he improved by quite a bit. Perhaps Ray Fisher will change in a similar way when the Cyborg movie comes out in 2022.
Bonus: Audience Approval.
Now audiences have a hard time saying no when it comes to superhero movies. The 2017 version of this film divided fans, much the same as it did with Star Wars: The Last Jedi where half loved it and the other despised it. Don’t let the audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes fool you too much is all I’m saying. In the 2021 version, I found that many DC fans like myself immensely enjoyed the film with how it improved. I was worried about it a bit because if fans don’t like it they’ll let you know. I remember being told by a friend of mine who was a DC nut that the Snyder Cut would pave the way for future DC/Justice League films, and after watching the film itself I may have to agree, especially since critics love it as much as audiences do.
Conclusion
Overall, even with its staggering length, noticeable flaws, and some sub-par acting, this film is one of the best DC movies I’ve seen. The way they brought out the characters, the stronger story, the way they redesigned an awful villain into a cool one, and the addition to a possible sequel in the works all make this movie a blast for those who watch it, and it brings hope that there will be more to DC than just animation.