Directed by:
Zack SnyderScreenplay:
Chris TerrioCinematography:
Fabian WagnerComposer:
Tom HolkenborgCast:
Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen (more)VOD (4)
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In Zack Snyder Justice League, determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own past to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. Now united, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppewolf, Desaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions. (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (12)
Not impressed. It's undeniable that this is in line with Snyder's vision from the Ultimate Cut of Batman vs Superman, but whether it is for the better, that’s another question. It doesn't feel like a complete film with a four-hour arc, but like an episodic miniseries (and it is divided in chapters), where for every passable action set-piece there are a few minutes of interchangeable mind-numbing CGI mess, and for every successful scene like "Diana bantering with Alfred over the tea-making process" there's one WTF scene (though nothing in the style of “Martha”). At times it's light, at times it's in the spirit of heavy Wagnerian opulence "about gods and people (only without people)" and at times it's completely different. At times it's very spectacular and at times it looks like filmed in a soundstage with unfinished visual effects. You will be convinced that Affleck is a great Bruce but a mediocre Batman, and the same can be said about the rest. Basically, it’s full of contradictions. What saves a lot is that Aquaman and Wonder Woman have already had their movies in the meantime, so there's time for Cyborg (which sort of works) and The Flash (which doesn't work that well). The advantage is that it feels like a team effort, where everyone plays an important role, something that couldn't be said about the cinematic version. The villains are again punishingly bland (but at least with motivation). There is no justification for the four-hour runtime, it could have easily fit in three. Sure, Snyder does have a vision, and it’s clear he’s had it all along, but a vision a film doesn’t make, and his looks better on paper than in practice. It is still not a good film, it's a film with more than one good to memorable scene and moment, but as a whole it's an uninteresting hodgepodge of everything and nothing. At least compared to Whedon's cut, it's a watchable, uninteresting hodgepodge of everything and nothing.
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Four years of annoying whining by teenage fanboys turned into a four-hour long comic book flick packed with a digital mess and an ugly style, and with heroes that are so cringe-worthy that it’s almost embarrassing. The only good thing is that I don’t remember anything about the original shite (Whedon’s cut), so I could take Snyder's cut as a fully new experience. What should be acknowledged is that at least the story doesn’t have any narrative gaps – that’s the only thing I remember from the original version: that it was very rushed and senseless as a result; Snyder's version is certainly not rushed. The problems for me remain: the characters are not even a bit likeable and the moment things go from the realistic interiors and exteriors to CGI action set-pieces what we get is an aesthetic holocaust. That’s something that hasn’t change from last time. That said, it’s nice to make people happy, especially in times like these, and if Snyder's cut fulfilled that goal, I’ve got nothing against it. Though I’d wager that 99% of the people that will like it already know it before watching it.
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In a situation where I expected everything or nothing, I end up again at an average. And it annoys me the strange instant trend of making Joss Whedon an incapable fumbler, who doesn't even get credit for the Avengers. The recent king of geeks is suddenly seen as an amateur, which is a shortsighted and consequently cowardly opinion. "Josstice" League might not have been a spectacular flick, but coming to someone else's project and piecing it together into a completely different result in a tight timeframe? The fact that a weaker blockbuster emerged from the movie is actually quite a miracle. And even more so, that's how it seems to me now. The reason is that, on the contrary, Zack Snyder, at a different time and with the support of his toxic cult, created a colossus that, due to the inclusion of originally unplanned characters, is not what it was supposed to be years ago, and that – probably the most decisive blow – gives a significantly different impression than the 2017 version. Really, if someone considers a theatrical cut unwatchable trash and they're talking about this one as if it's the experience of the year, then they either don't see the obvious or they had a clear opinion long before watching it. Because every other line is still "motherbox", Wonder Woman and Aquaman are once again underused attractions, Flash saves the majority again, and the outcome begins and ends with Superman. I see progress in his scenes, not necessarily because of the reskin, but because of the scenes that slightly get under your skin even without words and partly justify the excessive length. In the new version, it's at least visible that the idea with the "standard Slavic family" was a foolish mistake, but what do we get instead? After the rumors that Cyborg is the true heart of the movie, I can only shake my head in the end, because once again, he is desperately excessive, which is now more noticeable in more of his scenes. On the other hand, more Superman is always good, but altogether it's always just a few generic minutes of the same, without any coherent whole. A few episodes of a series combined into one mess. And as much as I don't want to offend anyone, because I mean no harm, I have to say one thing. Zack Snyder has gone mad. I don't know if it's because of his personal tragedy or the presumed power of his creation cemented by social media, but all his directorial decisions are either strange or downright nonsensical. Four hours, when a lot of scenes just repeat or vary what we've already seen? The IMAX format, when we know it's for streaming and not for the cinema? The black and white version, in which only fire can be distinguished by the human eye? And finally, the biggest disaster – the dream epilogue. Visually unconvincing, completely unfitting to the plot, and with the participation of the dreadfully terrible Joker, even more disturbing. Right here, the ambition of the creators flew to the highest heights, just to clang the loudest. And this is not about personal preferences, but about facts visible at first sight. I don't insist that they should just copy the Marvel model, but in this case, DC did exactly that and their four-times speed was never more evident. In the overall picture, it's the same as if the neighbors had come up with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame when in previous years they had only released the first Iron Man, the first Guardians of the Galaxy, and Captain America: Civil War. And for that precise reason, I was repeatedly thrilled and moved by the Avengers, whereas here the emotions only resonate with Flash (mainly because Ezra Miller is perfectly suited to the role) and (with all due respect) repeatedly with Superman, and not just because Henry Cavill is even more of a statuesque Kal-El than ever before. The rest is held together by the strength of the actors or the opulent action, but there's not really any heart. Just beloved characters, sadly often condemned to being just action figures.
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An uncompromising, sprawling comic book colossus. This time, Snyder arranged for the white collars to fail big time. The movie isn’t perfect, a little creaky here and there (Ezra Miller is awful in the role of Flash), but as a whole it works great. The dark tone is consistent with the two preceding pictures: a somber atmosphere, good character motivation and the action scenes are superb. Mainly, the baddies are not there just for a decoration, but there are motives for their behavior. Theatrical soliloquies, heroic entrances, a thunderous soundtrack. I’m happy. Maybe HBO will pay for the sequel too.
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It took almost a decade before we were able to see the culmination of the Snyder Verse. In 2013 we got the reprise of the Superman origin, a much anticipated new beginning, and the promise of a whole new series of DC feature films. A full three years later, Wonder Woman rushed in for the first proper Superman/Batman reunion, and it took another year for Whedon's version of Justice League to hit theaters. After that, another four years had to be added until the release of the nearly four-hour-long director's cut of Zack Snyder's Justice League. How many other films have we waited for this long? Yet the truth is that the result is excellent. Distribution in the Covid era is primarily set for VOD and even in this environment, the film retains its IMAX format. The division into chapters helps to manage the mammoth length perfectly and makes you forget about the lighter version from 2017. The characters are restored to their seriousness, the individual lines are more thought out, their interconnections make more sense, and even a cartoonish villain like Darkseid evokes truly unpleasant feelings. Comparing a cut full of compromises and a cut with the original director's vision is ideal for many later analyses and generally for increasing audience literacy in the contemporary world. Even the re-release of such a film years later sets a precedent. But of course, the new version of Suicide Squad, which will be released after only five years, will be similarly atypical.
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