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)
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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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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Except for the fabulously overstuffed chapter where Steppenwolf's headquarters is attacked, this is the first Snyder film where I'm sort of willing to accept digital mess. It is tempting to make a screenshot of each frame and add text bubbles to the characters, this is a living comic book, like from Crew or BB Art. Thanks for that feeling at least, but I can't say I'm jumping in joy. What works on paper doesn't work in the film, the 4 hours of perceptual inferno and the fuckton of slow motion make you tired, so you are grateful for every subtle scene where two characters just talk, which are few and far between. I could have easily done without the pathetic epilogue and Leto's awkward Joker.
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Snyder can check off the final box, his League is better overall than the original, but it certainly won't be for everyone. It's more layered, more plot-driven, with more emphasis on all the main characters. It portrays them better, it focuses on their motivations and values better, so the overall emotional impact is stronger, and the same is true for the villains, especially Steppenwolf. But I can't shake the feeling that while the film is a patchwork of beautiful, sometimes darkly gothic, sometimes Sin City-like overstyled scenes, with plain cool shots here and there, that works with good story material, but it's ultimately merely an adaptation of a concept that didn't work then and still doesn’t fully work after the facelift. At times, the whole thing feels too artificial and over-artistic, and I couldn't shake the feeling that Superman was just like a sore thumb and he wasn't the Superman from Man of Steel anymore, as if Cavill wasn't Cavill anymore. And ironically, the most memorable and emotionally powerful scenes are those when Affleck climbs mountains to an impressive musical score, or when Zimmer's Man of Steel theme plays. 3.5 stars at most.
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I was curious and I was hoping it would turn out well. It is probably impossible to say that I had 100% faith in it. But the result exceeded all expectations, because Zack Snyder's Justice League is a completely different film, much better in every way. It doesn’t build on the fateful atmosphere of Batman vs Superman only at the beginning, but instead does it for four hours thanks to a lot of added runtime that has given many characters more space and meaning, also thanks to a lot of scenes (and especially the bad dialogues in them) that have disappeared. Indeed, everything that made me pause in the original film, which was illogical, concise and unexplained, abbreviated or inappropriate, is now either complete, reworked and explained to satisfaction, or removed. The worst attempts at adolescent humor have disappeared, the unsuitable color atmosphere has disappeared, the villain has motivation, the Justice League is no longer a hastily convened gang that has childish arguments... The change to the awakening of Superman is nicely visible, which was something inevitable in the original film that were waiting for from the beginning (and still it was bad, and I'm not even talking about barren scenes with Lois saying things like "You smell good", or “that itches"), while here it is the saving grace of an already functioning League, which is born logically, gradually, and whose realization and meaning feel different. Better. All this is supported and amplified by Holkenborg's music, which gives the preserved scenes a completely different dimension (nothing against Danny Elfman, because his music was again one of the best components last time), and in the end I was extremely sorry that the DC film universe has already unfortunately most likely been written off, and that we will probably only return to it in Flash's film, because after Zack Snyder's Justice League there remains great potential and plenty of ways to go. An amazing superhero film.___P.S. I didn't quite understand the 4:3 picture format at all, but it didn't take long for me to forget about it.
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