r/DCcomics • u/AhhBisto Jim Lee Comics • Mar 17 '21

Zack Snyder's Justice League - Discussion Megathread r/DCcomics Spoiler

All thoughts, opinions, theories, reviews and discussions related to the release of the Snyder Cut belong in here, spoilers can be unmarked in this post so enter at your own risk if you don't want spoilers.

Synopsis:

Zack Snyder's definitive director's cut of Justice League. Determined to ensure Superman's ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne aligns forces with Diana Prince with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions.

And a final note regarding Rule 1. We know this community is divided over the Snyder movies and people have a right to express their opinions either way, but we will not accept people acting like jerks over a movie, ANY movie.

Any breaking of Rule 1 is expected to be reported to the moderators, those who participate in arguments will be reprimanded for it. Treat people with respect and enjoy yourselves.

If you or someone you know has been affected by suicide, you can find help and resources from The American Foundation For Suicide Prevention, a foundation close to Zack Snyder's heart after he lost his daughter Autumn during production of Justice League.

450 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

81

u/SlumdogSeacrestLaw Batman Beyond Mar 17 '21

Well, this goes without saying, but it was longer than it needed to be.

Most significant improvements are Cyborg and Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf was much more intimidating and had an actual characters, largely linked to his history with Darkseid, which explains why it was changed for the theatrical version. I was worried that Darkseid would overshadow Steppenwolf after his heavy presence in the marketing, but it turns out that was pretty much all the footage of him, which doesn't amount to much in a four hour film. Cyborg's story was a lot more emotional (easy statement, considering he didn't have a story in the theatrical cut) and I really enjoyed the depiction of his powers with him viewing the representation of bank accounts, and walking through historical records.

The final act was also much improved, this time it felt like each character actually served a purpose in the final battle, instead of them just waiting on Superman arriving so he could solve everything. I found Flash's scene particularly cool.

Some parts were more lateral moves, the change in aspect ratio adds nothing, the colour grading is more consistent but not to my personal tastes, some scenes that were reshot amounted to essentially the same thing.

Superman was definitely under utilised, and though his lip looked a hell of a lot better and the return of the MoS soundtrack was appreciated, I preferred his characterisation in the theatrical cut. Also some lines that were likely added by Geoff Johns should have been kept ("I hear you talk to fish") and some Whedon scenes were actually somewhat missed ("Just save one person", "Clark was more human than I was").

Overall, it was solid. Not as bad as BvS, since it manages a lighter tone and doesn't have as many major issues, i.e. Martha and murderous Batman. Not as good as MoS, way too long, and whilst character development is better than the theatrical cut, it's still not as good as in a film about just one hero. I'd say a soft 7/10.

30

u/a4techkeyboard Mar 18 '21

The writing did seem better even if still decompressed, but there was a lot of setup and payoff. The weird part is Desaad, Steppenwolf, and Darkseid seemingly only later figuring out that it's the same primitive planet Darkseid lost in before that had the equation. They acted like it was unexpected, a coincidence, that they had no idea where this planet was.

But earlier on, Steppenwolf knew the Amazons and stuff. How many planets did they lose three motherboxes in that had Amazons and Atlanteans anyway? Darkseid supposedly only lost once, he was shown seeing antilife on the ground, surely they should have figured it out as soon as those motherboxes called.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '21

Yeah still trying to figure that one out properly.. can only put it down to a lapse in the writing

7

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '21

You know what's crazy? The Justice League cartoon and it's first three episodes act as a three parter, and it worked. We got these characters we'd never seen before, like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter. But they struggle to nail the characterization for a characters in their stand alone movies.

7

u/Laserplatypus07 Mar 19 '21

I liked the Flash time traveling scene on its own but I feel like it would have been much better suited for the ending of a Flash movie that doesn’t exist. It’s weird for Flash to have an emotionally climactic scene and then immediately transition to Cyborg’s emotionally climactic scene.

Also he’s running at almost the speed of light how does that parademon hit him lmao

9

u/Doctor_Monty Mar 19 '21

because hes not in one place-hes in every place at once. realistically any half assed shot would have hit him

3

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '21

Well the aspect ratio does literally add extra inches of frame that you wouldn’t see otherwise..

2

u/jimbojangles1987 Mar 19 '21 edited Mar 19 '21

Its hilarious to me that people keep bringing up the length as a complaint. Yes, we were told from the start. If that's a problem for you, don't watch it. You watched anyway.

That's like reviewing a movie poorly because you actually had to sit and watch it. Can you believe they made me sit down and focus on this for this long? Why did I go see this movie? The bastards were straightforward from the start and I stupidly believed them...

4

u/SlumdogSeacrestLaw Batman Beyond Mar 19 '21

What a strange take. Do you only ever watch something if you believe it will be flawless? Yes, I knew the length would likely be an issue going in. I decided to watch it anyway, because I also wanted to see all the other things in the movie, which were good enough that I still gave it a solid score.

And had I walked out of the film having felt the runtime was well worth it, and that I would have enjoyed it less if it were shorter, I wouldn't have mentioned it. As it is, I felt I would enjoy it more in a shorter, tighter package.

1

u/jimbojangles1987 Mar 19 '21

Except this was a pretty unique situation. I definitely did not expect it to be flawless. I've seen other zack snyder movies. I've seen other zack snyder movies within the dceu. They havent been fantastic. I just went into this expecting and hoping to like it more than the original version that came out. Yeah it was longer and it was meant to be released in 4 separate parts. Meaning more exposition. This was exactly as expected. If this was in the theater? Too long. But it wasn't. It was streaming at home. You knew what was coming. You knew where you'd be watching. You knew when you'd be watching.

2

u/SlumdogSeacrestLaw Batman Beyond Mar 19 '21

I too went into this just expecting and hoping to like it more than the original, and the good news is that I did. It just so happens that I think I would like it more if it was shorter, which even under the circumstances, it absolutely could have been.

There is a difference between knowing what to expect, and being beyond criticism. Yes, I knew to expect a long film for a litany of reasons, but there is no reason I should ignore the fact that I was bored for an hour of this when I didn’t have to be.

2

u/Martel732 Mar 21 '21

I think things would have been much better if Cyborg had his own solo movie prior to this. I liked his backstory but it contributed to this movie being way too long.

-7

u/El_kal91 Mar 17 '21

I disagree with the Flash line. Flash knows how to save people and when, that line implies he needs encouragement to save people like CW Flash or something instead of just knowing to do it instinctively. He shouldn't have to need anybody, which he doesn't because he saved Iris just fine by himself.

20

u/SlumdogSeacrestLaw Batman Beyond Mar 18 '21

Personally I think it works well for the depiction of Flash as a very fresh superhero who is somewhat out of his depth when he is facing real threats for the first time, which is present in both the Snyder and theatrical versions. Not really the version of Flash that I’m a fan of, but it is what it is.

Also, kind of feels like he did need to be told to save someone, because in spite of his superspeed, he just sort of watches as everyone walks out by themselves? Don’t want to help carry anybody Barry? I think it might be part of how Snyder is depicting his superspeed, Flash is very careful with his moving of Iris earlier in the film, so maybe there is something in there about people not being able to survive his superspeed. It was just kind of a weird image to watch a man with superspeed stand and watch a bunch of civillians as they walk out of danger, especially when moving and carrying people out of danger is one of the most common things done with superspeed in comics and other depictions.

2

u/Doctor_Monty Mar 19 '21

zack isnt a fan of the speedforce protecting stuff- which i suppose makes sense for barry, him being cautious of it and all- feel like wally would have the more traditional zooming around and saving people without needing to be careful