Zack Snyder’s Justice League: Were the Fans Right?

With the release on HBO Max of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, I thought it would be a perfect time to reflect on some of what I see are the biggest problems with the creative industry today.

The theatrical release of Justice League seemed almost as if it were doomed to fail from the very beginning. In an attempt to kick start their own Extended Universe of shared, interconnected films and DC characters, Warner Brothers was already struggling to catch up to Marvel. Having only one solo film, Man of Steel, it stood to reason that a Justice League film would be far off out over the horizon to most any reasonable person. After all, what made the Marvel Universe so attractive to fans and lucrative to the studio was the amount of time we got to spend with all the primary characters and majority of the secondary characters. Each had their own films to show us who these people really were, what made them human, and more importantly what made them SUPER human. By the time they came together for the Avengers, we knew who the major players were and for most of them what their motivations were. Juggling a large cast of important characters is no easy task, but not having to introduce and explain every character, their backstory, and what drives them allowed to tell a story of them coming together, clashing at first due to their wildly conflicting personalities, and ultimately putting aside those differences to work as a team that functioned more than the sum of its parts. Even if they didn’t care for one another, there was a respect for each other that was palpable by then end of the film, similar to the audience at the end of each of their perspective “introductory” films. I had no idea who Thor was before going to see the film but came out of it thinking he was the coolest one of the bunch. Warner Brothers seemed to have little interest in spending the time to build each character before throwing them into a team up movie. This robs the longtime fans of seeing their favorite DC character getting to shine in their own film, and newcomers to the character of understanding who the person they are seeing on screen even is. This disservice to fans and casual viewers alike was because Warner Brothers was trying desperately to get a footing in the superhero film genre which was already starting to become over-saturated by yearly Marvel releases, and all they could see was a big cash pie they were not getting a slice of. So Instead of getting a solo Batman film to develop this new version of the character, what we got instead was Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Of the MANY flaws present in Batman V. Superman, none is more telling that the sub-title of the film itself. Dawn of Justice. This one subtitle, in my mind, does more to ruin the film than anything else. Before even seeing the first frame of film, this line is already trying to setup the NEXT movie. The line tells you that THIS is not the movie you want to see. The NEXT movie is the one you want to see; this one is just a roadblock to getting to the next movie. A necessary evil, a hurdle that we must stumble across to get you where you REALLY want to be. And stumble it did. Audiences generally reacted poorly to the drab film, citing the lack of character development, poor juggling of so many major characters, Jessie Eisenberg’s portrayal of Lex Luthor, and the overall conflict which causes the two titans to do battle as major issues with the film. As the title of the film implies, it cares more about setting up things that are GOING to happen, than it does on what’s ACTUALLY happening. The release of the Ultimate Edition did little to add to anything other than the already bloated runtime. From the title tagline to the events on screen all the way up to the ending of the film, the implication was that nothing here MATTERED. This film certainly mattered to someone, unfortunately that someone was Warner Brothers, and they were not happy.

 After the poor critical commercial releases of both Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad, Warner Brothers executives were in a panic. How had they just had two massive comic book movie failures in a row, while Marvel was churning out hits reliably and consistently? While already nervous having Zack Synder behind the helm after the reception to his Batman V Superman, a person tragedy occurred demanding he take time off the project to address. This provided the opportunity for the studio to take creative control of the project, and to course correct what they saw as a third financial failure, they overcorrected and gutted the film that was intended to be. Joss Whedon was, in the studio’s eyes, the perfect man to take over and deliver box office gold. How could the man who brought the Avengers together in a gigantic, almost universally loved film possibly fail? The difference in style and tone of the two directors caused much of the production, which was already well under way, to have to be redone. This was then mashed together with existing footage, rushed CGI overlaid on top, and released to theaters. Fans hoping that the issues seen in Batman V Superman would be corrected in Justice League were to be sorely disappointed. Every issue seems amped up to 11. From the opening scene, shot vertically and with camera app overlay put Superman’s horrific CGI lip-job on full display, and the movie never recovers from there. Every event in the film feels rushed, unearned, poorly put together, and showcases some of the worst computer-generated effects ever dedicated to film. The main villain of the film, Steppenwolf, is the kind of disappointing screen presence that would put even low-end video game characters to shame. The story is so incoherent that at times you genuinely have no idea what is happening or why. The film’s finale is such a mess that it is impossible to engage with at any level, and the defeat of the poorly rendered antagonist comes at the expense of one of the most laughable premises that seems like it wouldn’t be out of place in a poorly written TV episode rather than a big budget action film. The result was an almost universally panned release, and not long after came calls to #ReleaseTheSynderCut. Oh Boy.

I personally never thought the Snyder Cut even existed, let alone would ever see the light of day. Snyder left the film while still in production, so surely there would be more left to film and the project wouldn’t be complete without more money to finish it. I assumed after the debacle of the theatrical release, throwing more money on a dumpster fire would be a solution few executives at Warner Brothers would find appealing. Not to mention, if the Snyder Cut WAS released and garnered more praise than the theatrical version, it would reflect negatively on them for panicking and trying to “fix” a movie that by all accounts would have been just fine without their tampering. I was wrong. The Snyder Cut DOES exist and having now seen it I can say without any doubt it is better than the theatrical version in every measurable way. But is it any GOOD?

It became clear from the prepended message about the 4:3 format before the film started playing that this would be something intended to be different. I think that something is LOST in the 4:3 format, mainly portions on both sides, that doesn’t make up for what’s supposedly ADDED by having the film set to fit the format of pre-2000’s area Television. It was stated that it was formatted for IMAX screens, but none of the films released scenes filmed in IMAX format in recent memory had this formatting. This was a choice made by Zack Snyder, and while I don’t like it personally, letting it exist in the format he chose is a decision Warner Brothers and HBO Max made, and I’ll wholeheartedly support.

The films opening scene does more to establish the effect that Superman’s death had on the world at large much better, and much more visually pleasing than anything hinted at in the theatrical release. From the first few seconds, you can see that this is going to be the driving force behind everything that happens in the film. From here we are thrown into the first of several chapters, making it play out more like a serialized made for TV movie than a standalone film. This helps break up the four-hour long marathon film, while also making one aware that this should have been at least two separate films to begin with. While fine for a home viewing experience that you can pause and take a breather from every now and again, four hours is testing the patience of even the most hardcore movie goers.

Chapter one brings us up to speed with Batman, setting out to locate Aquaman. Their interactions are more coherent in this rehash, although I could have used some insight into the song with the villagers which goes on much longer than it has any right to. They sing in another language, and there are no subtitles, so it has little impact on anyone who does not speak the language. I have no idea what they’re saying, so it’s hard to say where this should have been cut down but cut down it should have been. From here, we re-introduce Wonder Woman in the bank heist scene. Although it’s been re-cut and works much better, I still don’t care for this scene. We at least find out who these people are and what they want, but their plan is still little more than a ham-fisted way to get an action scene with Wonder Woman. At the end, Wonder Woman totally OBLITERATES the main terrorist, which I DON’T remember being in the theatrical cut. It looks like now what we have is a trifecta of murderers, just as content to end lives as well as save them. This is something I will NEVER understand about the Snyder versions of these characters. We now head off to the home of the Amazonians, where Superman’s death throes at the start of the film have reawakened the Mother box they possess. FINALLY, an explanation. This of course draws the eye of Steppenwolf, whose re-introduced in a BIG way. This version, while seemingly too shiny to be a multi-thousand-year-old battle-hardened warmonger, is at least an ominous villainous which seems to represent a true threat. If you are hesitant to watch this version for any reason, then let me say that this version of Steppenwolf is worth the viewing.

In chapter two, Steppenwolf sets up camp in the same abandoned nuclear plant as before but without the random Russian family plotline. Here we get the explanation that the toxicity helps the motherboxes somehow. Again, its flimsy at best it is at the very least AN explanation, which is something the theatrical cut never bothered with. Bruce opines that he spent the last movie dividing everyone up, which makes little sense because they all became buddies at the end of Batman V Superman but again, its at least AN explanation and provides better character motivation than just “wanting to get the league together”. Diana gets sent to a hidden temple and we get a MUCH better version of the flashback battle which now includes Darkseid. This version is so much more action-packed and brutal it’s unbelievable how much was left out of the theatrical version. Darkseid gets pushed back and abandons the motherboxes in the chaos.

Chapter three gives a little more backstory to the Flash, who is still in my opinion the weakest point of the movie. His only power is one that two other members of the team already have, and Ezra Miller’s portrayal is grating at best. What we also get is finally some backstory for Cyborg, who was basically a cardboard cutout in the theatrical release. Having a mostly robot; kind of human cyborg with no explanation in the theatrical cut was a baffling decision, but here we get to spend enough time to at least understand his character. Cyborg would have probably been the most to benefit from his own solo movie prior to appearing in Justice League. Even though his powers are somewhat described in this chapter, they’re still ambiguous enough that you don’t know what he CAN and CAN’T do. We then see the same scene from the theatrical cut with Bruce meeting Barry Allen in his hideaway base. I’d really hoped this scene was a Whedon addition, because not only is it tonally different than everything we’ve seen up to this point but is also visually different. The color grade doesn’t match the drab, lifeless tone put forth in the rest of the film. This may be a commentary on Barry’s exuberant persona, but it’s visually distracting and makes me think it came from another movie entirely. At least they cut out the line about brunch. Next, we get to finally see how Steppenwolf found the motherbox located in Atlantis, and a nice fight scene where even Mera gets in on the action.

Chapter four kicks off with the rescue of the kidnapped STARR Labs employees and pursuing fight through the tunnels, which is not only amped up here but cut out the slapstick comedy routine during the scene from the theatrical version. We finally get an explanation of how the motherboxes actually work, and the plan to resurrect Superman FINALLY has some context. In the theatrical cut, there was a line delivered by Cyborg about how he ha been “crunching the numbers” and came to the analysis that the motherbox could resurrect Superman. What numbers are there in this reality that could be crunched to explain resurrection at all? In the Snyder cut, this line is gone and is replaced with an explanation that makes even a shred of sense within the rules of this world. We also get the introduction of the General from Man of Steel and Batman V Superman as Martian Manhunter, which comes completely out of nowhere and makes no sense based on the context of those movies. If he was an alien since Man of Steel, then why would he have been surprised at the arrival of Superman? Has he always been this man, or did he recently start imitating him? These are answers that we may never get.

Chapter Five sees the resurrection of Superman. The Knightmare scene here kind of makes sense, because the Motherbox is “showing” it to Cyborg as they’re powering up to jolt Superman back to life. Showing him the future if they succeed in resurrecting Superman, and thus causing serious doubt that this is the right choice. Sans poorly-CGI’ed upper lip, this scene plays out much like before, although here it is shown to be dead serious rather than an excuse for goofy one-liners. Unlike the theatrical cut, Steppenwolf doesn’t just come and pick up the motherbox and be on his way. He encounters resistance from both Cyborg and Cyborg’s father, who sacrifices himself to superheat the motherbox so the League can track it. I feel like he maybe DIDN’T have to sacrifice himself, and that this was just more motivation for Cyborg’s character to stay in-line with the League.

Chapter six brings us home to the finale, and what a finale it is. Not only is the action more concise and legible on screen, but there is also more of it. Superman’s return was epic, and although he was “not impressed” I certainly was. Steppenwolf gets a true villain’s death instead of being carted away by the parademons. Flash reversing time to save the world after Superman and Cyborg fail to separate the motherboxes struck me as merely a way to capitalize on the “hero’s fail to save the day” ending of Infinity War but was still a wonder to behold. I get the impression that it would have been cooler to see it play out WITHOUT the world ending, and flash revealing after the fact that he had to turn back time to save everyone. The looming presence of Darkseid watching over the events gives you the feeling that while the battle has been won, the war is far from over, but you can rest assure the League will be ready and up to the task.

The Epilogue serves essentially the same purposes of the Knightmare scene in Batman V. Superman: It shows us a possible future that MAY come to pass, but we are unlikely to see it even if this version of the film makes a boatload of cash. In the end, it plays out just as before with Bruce waking up and rendering the last few minutes we have just watched as a dream and therefore pointless to the movie. Jared Leto’s Joker is finally just OKAY but other than that a total bust. Martian Manhunter reveals himself to Bruce and that is a wrap on Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Overall, this film bends over backwards to address the issues of the theatrical cut. It does so, but then creates its own set of issues that while nowhere near as distracting certainly still should have been addressed. I really feel like had this been two movies it would have been better, but the serialized format is certainly easier to digest than a four-hour origin-of-every-character smorgasbord it could have ended up as. I do believe that even if Snyder had not had to leave the project, and the studios had left him to his devices, this is STILL not the version we would have ended up with. It likely would have been close, but ultimately different enough to probably in-and-of-itself warrant its own “Snyder Cut”. While I have my gripes about this version, I still think it is an important case study of a studio listening to its fans and delivering on what they wanted. Also, a case study of the disasters that can occur when a studio interferes with a director’s vision, be it good or bad.

Filmmaking is a collaborative artform, and it is easy to forget that. While the director may have a lot of control of a project to create their vision, its important to note that so many more people play a role in the production. It can often be a battle of creative choices, compromise, and ultimately having the project taken away by your investors. All these factors combined still do not excuse a film such as the theatrical cut of Justice League from ever seeing the light of day.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading. I hope you found some insight, or enjoyment, and I wish you all the best.

Yours,

Chuck Cannon

Click the link below to watch my review of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, in our new YouTube segment Chuck’s Critique Collective, where I will be having roundtable reviews via video chat and live streaming with some friends:

https://youtu.be/A_oIrRS9JKA

Happy (?) Anniversary

This past Friday marked the one-year anniversary of “two weeks to slow the spread”. It is truly hard to believe that an entire year ago, COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic and our country began to shut down.

A week into our “Work from Home” stint, I decided to re-locate from my home in Charlotte, NC up to Virginia Beach with my girlfriend. We were heading into summer soon, at least I would be holed up near the ocean. I honestly did not think I would still be here! Call me a skeptic, but I was certain this whole situation would blow over after a week or two on lockdown, or at the very least I would be required to come back to regular office hours. Neither has happened after a full year into the pandemic.

Fortunately, the work I do has afforded me the ability to not only work 100% remote for an entire year, but to remain employed. Like most everyone else, I was now facing more free time. Simply not having a commute adds another 10 hours per week of “me time”. In the beginning, I did what I imagine most everyone else did…stay glued to the news, hoping to find a silver lining, or any bright spot in these darkest of days. I binged watched Netflix and Hulu, ultimately falling down the rabbit hole of insanity that was Tiger King. When the series was over, I then turned my sights to YouTube. It’s there that I rediscovered, in a sense, a love of filmmaking. YouTuber’s such as Peter McKinnon, Daniel Schiffer, Peter Lindgren & Chris Hau, along with countless others, caught my eye, and I was hooked! Every tutorial, every gear review, even videos talking about how they were adjusting their lives and business models to the pandemic. I decided that it had been long enough since I did anything creative, and this newfound free time might be the silver lining I was looking for in the pandemic.

So, I hunkered down and did some research. After what seemed like hours of frustration I landed on a camera and accessory bundle that would not break the bank but was good enough to start out with. If it turned out I hated it, I could live with the amount I would have wasted. Thanks, Stimulus Check!

When the Amazon package arrived, I ripped apart the boxes and excitedly rushed to start taking pictures and video. And they were all terrible. Too dark, blurry, out of focus…I was thoroughly unimpressed. It was obvious to me that getting to even the same level of photos I had been taking on my iPhone for years would take a ton of coaxing.

I had seen so much test footage and photos from this camera, the Canon EOS M50, that I was determined I could reach that same level. So, I kept at it, every photo and video I took over the next few weeks came out slightly less terrible than the last. I was slowly getting the hang of the fundamentals.

Over the weekend, I posted my first few videos to my YouTube channel in celebration of Pi Day [March 14th] I am excited to see how the channel grows, and hopefully bring some helpful tips and entertainment to those who follow. One year ago, I would have never guessed we would still be under quarantine. Hopefully in another year, I will be able to look back and say I would have never guessed my YouTube channel would take off like it has!

If you are reading this, I hope you are weathering the storm of the pandemic and want to thank you for stopping by the site. If you have not already, be sure to connect with me on social media for more content.