Oh my lord. Where do I even begin. After what was released back in 2017, I didn’t think we were going to see Zack’s true vision for Justice League. But after months and months of campaigning, fans finally won and were promised a full release of the Snyder cut. Let me tell you….like the title of this article says. It does not disappoint. Mild spoilers ahead.
First of all, the movie is just over 4 hours long. This surprised me because usually these days I can’t sit through full long movies or shows because my attention span is getting shorter and I get bored easily. But right from the get go, you’re sucked into a much deeper universe. We see Superman get stabbed by Doomsday (from Batman vs Superman) and his scream of agony echoes across the world. From Atlantis to Themyscira, the whole world heard him dying. That immediately had me hooked and I knew I was in for an incredible ride. Every “part” is a more detailed look at each of the characters; what happened after Superman died, where they were, what they’re doing and how they came to join the Justice League. None of this was even seen in the original movie. Personally getting a glimpse into their life gives me hope that we’ll get a solo movie from them, such as Cyborg and The Flash. Hopefully this is a starting point for them and we do get to see a movie for them in the future.
Let me talk briefly about the CGI. If anything, it’s 1000% better than the first Justice film. Steppenwolf’s entire appearance is different from the first film where he looked more human-ish than he does in the Snyder cut. Personally I think he looks absolutely fantastic in the second film. He looked too human in Whedon’s version and that made me uncomfortable for some reason. Steppenwolf isn’t human to begin with. So why did they make him look that way in the first movie? But anyways. Moving right along. The change in Steppenwolf was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the CGI. My favorite (and probably the favorite of many others as well) was NO CGI ON SUPERMAN’S UPPER LIP. I literally cheered when I saw a natural lipped Clark appear on my screen. We all know how atrocious he looked in Whedon’s movie (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re better off not knowing. It…..was terrible). His mouth didn’t even look real when he spoke. In the Snyder cut, our man is CGI free and looks much more natural than he did before. In fact, Whedon did Superman so dirty in his film that I pretend his version of Justice League doesn’t even exist. Life is much easier that way. But overall, the team did an incredible job with the CGI and there’s not enough praise in the world for them for all the hard work they put into this movie. I could go on and on about the phenomenal CGI but there are other points of interests to talk about.
There is one thing in particular I want to point out (mild-ish spoiler ahead. It doesn’t give away any major plot points. Just want to talk about it for a minute). Why on earth was the Martian Manhunter removed from the first movie? I know he didn’t really do much in Snyder’s version but dang. That was a huge shock for me when he appeared on screen. I’m thankful he didn’t look as goofy as he does on the CW’s Supergirl (oof….). Again, the CGI is clean and he looks really good. In addition to Martian Manhunter, we see many other familiar characters that I won’t speak of because it’s a nice little surprise. Hopefully this is a setup for a future film.
Lastly, the end credits was both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Snyder backed out of the movie the first time due to personal reasons, and the credits gives a dedication to his daughter who passed away during the time of filming. The song that played throughout the credits made me cry. All four hours of this movie was for his little girl. Every moment of it. I’d like to think that she would’ve been so proud of it too.
If you’re interested in watched Zack Snyder’s Justice League, check online to see where the movie is available in your country. I watched it on Crave but if you’re in the US then you can see it on HBO Max. If you’re outside North America, you’ll have to check to see where you can watch this amazing film. You won’t regret it.
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