REVIEW #17 JUSTICE LEAGUE - The Snyder Cut (2021)

It’s finally landed!

Justice League The Snyder Cut is Zack Snyder’s version of the 2017 film, which was as a result of a fan frenzy campaign to bring the true version of this film to the screen after a failed attempt by Joss Whedon.  

Bruce Wayne (Batman) recruits a team to protect the earth in response to a message from a future Barry Allen warning him of a doomed world to come. Formed in the honour of the late Clark Kent, AKA Superman, the team work tirelessly to stop the newly awakened threat. The film features heroes such as Batman, Wonder Women, Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg and Superman, even including a sneak peak at another original justice league member from the comics! 

CAST & THE ACTING 

The cast includes Ben Affleck as The Batman, Gal Gadot portraying Wonder Women, Jason Momoa playing Aquaman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg and Ezra Miller as The Flash. I think each actor is perfectly casted to each of their characters and that’s why I have given such a high score. I have seen a lot of criticism about Affleck as Batman but I think he was great and believe it can compete with Christopher Bale’s version for sure, these are two very different versions of Batman and we can appreciate the greatness of both of them. There is so many extra scenes in this and I believe the acting shown was much better than the original, the focus was taken off of the comedy and more of the depth of the characters which I believed made the more comical scenes actually more effective. 

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

I absolutely loved the 4 hours long Snyder Cut, we saw the plot built up by longer character arcs which gave the audiences a better understanding of these characters. This version saw the storyline play out naturally in contrast to the 2017 version which seemed so rushed from start to finish. The ending here was miles better and the extra characters that are introduced combined with the extra content just was so good to watch. It really set up a sequel and after hearing Snyder talk about his original plans for a trilogy in an interview, I really hope we get it because it sounds like something that can truly compete with the Marvel films! From what I can tell, it also links in well for the upcoming flash film that we all have heard so much about! 

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

I have given a very high score here because I just feel the small changes made by Snyder were outstanding, slight colour changes in the visuals to make it slightly darker, new battle scenes where the special effects were perfect. Even the music used to compliment some of the scenes which was sort of like choir vocals, which worked so well! The special effects were good in the original too, I have to highlight that but I do think it was just an upgrade across the board.

OVERALL (10/10)

Some may disagree with me here but I just felt like a kid again watching this film, the little surprises throughout were just so exciting! Especially the ending, it really changed from the original and I don’t want to give anything away so I’ll keep quiet but I just loved it! It’s got me praying that Zack Snyder is given the opportunity to put his plans for the trilogy in place because it will only get better from here! I would suggest everyone watch this, if you’re a DC fan you will love the extra characters that pop up. It is a 4 hour run time, but I love a long film and would happily welcome more films with a similar run time. If you struggle with this just break it down and treat it like a series but just watch it!

Callan