Gillipedia Official Rating: Joss Whedon’s Knightmare
I have to get this cleared up and out
of the way. I knew about the hashtag, and I was a nonbeliever. Not only was I
skeptical that this thing existed considering scenes had to be re-shot for the
theatrical release, I also didn’t believe it would ever happen. Lo and behold,
the internet stepped in. For those that aren’t unaware, Justice League
had a tragic production both during and after. Zack Snyder’s daughter
unfortunately committed suicide, and Zack very understandably so stepped away
from production. Joss Whedon came in, shot some new stuff, pretty sure he made
a comment that he was keeping the same tone but we all knew that was a lie, and
infamously had to digitally shave Cavill’s lip raccoon. I didn’t watch that
2-hour Justice League in theaters. I watched it about a year later in
the comfort of my home and was mildly entertained. It’s the type of film you pretty
much immediately forget. This is Zack Snyder’s Justice League. And it’s
4 hours long. Hard to forget that. It’s the same movie, but it has been
surprisingly revamped in many ways. Let’s get to it.
I truthfully don’t remember too much
about the original film, but one of my least favorite things about it was the
villain Steppenwolf. He was this bland, cgi villain without much motivation and
felt more like a simple vehicle with an army for our heroes to beat up on. Don’t
expect him to be Thanos or anything this time around, but he is most definitely
improved upon. He sports a new suit of armor, and this more imposing look
combined with introduction of Darkseid as the final boss villain helps out. So
Steppenwolf is still a bit like Thanos where he needs to get these three Mother
Boxes to combine them into one MOAB (mother of all boxes), but Darkseid is the
true Thanos.
I should also note that I was under
the impression that this was being released as a 4-part miniseries. That’s not
the case. The film is separated into 6 chapters plus an epilogue, but all 4
hours are available straight away. And to be honest, I took a couple hour break
(nap) after Part 2 and returned to finish it, and I felt that was a good
balance.
But anyways, yes, that opening with a
kid filming Superman is gone, and Snyder has said that this film is
Whedon-free. It’s also rated R this time. There’s a couple f-bombs and now a
good bit of blood splatters, but I don’t think this version really took full
advantage of the rating. There’s a cool disintegration and Wonder Woman has
some good kills, but not much else that’s notable. But that does bring me to
Wonder Woman’s first action scene early on with the terrorists. I’ve maintained
that her theme song is one of the coolest of any superhero, and the way she
beats up the baddies is exactly what I wanted to see. There were tiny glimpses
of it in WW84 like in the White House, but it’s done better here.
Out of the group of 6 superheroes, the
Flash and Cyborg benefit most from the director's cut. Instead of scenes simply being extended or
dialogue being altered, they are the ones who truly get more backstory that
acts as a backbone for the whole film. So that itself is a joy to see. What’s
not so nice is the grime behind the production. Ray Fisher has been the most
outspoken about Whedon and the other executive at DC, and good for him. Sadly,
as I understand it, Fisher’s Cyborg has been written out of the Flash movie
that is still to come. I really hope this film bridges some gaps because that’s
a movie I’d like to see.
I believe I’ve heard Snyder attribute
the length and vision of the film to The Lord of the Rings, and there is
some of the adventuring qualities that reminisce it a little, but the closest
comparison I can make to this film is Avengers Infinity War. Subtle
changes to Affleck’s Batman instills a sense of hope throughout the film as he
works with Diana Prince to assemble the league, and this film slowly grinds
through that along with Steppenwolf’s quest for the 3 boxes.
The length of this film plays into
Snyder’s self-indulgent quality of slow motion and visuals. I believe without a
doubt that this is an improvement from the rushed feel of the original, but it certainly
is quite long. The cgi didn’t look great in the first place, and I know
millions were poured into visuals for this film. What I hated most about the
original was the overall green screen feel it had, and that couldn’t really be
improved here, but the focus is more on building the story, so it’s not
something you focus on as much here. I do believe you can shave a solid 20
minutes off of this film, but for me personally, the difference between the two
films is stark enough to validate this film.
The climactic battle is also very
different. I remember 2 things from the original. First, it had that weird red
atmosphere. And second, the Flash saved that Russian family and said, “Dostoevsky!”
Neither of those things exist this go around, and the momentum leading up to
the showdown feels soooooo much more natural. There was simply no time to build
anything and properly explain exposition before.
To go back to a previous point, Batman
in this film really only uses his toys for fighting, and it makes me miss that
scene in Batman v Superman where he beat everyone up like he does in the
Arkham videogames—the closest we get here is that early scene with
Wonder Woman. But this version also gives up Superman in his black suit. I know
a little about the story with it and what it implies, but thematically and
simply aesthetically, it works. People kind of look at Man of Steel and
Zack Snyder and think of super dark and serious. Not only is this film dramatically
more consistent in its tone, it’s not all bleak either. You still have the
humor from the Flash, a more hopeful Batman, and a much more sentimental quality
among Lois Lane, Superman, and Martha. I also know that Junkie XL overhauled
the music, and the score fits the sweeping film.
There’s still a couple scenes that act
like cryptic premonitions of darker things to come. I think these are handled
better than what Marvel has done because they’re both beefier while still being
vague. The problem here is where the state of DC is now. I’m still excited for
Robert Pattinson’s Batman, but Batfleck is out. Amber Heard is out of the Aquaman
films (and to my current knowledge, thankfully so for that), no Cyborg in the
Flash film, and essentially, everything you see means nothing because it won’t
happen—at least not with this group. It both confuses and upsets me because I
don’t know where everything stands in the DCEU, but it does succeed in
reinvigorating my excitement associated with these characters and franchises.
I still can’t believe this film
actually exists. Since it’s still Justice League, I wasn’t expecting an
entirely new story that changes the whole game. But what I did get was an
overhaul that stands out way more than the 2017 mediocrity. It’s still not
perfect, and in case you didn’t know, it’s 4 hours long. You heard it here
first, folks. Despite flaws that would exist no matter what you did as well as
the length and not-so-great occasional effects, Zack Snyder’s Justice League
is way better than the studio mandated 2-hour junk we got a couple years back. I
have no idea what Joss Whedon is doing nowadays, maybe a Buffy revival
that he wants to botch. I don’t know. But if you have 4 hours of your life, you
can spend it pretty well with this film. Possibly in 2 sittings.
In
Brief:
- I watched the 2006 The Hills Have Eyes, and that’s one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. I hated it. I hated the way it was shot, it takes like 50 minutes for anything to start happening, Ted Levine got dragged into a terrible cast, and there’s an unnecessary amount of blood and gore.
- After disappointing myself by not doing Golden Globes predictions, I plan to make sure I do for the Oscars. But I’ve also not seen many of the films, so I’ll be working on that more in this coming month. The one I’m most excited to watch is Minari.
- A couple years back Netflix produced a Michael Bay film 6 Underground starring Ryan Reynolds. It has many typical Bay tropes, but it’s also extremely entertaining to watch. I was thoroughly impressed with the way Bay shot all the action and extravagant set pieces.
