One Mann’s Movies review of Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021).
Bob the Movie Man’s Rating:
Plot Summary:
In Zack Snyder’s much-discussed director’s cut of “Justice League”, Superman (Henry Cavill) is dead (post the events of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice“) and a grieving Lois Lane (Amy Adams) can’t move on. Even Martha Kent (Diane Lane) has had the family farm repossessed. But the world is in deadly danger due to the work of Steppenwolf and his army of parademons. They are trying to reunite three ‘Mother Boxes’, previously hidden on earth. If joined and synchronized they will form ‘The Unity’, creating a gateway for Steppenwolf’s boss – Darkseid – to arrive and control the universe by invoking the “anti-life equation” (basically lockdown 3!).
Only the Justice League’s combined talents might be enough to stop them – but Batman (Ben Affleck) is having trouble in getting Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) to work together. And even then, they reckon they might be a man short!
Facing the big bad – Darkseid. (Source: DC Entertainment).
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Diane Lane, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons.
Directed by: Zack Snyder.
Written by: Chris Terrio (based on a story by Chris Terrio, Zach Snyder and Will Beall).
Zack Snyder directs Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot. (Source: DC Entertainment).
Review:
Positives:
- Well – it’s so much better than the original 2017 version of “Justice League”, but then that’s not saying much! (I realise that I never did a review for that movie, which I saw on a transatlantic flight – – I put the whole incoherent mess down to my jetlag. But no…. it really was an incoherent mess!).
- In the Snyder cut, we gain a much broader introduction to all of the main characters, especially to Barry Allen (the Flash) – in a very entertaining pet shop interview scene – and Victor Stone (Cyborg). And Steppenwolf gets more air time to flesh out his character.
- The story I find very similar to the Marvel equivalent: with Darkseid = Thanos; boxes = stones; Avengers = Justice League! But the story is at least now coherent and flows well. Its action set pieces, especially the ultimate defeat of Steppenwolf (nice decap!), are exciting.
- Some of the distracting scenes (the trapped family in the Russian ruins is a key example) have been excised from this version, making for a significant improvement.
We VERY NEARLY – but not quite – find out what Wonder Woman wears under that skirt. (Source: DC Entertainment).
Negatives:
- I’m with Mark Kermode in being a little bit mystified by all of the rave 5* reviews for this one. By anyone’s imagination, a run time of 242 minutes is over-indulgent.
- Although the epilogue scene, featuring Jared Leto’s Joker and a Batman f-bomb, is entertaining, it actually adds nothing to the exposition and could have been dropped to reduce the bladder-testing run time.
- That 4:3 screen ratio! JUST WHY SNYDER, WHY? There’s one scene in particular, where all six members of the Justice League line up in the sunset to dramatic swelling music. The screen ratio forces Snyder to film it at a 60 degree angle to get them all in! “Galaxy Quest” intelligently used three different screen ratios, to great visual effect. So I could perhaps understand it if the ‘flashback’ scenes had been 4:3 and the rest in 16:9. But as it is, the usage is gimmicky, making (imho) no sense for a big fantasy spectacle like this.
- The Junkie XL (as Thomas Holkenborg) soundtrack I’m afraid did nothing for me.
That ‘all in a line’ shot I referred to…. this one. (Source: DC Entertainment)
Summary thoughts:
It’s a film, for sure. Is it a watchable film now… hmm, yes just about. And it has scenes which indeed are highly entertaining. But you should know by now my view on movies that extend beyond 90 minutes… they need to justify that delta running time. And by outstaying this target by another 90 minutes… and then by ANOTHER 62 minutes borders on taking the piss. It’s not bloody Shakespeare!
Trailer:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM-Bja2Gy04.
