Finally

I can still remember when a Snyder cut seemed like a pipe dream. (Unmarked Spoilers for theatrical version)

The plot of Zack Snyder’s Justice League is more or less the same as the theatrical cut. (Emphasize on the more, because the runtime of this movie is four hours long.) Following the death of Superman/Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), evil alien Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) has come to conquer Earth in the name of Darkseid (Ray Porter). To do so, he must assemble three Mother Boxes that will allow Steppenwolf to terraform Earth into a copy of his homeworld Apokolips. The only thing standing in his way is Batman/Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), who assembles a team of powerful heroes to combat this deadly threat.

I’m not going to lie. I’m not a huge fan of Snyder. I find his work overrated, and I cannot stand 300, which is his magnum opus. So I suppose a congratulation is in order because he finally made a movie that I liked. However, the odds were kind of in his favor due to the theatrical cut lowering everyone’s expectations.

The action scenes in this are so much better. Special mention goes to Steppenwolf’s very first fight with the Amazons. This version’s pacing also marks a vast improvement over the theatrical cut, despite a couple of moments that I thought could be trimmed. For instance, after Bruce picks Barry (Ezra Miller) up, I didn’t need to see his car pull onto the highway. Or that Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) lit the signal fire with Artemis’ bow. I can trust that the Amazons have a bow that can reach the mainland. I didn’t need an explanation for that.

This version makes me realize just how badly Cyborg (Ray Fisher) got shafted during the theatrical cut. I must say, Fisher’s performance and Cyborg’s character arc are among the highlights of the film. Unfortunately, due to the Justice League reshoots issues that happened under Joss Whedon’s direction, Fisher will not be reprising his role going forward.

However, some of the problems of the theatrical version still apply here as well. Though this version does a slightly better job of fleshing the character out, Steppenwolf is still a weak villain. The bad guys’ masterplan is still disappointingly similar to the one in Man of Steel, only worse because Zod (Michael Shannon) had the depth of being a well-intentioned extremist while Darkseid’s only having Steppenwolf do it just to be a d**k. The dialogue of this movie is still terrible. That stupid Russian family’s gone, but not that Lex Luthor imposter. That the Arkham guards somehow fail to notice until it’s too late, which is almost as bad as Jesse Eisenberg still playing Lex Luthor.

A big problem that both versions share is that they failed me emotionally. Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is all depressed because of Superman’s death. Oh yes, because they had such an epic love story in the previous films, except for the part where they didn’t. The two of them have no chemistry. Batman feels so guilty over the lives that he’s failed to save, especially Superman, which is perfectly conveyed through his single facial expression. Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of Batfleck either. If I could sum up his performance in one word, it’s ‘okay.’ 

One of the most talked-about elements of this film is the return of Jared Leto as the Joker. You can tell the scene wasn’t in Snyder’s original plan because it was tacked on at the very end of the movie. While he is certainly better than he was in Suicide Squad, Leto is still the worst movie Joker. He’s dialed it back significantly, but he’s still trying way too hard. His whole scene is the Joker providing a psych analysis of Batman, which I’ve seen done so much better. Two examples that come to mind immediately are Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and Joker, the graphic novel by Brian Azzarello.

Before the credits roll, we get the caption ‘For Autumn.’ This refers to Snyder’s daughter Autumn, whose suicide led to him stepping down from completing the theatrical version for those of you who don’t know. The song that plays over the end credits, “Hallelujah,” was her favorite song. It’s a touching part of the film. At this point, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to Snyder and his family. No one should have to go through something like that.

Snyder fans should be satisfied with this cut of the film, as should a general moviegoing audience. He has no plans to make any more DC films at this time but also indicates that he wouldn’t be opposed to making more. We’ll just have to wait and see, especially given how much of the epilogue lays sequel foundation.