Worth: $14.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Henry Cavill, Jeremy Irons
Intro:
… it manages to engage a surprising amount, showcasing spectacular action and undeniably effective spectacle with a more coherent (albeit bloated) story.
In 2017, the long-awaited Justice League film was released and was a bit of a damp squib. Originally directed by Zack Snyder, who left to deal with a family tragedy, the film was finished by none other than recently-cancelled Joss Whedon. The result was a patchy, uneven mess that practically screamed “the studio had notes!”, with the two directors’ styles not meshing at all.
Soon afterwards, talk online began to circle around an alleged “Snyder Cut” of Justice League, that would fix all the problems with the film, end famine and cure baldness. The rumours began to gain traction, and then actual money, and an additional US$70 million was ponied up to deliver this once hypothetical vision of excellence.
Coming in at a beefy four hours and two minutes, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is the most Zack Snydery version of this story imaginable. If you stan Greek God-like physiques in fetishistic slow motion, surprisingly graphic violence and heavy-handed symbolism, then you are in for a treat!
Pisstakery aside, this is a much more coherent film than the Whedon/studio cut. All the characters have solid arcs, particularly Ray Fisher aka Cyborg, and the pacing is deft here, with action scenes occurring at logical moments rather than every fifteen minutes to make sure everyone’s awake.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is still far from a great film, saddled with clunky writing and slabs of exposition, but it’s a much better one than the one released in 2017. It’s also better than both of Zack’s own Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), because he allows occasional moments of light to juxtapose with his ubiquitous, colour desaturated shade.
Due to the sheer length of the bloody thing, Zack Snyder’s Justice League would never have appeared in this form at the cinema. However, as a home entertainment option, when you can pop out for a slash or a pie, it manages to engage a surprising amount, showcasing spectacular action and undeniably effective spectacle with a more coherent (albeit bloated) story.
