A brief history of The Snyder Cut of Justice League;
Ever since Zack Snyder left the movie due to a family tragedy in early 2017, only months before the planned release of the movie in November of that year, Joss Whedon was brought on-board by Warner Brothers to essentially make a movie exactly as the studio wanted it to be. Which was a lot more brightly coloured, more humour, lighter mood instead of the dark theme that Man of Steel and Batman v Superman set for this universe. But most importantly, a maximum of 2 hours run time. Which is laughable when you need to introduce (from scratch) 3 main heroes, a main villain, and resurrect a previously deceased hero... It's literally TOO MUCH for 2 hours. Which the 2017 Theatrical Cut of "Josstice League" as some call it, proves, as it is so rushed from scene to scene...
Luckily, there were many, and I mean loads, of fans out there who were willing to go extreme lengths to get Warner Brothers to release a Director's Cut of the film, called "The Snyder Cut". They started a movement, made fan-cuts of the film, put up billboard in cities, put up banners at comic-con, wrote letters to the studio explaining how good this Director's cut would be...
Zack Snyder meanwhile, was teasing fans with concept arts that are vastly different to the 2017 Theatrical Cut.
I for one, was really routing for this cut to come out, but it seemed like it would never become a reality, sadly.
Then; in early 2020, rumours were going around (a lot) about there being a very good chance that this "Snyder Cut" might actually come out, and in March of that year, it was officially confirmed that it is happening!
I was blown away, and shocked that it will actually become a reality, where Zack, who loves his work on these DC Comics adaptations, would be able to bring his original vision to life, for all of us to see!
My spoiler-free review;
This 4-hour epic is more of an event rather than a film. Although it feel like a 2 and 1/2 hour film when you watch it, it doesn't drag at any point...
If you like superhero movies (not just for stuff blowing up every 5 minutes) you'll adore this film! It has such a good story driven core with plenty of humour, which actually works, unlike in the 2017 Cut, well written characters, plenty of fan service filled action, as well as for the average sci-fi/superhero loving movie goer!
I'd recommend at least watching Batman v Superman first, at least, if not Man of Steel too before that, to fully appreciate this masterpiece!
I'd give this an 9/10.
Some may find the highly irregular aspect ratio weird (1:33:1 or 4:3) which is the same aspect ratio used for full IMAX screens, but also older TV shows, which will be odd to watch at home, as it will result in black bars on the left and right of the screen, as opposed to top and bottom, like with regular cinematic widescreen displayed on a home TV (16:9).
The main changes to point out, compared to 2017's (Josstice League) Cut:
- An extra 2 hours of runtime.
- All the characters now have proper introductions and back stories.
- Colours aren't super saturated, so they look more suited to this darker themed universe.
- Steppenwolf is actually menacing, to look at, and as a character.
- Scenes aren't rushed.
- The score (by Junkie XL) is very suiting.
- We see more of the main villain(s) behind the scenes.
- We see our heroes at their peak performance.
- The villains and their minions are menacing, as opposed to throw-away TV show villains.
- A lot of heavy spoiler stuff I don't want to mention!
And finally, I'd like to thank the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement for getting this movie released, as it should have been from day one!
I regret not being apart of it unfortunately, all I can do now, is pay to see this movie, which I did, and thank the people who made it happen.
And thank you Zack Snyder, for making one of the best superhero movies, ever made!
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