What I’m watching: the new ‘Justice League’ movie

Date: 3/29/2021

Streaming on HBO Max: Zack Snyder’s “Justice League”
 
Director Zack Snyder’s cut of “The Justice League” film – the movie he shot for a 2017 release that was recreated by a different director – is a landmark production in movie history.

Never before has a studio decided to indulge fans by funding and releasing a feature film for which they clamored; especially at the cost of $70 million.

I’m sure many of you have seen the news stories and publicity that preceded the release of the film on the streaming service. In a nutshell, Snyder, who has completed two other DC superhero films, left this production because of a suicide in his family. Warner Bros. then turned the production over to director Joss Whedon who kept much of the original story but reshot the film, changing Snyder’s original vision.

Fans, learning the Snyder footage existed, started a successful campaign for Warners to release “the Snyder cut.”

The film still needed much work, including additional of computer animation and the price tag amounted to $70 million, a staggering cost that, nonetheless, studio execs must have felt was justified.

It has attracted a lot of attention to the new start-up service HBO Max and I’m sure it has boosted subscription rates.

Before I write about the film, I have to admit that Snyder is not one of my favorite filmmakers. I went into the four-hour film with a fair amount of apprehension.

Much to my surprise I actually liked the film. No one was more shocked than me.

The new version follows the plot of the 2017 film, but the backstory for both The Flash and Cyborg are fleshed out much more to the improvement of the story. And while The Flash (Ezra Miller) still carries a little of the comic relief, he isn’t the idiot he was in the previous film.

Another major change is the film’s villain Steppenwolf isn’t the main villain: Darkseid, his boss, is the real threat. Steppenwolf is a minion, really, a middle manager of sorts trying to redeem his position with Darkseid by retrieving the three Mother Boxes, ancient and rather inexplicable sources of energy.

Batman (Ben Affleck) must assemble a group of heroes, which includes resurrecting Superman from his grave. The first film has too many scenes in which the members of the group (no one calls them the Justice League of America, by the way) bicker and fight. The new film cuts these interactions down substantially.

One thing Snyder did was incredible casting. Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Henry Cavill and Jason Momoa are darn near perfect. I’m still not keen on Miller, but he is better in this film. Supporting performances such as Diane Lane, Amy Fisher and J.D. Simmons are also on the money.

Where the film has some problems is in Snyder’s use of slow motion with one person actually timing them to determine they comprise 10 percent of the film. Another issue revolved around several scenes that don’t’ move the plot forward and take up time. One of them is definitely designed as what I call a “fanboy squeal” moment. My biggest problem with Snyder’s films is his self-indulgence and including these scenes is an example of that.

The epilogue is also frustrating as it sets up several more sequels, none of which will ever be made. I’m not sure what the point of this was, except Snyder was given carte blanche to do what he wanted to do and that’s what he did.

Most of this film is actually a pretty satisfying view, especially if you have seen most of the other films based on the characters from DC comics. I know it will be compared to “The Avengers” series, although they are both very different films – apples and oranges.

So, if the four-hour running time is daunting, Snyder has conveniently broken the film down into chapters. Watch what you can in one sitting and finish it up later