Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) – Movie Review
He’s back
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is finally here, and it was epic. Even with the four hour runtime, I was ready for even more, and not once during the movie did I think any scene was unnecessary or should have been cut.
For those of you on the fence thinking it’s just the same movie but longer, Zack Snyder’s Justice League was leaps and bounds better than the original (AKA Josstice League). In some instances, less is more, but this was not one of those instances. I remember seeing the original Justice League and leaving the theater thinking it was just OK and that something was missing. Yes, this version is longer, but it also fulfilled Snyder’s vision of the movie and filled many of the plot holes the original had; plot holes that I wasn’t completely aware of before but now seem glaringly obvious.
The biggest improvement to the film for me was that we got more screen time for all the characters. Before, we only had two and a half hours and that simply wasn’t enough to build an emotional connection to the newer additions. Now, we got to see Cyborg’s origin, including his accident and more about his relationship with his father. We got to see more of Barry Allen’s backstory and an awesome slo-mo scene (that may or may not have included flying wieners). Just by giving him more screen time, Flash went from being my least favorite character to one of my favorites. We even saw more of Steppenwolf and his motivations for retrieving the Mother Boxes instead of him just being another generic villian.
What disappoints me most, however, is knowing that we aren’t going to see what comes next. The movie perfectly sets up a follow-on that we are most likely never going to see. I’m glad Snyder got to do his movie justice but it feels like the story is ending too soon and we are being left hungry for more. I want more time to explore these characters further. I want to see more about Darkseid and the Anti-Life equation, and what happened to Lois Lane that leads to Batman’s Knightmare sequence. Alas, it is not meant to be. But who knows? The fans willed the Snyder Cut into existence and three years later, here we are. Never say never.
Overall, I was a big fan of Zack Snyder’s Justice League and would rate it 4 ½ / 5 stars. Going into the movie, I wasn’t sure how different it would really be, I just knew it couldn’t be any worse. And boy was I in for a treat. This chapter of the story was finally complete and actually made sense in this version. And even though this isn’t a movie I’ll be rewatching too often, I am grateful we got a complete movie that delivered on Snyder’s vision and did the characters and story justice.
The movie is available only on HBO Max and I’d highly recommend giving it a shot. It’s even split up into chapters that make for good stopping points for an optimal at-home viewing experience.