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Join UsStar Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Eisenberg
Director: Zack Snyder
What’s Good: This could have easily been a 2-hour film, but Snyder choose to serve the loyal fanbase, hoping others would jump in too but will they? Let’s find out!
What’s Bad: Whatever flawed it was with the original but with few filled loopholes.
Loo Break: You need to immediately see a urologist if you don’t take a loo break in this film.
Watch or Not?: If you’ve made it so far without watching the theatrical version, skip this too. If you’re up to date with what’s what, you anyway won’t wait for my approval to watch this.
User Rating:
It all starts by laying down two parallel tracks in which superheroes, aka the defenders, aka Justice League, are trying to defend 3 ‘Mother Boxes’ from the bad guys. We lost Superman (Steve Cavill) during the battle with doomsday & since then, Batman (Ben Affleck) is wearing a lot more than a bat-suit; he’s wearing a ‘guilt armour’. Understanding the depth of the situation, he decides to team up with more of his kind.
Enters Wonder ‘killing with her looks’ Woman (Gal Gadot), a fitness freak who drinks Whiskey instead of protein shakes Aquaman (Jason Momoa), the guy who never pays his electricity bill Flash (Ezra Miller), the machine ‘heart of the film’ Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and finally, the one who is brought back from the dead, Superman (Henry Cavill). All these unite with the sole motto of not letting the bad guys Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) and Darkseid (Ray Porter) acquire all the boxes cursing death upon everyone. Well, this is the story of 2017’s Justice League, and it’s more or less the same here because the ‘devil’ (read: Joker) is in the details.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League Movie Review: Script Analysis
If you’re are here, I’m sure you know how this movie came into existence, so I won’t bother you with the backstory. Clocking at 234 minutes (approx 3 hours 54 minutes minus the credits because there’s no post-credit sequence), divided into six parts + epilogue, the first question a non-DC fan would ask is, “can I sit through till the end without taking any break?”. You don’t have to; in an interview, the director himself suggested taking a break after Part 4 because that’s technically the intermission point.
Even to adore what Snyder has done with the film, you’ll a) have to remember what exactly happened in the Justice League exactly you may be hated it b) read about the narrative he has planned to make this a ‘three-part’ Avengers-like saga. From Flash’s super-cool introductory sequence to the much-talked-about ‘Knightmare’ vision of Batman, you’ll be like Leonardo DiCaprio from that Once Upon A Time In Hollywood meme, pointing out differences from the original one.
But, are they enough to make you stay? The skeleton of the story is similar, and there’s no way that could’ve been changed. So, those who are bashing this for being the same as before, “we asked for it.” [spoiler starts] The Knightmare narrative explores a whole different timeline in which Wonder Woman, Lois Lane & probably Aquaman are dead with Supes turning to the dark side of Darkseid [spoiler ends]. The changes definitely fill many loopholes left unattended by the previous one. E.g., Lois Lane isn’t just brought as a backup to calm the furious supes down. She just happens to be at the location where he’s resurrected, mashing up nicely with what’s happening. One has to appreciate these minor details to enjoy the product as a whole. The dynamics of the heroes working together as a ‘team’ get an intriguing upgrade, smoothening the action sequences.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League Movie Review: Star Performance
Won’t waste much time because there’s hardly any major difference in acting department per se. But, due to Snyder’s polished and in-depth approach, some characters do create a long-lasting impact when you compare to what you’ve already seen. Ben Affleck finally ‘arrives’ as the Batman his fans ever wanted him to be; he may be was waiting for a signal from Zack Snyder.
Gal Gadot & Jason Momoa are the same as before. But, thankfully, Ray Fisher’s Cyborg gets its ‘heart’ at the right place. That, along with Fisher’s finely-drawn style of approaching the character, adds solidarity to his overall demeanour. Now that we’ve seen how Marvel has mashed Tom Holland’s Spidey to its universe, Ezra Miller’s Flash looks dated (which isn’t his fault the film technically is of 2017).
Henry Cavill’s Supes gets some significant changes which would have left a more substantial mark being a part of the tightly edited version. Here, Cavill’s idiosyncrasies serve well to his fans, but that’s about it.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League Movie Review: Direction, Music
More than giving his angle to the same story, Snyder uses the platform to display the opportunity DC missed after his unfortunate exit. By including Joker in the Knightmare, introducing the real motives of Martian Manhunter & Deathstroke, Snyder is clearly concreting his spot for the upcoming DC films.
Junkie XL was ‘the man’ for this movie but got replaced in Joss Whedon’s version. Back to the league, he’s here offering 54 tracks blending in bewilderingly well with Snyder’s world of superheroes. Be it highlighting Superman’s death in Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ Distant Sky or the melancholy in the Icelandic song; the music deserves to be talked more about.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League Movie Review: The Last Word
All said and done; if you go past the ‘this is a victory for Snyder’s vision’ angle, this comes with a similar fair share of flaws as the original. The silver lining is Snyder’s obstinate determination to pursue what he has aimed for.
Three stars!
Zack Snyder’s Justice League Trailer
Zack Snyder’s Justice League releases on 18th March, 2021.
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Are you a Gal Gadot fan? Read our Wonder Woman 1984 review to know why it’s worth your time.
