Is the Snyder Cut worth watching?
Zack Snyder’s four-hour version of Justice League is out now…
★★★★☆
Determined to ensure Superman’s ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne aligns forces with Diana Prince with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. (IMDb)
The “Snyder Cut” of Justice League makes for a fascinating contrast with the original release of the film. It’s not often we get to see such a different take on something we’ve already watched. The story behind the release of this director’s cut is long, complicated and messy. The film is now here, and it came about for both good and bad reasons. It’s hard to ignore the role that some of Zack Snyder’s most toxic and abusive fans had in applying the pressure for its release. But the Snyder Cut is also the result of a campaign to see the director’s vision finally realised, after the tragic death of his daughter during filming. It’s worth noting that members of that same raging fanbase also raised over $250,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
So, this is both the product of fan-driven harassment and the result of a genuine desire to see the authentic Justice League that never made it to the big screen.
A troubled production
Back in 2017, Joss Whedon came in to finish the film in a rushed six months. He cut out the majority of Snyder’s material and, as we can now see, changed the plot in drastic ways. Cyborg actor Ray Fisher also accused Whedon of abusive and inappropriate behaviour on set, and he’s been backed up by not only his co-stars but many actors who have worked with Whedon over the years. Ultimately, the completed film — the “Whedon Cut” — felt like a tiny bit of a step in the right direction for DC after the dour and humourless Batman v Superman, but it was also clearly a “Franken-movie” with jarring tonal shifts and aimless pacing. It’s such a mess that it’s proven to be forgettable in the years since it came out.
#ReleasetheSnyderCut
It didn’t take long for fans to rally around the idea of releasing “the Snyder cut” despite it being clear that the director’s original take on the movie was very unfinished and would require reshoots and a lot of visual effects work. So while we now finally have the finished movie and it’s far better the first version of Justice League, it’s important to remember this material wasn’t just sitting on the cutting room floor. It’s estimated that it cost more than $30 million to get this completed and Snyder himself acknowledges that it’s more “an entirely new thing” than a director’s cut.
What is different about the Snyder Cut?
A huge amount. Basically everything is different when it comes to comparing the Snyder Cut and the version of this film that we saw in cinemas. On a basic level, it has a less saturated colour grade and a thumping score from Thomas Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL, who was replaced by Danny Elfman for the 2017 release), so it feels like a different movie. With a running time of four hours, it’s also over twice as long as the Whedon Cut and includes loads of extended scenes or scenes you haven’t seen before. And it’s divided into six chapters, so it has a very different pace. It delivers backstories for more characters, motivation for its villain, connections to a universe of films we’ll likely never see, and far more R-rated action.
It has consistent themes and a plot that largely makes sense too. It’s worth saying that while the bare bones of this exist in Whedon’s version, this has so much more material that it really is a whole new story too. All of this adds up to making it a more coherent film, and a much more enjoyable one too. Even if you’ve not liked Snyder’s filmmaking in the past or aren’t a fan of Batman v Superman, this is considerably better than that and a fitting culmination of the director’s DC superhero series.
Is Zack Snyder’s Justice League better?
Yes, this is a better film than the one released in 2017 — now that this one exists, it’s unlikely fans will ever revisit the theatrical cut. The main reason it’s such an improvement is that it’s so much more understandable and dedicated to telling character-driven stories. Many of the members of the titular superhero team could’ve done with a movie setting up their stories beforehand, but at least the four-hour Snyder Cut expands the roles for every one of the main cast members.
The original version of Justice League didn’t do justice (pun intended) to Ray Fisher’s Victor Stone/Cyborg, and that’s rectified here. He now has a full backstory that makes his character the emotional backbone of the film, and his performance is one of the strongest ones here. The same is true for Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen/Flash, who gets more to do, and for Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). This cut of the film is also better for Ben Affleck, who shows off a greater range as Bruce Wayne and Batman, and feels more essential to the plot.
“In the shorter version, you got a snapshot of who they were,” producer Deborah Snyder said in an interview. “In order for their arcs to be completed you have to understand what their conflicts were, what they went through to finally become the heroes that we see at the end of the movie.”
The first film felt disjointed and was based around humour that didn’t fit with the material Snyder had filmed. It rushed the introduction of the heroes and gave us a villain with barely any motivation. The new one fixes all those issues and more. The story now has a thematic heart, with every key character wrestling with grief or loss in some way, and it gets us more invested in their journeys. The villain Steppenwolf (voiced by Ciarán Hinds) is more imposing and has a story that makes more sense. There’s a lot more history that makes this world more interesting, and this feels like a film that has far more of a point of view.
There’s a lot that’s still messy about the Snyder Cut
It’s definitely still not perfect, though. Some of the setup for future movies is awkward, and that goes for most of the epilogue scenes too. It’s not as scattershot at the 2017 one, but the narrative still doesn’t flow as well as it could. Like many Snyder films, it’s stuffed full of slow motion, and it isn’t always all that necessary. It’s important to say that while it’s a big improvement and much more comprehensible, it can’t help but be a bit messy and overstuffed. It’s a better version of the film we saw over three years ago, but that doesn’t automatically mean it doesn’t have some of the same issues.
And, ultimately, it’s difficult to argue that this needs to be four hours long. It feels like an exercise in excess and, yes, it can feel a bit bloated. The issue was never that the Whedon Cut was shorter, it was in what the studio and director chose to cut, reshoot and alter. In the end, it’s galling that what was excised from the first cut was most of the story for its Black characters, most of Wonder Woman’s strongest scenes, all nuance and complexity, and everything unique and weird about the film. Now that all that is back in the picture, it’s immediately more interesting and more likely to hold your attention.
Where to watch the Snyder Cut
Fans in the UK can stream Zack Snyder’s Justice League on Sky Cinema and Now. If you’re worried about how long it is, I’d recommend taking breaks between each of the six chapters.
Stray thoughts
- There is so much more screen time for Cyborg, the Flash, and Aquaman in the Snyder Cut — Ray Fisher really is excellent and it’s such a shame that he’s been removed from a planned future appearance in the Flash movie
- Believe it or not, Steppenwolf has a proper character arc in this version as essentially middle management for the big DC villain Darkseid — he’s now a tragic figure trying to win the respect of someone who barely thinks or cares about him, and the story may even make you feel a little bit sorry for him
- Henry Cavill’s digitally-erased moustache is nowhere to be seen
- Whedon added loads of quips that didn’t make sense for these characters, and without them, the movie can still be fun but each character feels more distinct in terms of personality and humour
- The climactic battle is completely different and far better in the new version too — because it’s rated R, there’s far more blood and violence too
Need to know
Running time: 4 hours and 2 minutes
Director: Zack Snyder
Writers: Zack Snyder, Chris Terrio, Will Beall
Stars: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Connie Nielsen, Diane Lane, J.K. Simmons, Ciarán Hinds, Amber Heard
Verdict
It’s actually good, even if it doesn’t need to be four hours long. It’s far more coherent and enjoyable than the theatrical release.
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