Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Alternative cuts to films do not exist in a vacuum, they exist in proximity to what came before. There is no Richard Donner cut of Superman II without the Richard Lester rendition. The dueling cuts of Stazione Termini by Vittorio De Sica without its U.S. counterpart Indiscretion of an American Wife overseen by David O. Selznick. Francis Ford Coppola’s many alternative cuts, most recently offering forward Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. Or pretty much every every film Zack Snyder has ever directed.

1222 days ago, I wondered if the theatrical cut of Justice League was “bad”

No, but that doesn’t mean it is good either. It never gets the chance to become more than what it is: a big, standard, hollow F/X film actively trying not to be bad and stay under 120 minutes.

How does this new four-hour version, split into 8 sequences (prologue, epilogue Part 1-6), compare? Original director Zack Snyder’s vision for Justice League isn’t trying to be anything but itself and that willingness makes for an immensely more engaging film. On a basic technical level the new color grading on this film, removing all the garish, oversaturated colors (most notably the red filter during the film’s final action sequence) with something that fit the lighting and hard shadows that cinematographer Fabian Wagner used makes for a more enjoyable viewing experience.

This new version of the film deviates in three significant ways.

Instead of being presented in a more standard widescreen aspect ratio it is displayed at 1.33:1, on most screens that means black bars on the left and right of the screen. As a viewing experience this was fine, I found it oddly focusing afterwhile, but I’m also used to watching stuff on Criterion Channel. More importantly Snyder and Wagner composed their shots with this ratio in mind, so everything looks spectacular. Please do not change your display settings and cut off the picture in the process.

The other major technical deviation that has gotten lots of attention is the runtime of 242 minutes or 4 hours and 2 minutes. The same runtime as Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet from 1996. While some have disregarded it as excessive and needless, or a sign of streaming bloat, in practice it feels like the synthesis of old and the new distribution strategies. Putting this cut out in theaters just wouldn’t happen in today’s context, but there was a time when roadshow theatrical screenings existed. The blockbuster musicals of the 60s are the primary modern example of this, it was the initial distribution plan for Richard Donner’s Superman – a film composed of Superman I and II. The existence of this cut of the film is also entirely due to the technological and economic shifts involving streaming. There is no economic motive for Warner Bros. to put this out if it wasn’t for HBOMax. In the world of streaming spending $70 million dollars and some marketing money for what will eventually be 8 hours and 4 minutes’ worth of novel content, once the black and white Justice is Grey edition is released, makes all the sense in the world. In a world where Netflix has made binging content a mode of viewing, why not let it be four hours long. The film has chapter markers for each of the 6 parts on the timeline for easier viewing. I watched it over the course of two nights, but my Dad stayed up the whole night and watched it in one shot.

The film is also rated ‘R’ by the MPAA, but like most things MPAA related it helps to expose their farcical nature. Justice League is a pretty soft ‘R’ due to a pair of effective ‘F’ bombs and some blood splatter. There isn’t egregious gore just the recognition that when you throw someone up against a stone wall hard enough that they leave an indentation there should be some red ink left over and Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) has a giant electro axe that cuts things. The recognition of bodily fluids helps put the lie to PG-13’s violent non-violence and acceptability. Snyder justified this decision saying “If you don’t address the actual violence as violence, to me, you’re lowering the stakes on all levels. If the superhero smashes the car, and the whole car explodes, and you just see the guy kind of crawl out of the wreckage, and you’re like, oh okay, it’s still PG-13, the fact you don’t show the blood is a technicality. The violence is still there. I want a true depiction of the violence. I don’t want to sugarcoat it.”

I would caution expecting Zack Snyder’s Justice League to be a brooding fest of darkness because of this R-rating. Mostly because that characterization of Snyder’s oeuvre misses the real delicate character work that goes on them and the continual interrogation of myth-making. Just because he uses these characters to ask large existential questions in a stylistic manner doesn’t make him the Gen-X meathead people assume him to be. Snyder’s Justice League is likely second to Man of Steel as his least ironic film. Outside of the history lesson about Darkseid’s pre-historical invasion of Earth, there isn’t many reflexive elements like the rest of his films.

If Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – The Ultimate Edition was “deconstruction” (though I agree with Kieron Gillen if you start with deconstruction, it’s not actually that it’s just construction) – consider Justice League reconstruction. The previous film was a meditation on the modern world and how media interfaces create bubbles and shallow, if not false, perceptions. Justice League turns back the clock into pre-History and positing the superhero as a figure has always been around and amongst human culture. It’s not too dissimilar to M. Night Shyamalan work in the

Eastrail 177 Trilogy, except realized in a very Zack Snyder manner of the film fantasy epic. Along with its run time the scale and grandeur Snyder and his crew deliver pushes the film closer to generic and stylistic territory occupied by Excalibur and The Lord of the Rings trilogy than a traditional superhero film. Like most Western fantasy, Snyder’s Justice League is a film that is ultimately about the value of multiculturalism and need to work together. In case anyone missed the condemnation of xenophobia in the last film. Diana(Gal Gadot) works through some of her own assumptions about Arthur Curry(Jason Momoa) throughout the film. One of the largest differences between the cuts is how Zack Snyder’s Justice League inputs and expands on pretty much every person of color’s presence in the film compared to the erasure seen in Justice League (2017).

Both this cut and the theatrical cut, broadly follow the same basic plot: As Bruce Wayne tries to recruit members of the Justice League, they get caught up in a macguffin chase built around a trio of Mother Boxes hunted by Steppenwolf. Both films feature action sequences underneath Stryker’s Island and eventually having a final shown in Chernobyl-esque Russian ghost city. Those similarities help to reveal the fundamental differences in each version of film. Mainly that one of them actually has a story it is telling instead of devolving into a shallow plot film. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is plot driven, but it takes it’s time building it up as it crisscrosses the cast introducing the remaining members of the titular league: Arthur Curry, Barry Allen(Ezra Miller) and Victor Stone(Ray Fisher)vbefore returning to another Motherbox heist by STeppenwolf. All receive introductions that continues the motif Snyder started in Man of Steel of treating these superheroes as modern folk heroes. The first 90 minutes might have the most narrative jumps but it sets up pay offs for hours three and four.

For years I’d heard that Victor Stone was the supposed “heart” of this movie. In this one he is. His abilities are beautifully realized in largely silent sequence from Part 3 Beloved Son, Beloved Mother. Ray Fisher gives an excellent performance as a man dealing with anger at his Father and his new way of being under a bunch of digital make up. When the original slate of films for the DCEU was announced Cyborg was one of them and it seemed unspectacular. After watching this performance, I wholeheartedly would want to see more of this version of the character. That seems unlikely given Fisher’s anger at apparent mistreatment by Joss Whedon during reshoots.

Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen was just kind of there as whispy comedic relief and tool for Whedon’s misogyny. He still fits the role of comedic relief in this film, but it is more understated and plainly more effective. The comedic moments in this film in general are effective as they mix Snyder’s penchant for visual gags and the obscure with some solid zingers. Like Stone, Barry gets an actual arc to go on that leads to one of the most stunning effective expressions of his power I’ve ever seen. The irony is, that sequence perfectly sets up the soon to be produced Flashpoint film. Considering how both James Wan and Patty Jenkins both ignored Justice League(2017), Aquaman featured a reference to this film, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Muschietti’s choose to recognize Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

One of the clearest differences in this cut involves Steppenwolf, who looks completely different. This was his original more monstrous and alien form; he is still a large CGI monster but is plainly more visually interesting. The reactive spikey armor helps to create an emotive body language and their reflective potential make for interesting examples of lighting. The decision to give him these large eyes is a similarly good change, because in this version the character actually has a motivation. Highlighting the fact this film does the absolute basics of Western dramaturgy feels trite, but it’s amazing what happens when you know what a character wants. In a single scene they explain his relationship to Darkseid(Ray Porter) and turn him into an emotional character instead of the Final Fantasy PS3 villian who droned on about “Mother” for no reason at all.

I’ve yet to run the numbers but I’m very curious to find out what the average shot length is in this film comes out to as Snyder and editor Dody Dorn take a very considered pace. Wagner’s cinematography is composed of copious tilting pans and medium tracking shots as the camera takes us on a journey following the action in a process driven manner. Due to the constraints of reshoots the action sequences are largely the same, save for the introductions of Barry Allen and Victor Stone, but they are extended and flow better. The second half of Steppenwolf’s arrival is an excellent chase sequence that narrates coherent spatial relationships. That same quality is found in the extended Stryker’s Island set piece and so on. Looking back at sequences from Justice League(2017) and comparing them, it is akin to comparing the bar fight in the dueling cuts to Daredevil(2003) where one had incomprehensible editing to create “action” and the other captured the action.

Watching Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a journey to an Elseworld, a potential scenario where this (or something like this) was actually released into theaters instead of what we initially received. It also highlights what Warner Bros. has done best with their DC properties: letting directors and collaborators put their own unique spin on things. Their film slate is richer by having this stand next to Birds of Prey, whatever Reeve’s Batman film looks like, and so on. It has the guts to not be everyone’s cup of tea and in the largely bland space of superhero blockbusters that’s worth appreciating. I don’t particularly feel the need to immediately put it back on, but I don’t just throw The Dark Knight or any of the Lord of the Rings films on either. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is an enjoyable journey of a viewing experience and with streaming distribution it’s one the user has control of.