I liked it. For a non-comicbook reader like myself, I advise you to watch the following DC films in this exact order: Suicide Squad, Man of Steel, Batman vs Superman, Shazam, and the 2017 cut of Justice League before watching #TheSnyderCut. Mild spoilers and opinions that might bruise you are in this article.
Oh #TheSnyderCut. I am one to admit, I have never been a complete nerd on comic books. But, in my modest collection of books at home, you will find one or two Superman comics that my brother might have stashed for us to read, and of course my twin sister’s reverence for Batman (she has always had a penchant for the caped crusader). We were born in the 90s so for sure my view of Batman was always honored in Batman: The Animated Series (which ran from 1992 to 1995), and of course Tim Burton’s Batman with Michael Keaton (which in my book is still the best one to ever portray the Dark Knight in film). And then of course, Christopher Reeve in Richard Donnen’s Superman films will forever be the pillar to what The Man of Steel should always look and feel like onscreen. But as the Los Angeles Times’s television critic Robert Lloyd has put it, Superman will always be best in TV. Our 00’s are forever in tune with Smallville and how Tom Welling’s interpretation of the young Clark Kent should always look like. I guess what we can all agree upon is the complicated mess these two heroes always found themselves in, magnified by the fact that they will always be put side to side as either friend or potential foe, is both an entertaining feat to read and see onscreen. My first recollection of Justice League was through Cartoon Network’s Justice League which was a sequel to Batman: The Animated Series and included Hawk Girl and Green Lantern. It was swift with dialogue and was funny yet dark, something viewers my age back then would grasp as an entirely DC comic, unlike Marvel comic shows back then that were either cheesy or too funny.
So where do we leave ourselves in when we view of Zack Snyder’s DCEU? I have rewritten this review many more times than I could as I do not want to sound as pretentious as one reviewer (who insists he’s the super fan among us all, what a prick— should he or she ever exist) might be when they view of all the films in the DCEU (short for Detective Comics Extended Universe). I would also want to remind you that these comic book film franchise are in the same business as show business. It’s a business. So whether we all liken it to an endless carousel in a theme park, as one Martin Scorsese might put it, it will always be there. It might be gone once more in the future, it may come back once again, but it will always be there as a means to entertain, for sure.
Based on internet research, Superman first came into light in Action Comics, June 1938. The Justice League first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #28 in March 1960, and it consisted of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martan Manhunter so as to renew the Silver Age of Comic Books which ran from 1956 to 1970. And just like today’s interest in comic book films, back in the day there was a rage of releases from both DC and Marvel to a slew of comicbook fans worldwide. Which is why it had the Golden, Silver, and Bronze ages. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if, as what movies are truly like — a form of escapism than just food for thought — the surge of DC films would come in the next few years. It’s truly inevitable.
And so it is inevitable too that Zack Snyder, the fella that brought us 300 and Sucker Punch, would not listen to legions of fans that have begged through endless campaigns through the online movement #releasethesnydercut . He has earned his mark somehow, with the release of 300 and that enigmatic cinematography and color grading, and of course the aspect ratio that has somehow brought us back to the days of watching comics on our square TV. “Superheroes are best seen vertically” he says in one interview, which was ultimately in his vision, in respect to the 50s when films where screened in the “Academy Ratio”, the time when the Justice League of America comics was initially made.
The #SnyderCut as it so comfortably accepts this moniker has been formally released for streaming on HBO Go/ HBO/ HBO Max last March 18. The film begins, where in the previous Batman vs Superman movie (our review here), Superman is killed by Doomsday (subsequently he kills Doomsday with kryptonite, it stabs him back). The world is still in mourning of his death, which brings Bruce Wayne to look for the rest of the gang of this yet unnamed group. Gone is his uncomfortable persona in Whedon’s first film, where he entices Diana Prince which his darkly charm and cringe-worthy jokes, gone as well are Diana’s passive remarks whenever someone hits on her and her femininity. Instead, in one scene, where Steppenwolf (the passive-aggressive alien hired as a hitman by the irreverent Darkseid to look for the three missing motherboxes) says “this one is mine”, she responds “I belong to no one”, which is more powerful, say than in the first film where he says the same thing and then she retorts “you underestimate yourself” and he responds back “Child, my axe is too slick for the blood of your sisters”. The first statement showcases a more powerful Diana Prince, brought up in the unitary sovereign state of Themyscira. This version not only gives us four hours of eye-popping color in dark hues, but a multitude of universes reuniting to battle the dark force that is Darkseid and his army of Parademons. Unlike the 2017 cut, in here we see the history of the league and how the mother boxes, three universally powerful boxes that are used to heal and to destroy. We are also introduced to missing characters such as Martian Manhunter and the Black Superman. Three epilogues are also waiting at the end which gives brevity to the always misunderstood portrayal of Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor and Deathstroke, which in itself is a missing film. Jared Leto’s portrayal of Joker also gets a revamp and, like I said in the first part of this review, and after seeing the other Joker, you might just forgive him in Suicide Squad as he somewhat brings “justice” to his portrayal of Joker (he now looks like Joker in The Killing Joke than just some guy in make up).
Little details like these, and the forgivable (yes it is forgivable) slo-mo scenes much like when Diana rescues hostages in London (and where the 4:3 aspect ratio is important as it showcases a scene that one must see in full top and bottom image) are what completes her story arc, the perfect entryway of Diana Prince and into the Justice League. Her sole attendance from being one of the most impressive Amazonians and into Earth-savior territory. Gone are the trumpet-y music that combines the theme songs intended for Wonder Woman and Aquaman (no offense to Danny Elfman who lends his craft for music on the 2017 cut which added to the film’s energy as too campy, too light for most DC films), in here the original themes for their intro are retained and a few were replaced by pop music, which Snyder has always done before in his films. Junkie XL a.k.a. Tom Holkenborg, the original scorer for the Snyder cut was already part of the first cut before it was replaced by Elfman’s.
One of the film’s powerful and yet subtle scene is when Arthur Curry saves someone from drowning and he chugs a bottle of whiskey, before walking off into a storm of water and into Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ There is A Kingdom which is an allusion to his future as the King of Atlantis. We also get a teaser of Iris West and Barry Allen’s love story, when he saves her (in Flash mode) to the tune of Rose Betts and Tim Buckley’s Song to the Siren. The lyrics of the song includes “Did I dream you dreamed about me? Were you here when I was full sail? Now my foolish boat is leaning, broken lovelorn on your locks” which is a perfect song to start for lovers and their subtle meet-cutes. Iris West was not in the first cut. Instead, we see The Flash meeting Batman for the first time. I don’t mind that each characters from Arthur Curry (Aquaman), Victor Stone (Cyborg), and Barry Allen (The Flash) get the proper intro they deserve in here. The 2017 cut put a little more focus into Aquaman without the introducing us to his mentor and pseudo-uncle Vulko, played by Willem Dafoe, which left us dubious as to what the hell he was talking about when the Aquaman film came out in 2018. We almost forgot that Cyborg also has an interesting background, being molded into the Justice League as he was actually formed by his distant father through a piece of one of the mother boxes. We also keep seeing Harry Lennix in Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman, as well as in Suicide Squad, but without this cut we would only think of him as yet another black general placed in the movie to give more background to the characters. He is in fact, one of the missing members of the Justice League. I’ll leave you to figure out who he is (if you haven’t yet).
And what of Superman and Lois? We finally get to see a “pregnant” Lois Lane. One of the film’s momentous shot and score is when Superman is revived and all it takes is for him to see her, although the same sequence is shown in the first film, without all those longing slo-mo scenes in the first part, we wouldn’t feel the mourning Lois had felt, the heart of every Superman movie, had she been just a blur in the film much like in the first part.
We all know that the characters are in need of some sort of justice, but we don’t know if it’s to continue fighting off criminals in the streets or warding off aliens trying to wipe out the earth or both in the 2017 cut. The Snyder version feels more like an entirely different film than any comic book movie out there. They’re different from us, one would say when we look at Superman. And he is. He’s faster than the speed of light, but his vulnerability to being an adopted alien to his long-forgotten world of Krypton, no wonder we all want him to go black, because what a bore would he be if he just quipped us with jokes and told us that the world is a positive place? It’s not as perfect as any movie is, it’s long, but finally DC finds its footing in presenting their comic book characters onscreen.
There’s more in store, I’m sure. And I’m thankful that as a non-fan I get to see this piece and fully understand what the fancy is, and what blockbuster films meant for all of us. It’s pure entertainment, one that upholds years of tradition and epic storytelling. I’ve seen the film four times since our press-copies were given a week before the release. And trust me, it’s worth the re-watch.
