Review: Zack Snyder's Justice League

ZSJL has epic written all over it. Filled with mythos and comic book extravaganza, Zack Snyder (Watchmen, Man of Steel, and Batman v Superman) finally got to present his bold vision with a coherent message. While the film still has its flaws, its heart is bigger. A miracle we got here. Snyder can take a bow.

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Shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio, due to Snyder's love for Kelly Reichardt's 2020 film, First Cow, Zack Snyder's Justice League is a singular-coherent vision the director was finally able to make. During the production of 2017's Justice League, Snyder's daughter tragically passed away, forcing him to step away from the film altogether. Warner Bros. had to make a decision on who could come in and take over for Snyder. In comes director Joss Whedon (Firefly and Marvel's The Avengers). Yet, Whedon took what Snyder had started and smashed it to pieces, leaving us with a mess of a movie for our DC heroes. Not to mention, Whedon's abusive nature on the set has been coming more into the limelight since the release of the 2017 film.

In comes the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement on social media, gathering more than 180,000 signatures for the online petition. Though I was skeptical that this campaign would actually work, The Snyder Cut came through 3-years later. It is nice to see a director make the product he's always had in mind without the studio hammering down on him. What also needs to be addressed with this online campaign is the toxicity around it. Not all of the campaigning online was toxic, but there were portions that were, which I do not support, just like Snyder does not support. Moving on to our heroes, Superman (Henry Cavil) is dead, and Bruce Wayne A.K.A Batman (Ben Affleck) is determined not to let his sacrifice go to vain. Bruce aligns forces with Diana Prince A.K.A. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat.

This proves to be more difficult for Bruce than originally thought. In the end, Bruce is able to unite Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and The Flash (Ezra Miller). Their new united team steps up to stop Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), DeSaad (Peter Guinness), and Darkseid (Ray Porter) from conquering the Earth through the ancient Mother Boxes. With a splash of mythology and a dash of courage, our heroes are ready to save the world. ZSJL has its flaws, but its heart is bigger, beating loudly for all to hear. With a 4-hour runtime, bloody fights, epic action sequences (my favorite being the Themyscira sequence), and a quest for adventure, ZSJL sticks the landing. Zack Snyder, your work is complete; please take a bow.

Zack Snyder's Justice League is rated R (Restricted) Violence | Some Language.

Avaiable to stream on HBO Max.

Directed by Zack Snyder

Starring Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Henry Cavill, Ciarán Hinds, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, and Diane Lane.