Zack Snyder’s Justice League
— For those who aren’t DC Universe groopies, “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” is the extended cut of “Justice League,” a film from which he stepped down during post-production in 2017; Joss Whedon finished the film, including some reshoots, an infusion of humor, and quite a bit of editing based on the studio’s mandate. I thought Whedon’s version was a step up from "Batman v Superman," the “DC Extended Universe” film it followed, but still mediocre and juggling too many characters whose backstories weren’t quite fleshed out enough for a standalone film. The 2021 release is evidently the version Snyder envisioned. It includes enough CG action to leave anyone’s head reeling, but that’s not always a good thing. The first half is a great example of mood lighting gone amuck and it’s hard not to wish you could turn up the brightness. Luckily, the first couple of hours are mostly there to sort out the large number of characters that loosely join forces to save the world in the second half. And speaking of the second half, it borrows heavily from soap opera plotlines—no matter how dead anyone is, there’s always a way to bring ‘em back in the next episode. A few of the actors, normally talented, too often default to a brooding or constipated look to depict emotion. I’ll admit things move along in the second half and it's more interesting than the first half, redeeming it somewhat. Where the first film seemed to have been cut a little too ruthlessly, this one needs one more, harsh edit. It’s twice as long as most films and less than half as likely to stand the test of time.
[HBO Max streaming.]
[2021. 242 min. Directed by Zack Snyder. Starring Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, and Diane Lane.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/zack-snyders-justice-league-movie-review-2021
