Zack Snyder's Justice League - So Much Better
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Mar. 20, 2021 • By Jason Elhilow
DescriptionA review of the new 2021 film and how it compares to its 2017 counterpart. Zack Snyder's Justice League is available exclusively on Max.
MessageWe recommend watching both Justice League's to form your own opinions about the movies.
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Warner Bros.Extra Information for a Better UnderstandingMan of Steel (2013) - Rated: PG-13 | Director: Zack Snyder | Actors: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne | About: The origin of Superman and how he will begin to fit into human society while a looming threat from his homeworld is coming.
Batman V.S. Superman (2016) - Rated: PG-13 | Director: Zack Snyder | Actors: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons | About: Lex Luthor creates a meticulous conflict between Batman and Superman, while a someone in hiding reveals themselves.
Justice League (2017) - Rated: PG-13 | Director: Joss Whedon | Actors: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Ciarán Hinds, Amber Heard | About: Batman and Wonder Woman gather a team of metahumans to create a team to fight the mighty Steppenwolf.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) - Rated: R | Director: Zack Snyder | Actors: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Ciarán Hinds, Amber Heard | About: Batman and Wonder Woman work together to create a team of superpowered people to fight against Steppenwolf, and his higher-up, Darkseid.
PrologueIf you have been watching the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) for the past few years, you’ll know that it has never really kept the same standards as its comic book movie counterparts. Warner Bros. wanted their own MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), so they hired Zack Snyder, a well-known American film director, producer, and screenwriter to start it off. It all began with Man of Steel, being a relatively successful movie, making $668 million in the box office off of its new darker and realistic tone. Then, there was Batman V.S. Superman, yet again a moderately decent continuation of this grimmer and dreary take on these classic comic characters. But in 2017, it was quite literally a different story, as Snyder left the production of his third entry in this trilogy due to a horrific family issue. The studio was already not a big fan of the director, as his movies were not succeeding as well as Marvel’s, so when they had this chance to replace him, they did, ironically with the director of the first two Avengers movies: Joss Whedon. At that point, a good portion of Snyder’s film was actually complete, and initially, Joss just came in to put on the finishing touches. But sadly, he did a bit more than that. Whedon was put to work, making a flick with the mandated runtime of 2 hours set by Warner, trying to squeeze half a dozen storylines into it while also wanting to put his own “touches” on the movie.
Justice LeagueSo, if you somehow didn’t pick up on it, the movie I have been talking about is Justice League. It premiered on November 17, 2017, being millions over budget after hasty reshoots were done by Joss Whedon to make the movie more “his." When released, Justice League bombed harder than anyone could have expected, being one of the largest superhero movie failures of the decade. It brought a new poppier and less dingy view to these movies, as the studio demanded that it should be lightened up in color and mood. But this upset the preexisting fans, specifically those of the first two Snyder films, which as mentioned gave the exact opposite type of tone. Though the DCEU didn’t implode there and then, the movie collapsed any hope of this version continuing much further into the future. There was massive backlash against Warner Bros., as their desperation to make an MCU copy caused them to lose unfathomable amounts of money and, in the process, lose fans. People wanted Zack Snyder back, they wanted his Justice League, and that’s where the rumors started.
ConfirmationNow it's 2021, and you’re probably wondering why I am even writing about this whole mess. Well, that’s because something big happened recently. At DC Fandome 2020, a trailer debuted that will change the DCEU forever. It was a tease for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the original cut of the movie made all the way back in 2017. For years now, ever since “Josstice League” was released, there have been rumors that a fully completed Snyder version of Justice League was in existence, and people begged Warner to release it. If this fabled cut of the film were to be in fact real, then it would be big news for fans of Man of Steel and Batman V.S. Superman, as this Justice League was sure to be the continuation of their stories. But, at the same time, if the studio admitted its existence, then they would have lost millions for nothing.
HBO MaxNow I am going to really gloss over things. In 2018, AT&T acquired TimeWarner for $85 billion, having big dreams of expanding itself into the entertainment industry. They changed TimeWarner to WarnerMedia, spent some more money, and got to work. Within two years, they made raked in some serious cash, released dozens of movies, and most importantly for this story, unveiled a new streaming service. HBO Max came out in the U.S. on May 27, 2020. It was in a massive market along with tons of other video-on-demand services, and at that point had nothing original in its catalog. They streamed almost all Warner-owned content, but nothing that the service could call its own. AT&T wanted something to put on there, and fast. So, for the first time ever, a big corporate buyout did something good for a change, as AT&T demanded that Warner Bros. let Zack Snyder finish his mostly complete Justice League so that they could make it a Max Original, and make buckets of money from fans dying to see their beloved mythical film.
Update - After the Warner-Discovery merger in 2022, it was announced that HBO Max would be combined with Discovery+, and that service is now known as Max.
Zack Snyder’s Justice LeagueOkay, so after all of this explanation, now I can talk about this new movie. Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released on March 8, 2021, on HBO Max. Now, there are no official numbers on how much the movie cost or has made, but it has been confirmed that the movie is a big success on the service. It is 4 hours long, has a 75% critic Rotten Tomatoes score, a 97% audience Rotten Tomatoes score, and an 8.3 out of 10 on IMDb. That is infinitely better than 2017’s Justice League with a 40% critics score, 73% audience score, and a 6.2 out of 10. This film has the same fundamental ideas that are behind the other League, but it is so, so, so much better. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is absolutely the best superhero movie I have ever seen, period. It has an amazing and cohesive plot, amazing character development, some of the best CGI put to the silver screen, and is just all-around beautiful. I’ve seen this movie twice, so that means 8 hours total, and I never got bored the entire time.
ConclusionAfter this whole convoluted mess, let me get to the real point here. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a million times better than the original one, and it was lucky to release the way it did. It was a big win for fans everywhere, and maybe even for Warner. I hope that more movies like this can exist, more genuine films, instead of the messes that we get like Justice League (2017). All in all, this movie was great, and it improved my view of the DCEU immensely. Either way, it is definitely a movie I recommend, and it is available exclusively on Max.
Batman V.S. Superman (2016) - Rated: PG-13 | Director: Zack Snyder | Actors: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons | About: Lex Luthor creates a meticulous conflict between Batman and Superman, while a someone in hiding reveals themselves.
Justice League (2017) - Rated: PG-13 | Director: Joss Whedon | Actors: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Ciarán Hinds, Amber Heard | About: Batman and Wonder Woman gather a team of metahumans to create a team to fight the mighty Steppenwolf.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) - Rated: R | Director: Zack Snyder | Actors: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Ciarán Hinds, Amber Heard | About: Batman and Wonder Woman work together to create a team of superpowered people to fight against Steppenwolf, and his higher-up, Darkseid.
PrologueIf you have been watching the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) for the past few years, you’ll know that it has never really kept the same standards as its comic book movie counterparts. Warner Bros. wanted their own MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), so they hired Zack Snyder, a well-known American film director, producer, and screenwriter to start it off. It all began with Man of Steel, being a relatively successful movie, making $668 million in the box office off of its new darker and realistic tone. Then, there was Batman V.S. Superman, yet again a moderately decent continuation of this grimmer and dreary take on these classic comic characters. But in 2017, it was quite literally a different story, as Snyder left the production of his third entry in this trilogy due to a horrific family issue. The studio was already not a big fan of the director, as his movies were not succeeding as well as Marvel’s, so when they had this chance to replace him, they did, ironically with the director of the first two Avengers movies: Joss Whedon. At that point, a good portion of Snyder’s film was actually complete, and initially, Joss just came in to put on the finishing touches. But sadly, he did a bit more than that. Whedon was put to work, making a flick with the mandated runtime of 2 hours set by Warner, trying to squeeze half a dozen storylines into it while also wanting to put his own “touches” on the movie.
Justice LeagueSo, if you somehow didn’t pick up on it, the movie I have been talking about is Justice League. It premiered on November 17, 2017, being millions over budget after hasty reshoots were done by Joss Whedon to make the movie more “his." When released, Justice League bombed harder than anyone could have expected, being one of the largest superhero movie failures of the decade. It brought a new poppier and less dingy view to these movies, as the studio demanded that it should be lightened up in color and mood. But this upset the preexisting fans, specifically those of the first two Snyder films, which as mentioned gave the exact opposite type of tone. Though the DCEU didn’t implode there and then, the movie collapsed any hope of this version continuing much further into the future. There was massive backlash against Warner Bros., as their desperation to make an MCU copy caused them to lose unfathomable amounts of money and, in the process, lose fans. People wanted Zack Snyder back, they wanted his Justice League, and that’s where the rumors started.
ConfirmationNow it's 2021, and you’re probably wondering why I am even writing about this whole mess. Well, that’s because something big happened recently. At DC Fandome 2020, a trailer debuted that will change the DCEU forever. It was a tease for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the original cut of the movie made all the way back in 2017. For years now, ever since “Josstice League” was released, there have been rumors that a fully completed Snyder version of Justice League was in existence, and people begged Warner to release it. If this fabled cut of the film were to be in fact real, then it would be big news for fans of Man of Steel and Batman V.S. Superman, as this Justice League was sure to be the continuation of their stories. But, at the same time, if the studio admitted its existence, then they would have lost millions for nothing.
HBO MaxNow I am going to really gloss over things. In 2018, AT&T acquired TimeWarner for $85 billion, having big dreams of expanding itself into the entertainment industry. They changed TimeWarner to WarnerMedia, spent some more money, and got to work. Within two years, they made raked in some serious cash, released dozens of movies, and most importantly for this story, unveiled a new streaming service. HBO Max came out in the U.S. on May 27, 2020. It was in a massive market along with tons of other video-on-demand services, and at that point had nothing original in its catalog. They streamed almost all Warner-owned content, but nothing that the service could call its own. AT&T wanted something to put on there, and fast. So, for the first time ever, a big corporate buyout did something good for a change, as AT&T demanded that Warner Bros. let Zack Snyder finish his mostly complete Justice League so that they could make it a Max Original, and make buckets of money from fans dying to see their beloved mythical film.
Update - After the Warner-Discovery merger in 2022, it was announced that HBO Max would be combined with Discovery+, and that service is now known as Max.
Zack Snyder’s Justice LeagueOkay, so after all of this explanation, now I can talk about this new movie. Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released on March 8, 2021, on HBO Max. Now, there are no official numbers on how much the movie cost or has made, but it has been confirmed that the movie is a big success on the service. It is 4 hours long, has a 75% critic Rotten Tomatoes score, a 97% audience Rotten Tomatoes score, and an 8.3 out of 10 on IMDb. That is infinitely better than 2017’s Justice League with a 40% critics score, 73% audience score, and a 6.2 out of 10. This film has the same fundamental ideas that are behind the other League, but it is so, so, so much better. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is absolutely the best superhero movie I have ever seen, period. It has an amazing and cohesive plot, amazing character development, some of the best CGI put to the silver screen, and is just all-around beautiful. I’ve seen this movie twice, so that means 8 hours total, and I never got bored the entire time.
ConclusionAfter this whole convoluted mess, let me get to the real point here. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a million times better than the original one, and it was lucky to release the way it did. It was a big win for fans everywhere, and maybe even for Warner. I hope that more movies like this can exist, more genuine films, instead of the messes that we get like Justice League (2017). All in all, this movie was great, and it improved my view of the DCEU immensely. Either way, it is definitely a movie I recommend, and it is available exclusively on Max.
Sources
“Zack Snyder's Justice League.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zack_Snyder%27s_Justice_League. Accessed 20 April 2022.
“Zack Snyder's Justice League.” Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/zack_snyders_justice_league. Accessed 20 April 2022.
“Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12361974/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0. Accessed 20 April 2022.
“Justice League (film).” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League_(film). Accessed 20 April 2022.
“Justice League.” Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/justice_league_2017. Accessed 20 April 2022.
“Justice League (2017).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974015/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3. Accessed 20 April 2022.
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