Year of Release: 2021
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Eisenberg, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons, Ciaran Hinds, Joe Morton, Amber Heard, David Thewlis, Anthony Wise, Billy Crudup, Robin Wright, Joe Manganiello, Jared Leto
Genre: Action, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
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Synopsis and Review:
So much has been written about "Justice League", the film that originally premiered in 2017, where director Zack Snyder had to leave the production of the film due to personal reasons, with the studio producing the feature bringing writer/director Joss Whedon to finish it. The output was mediocre, which in hindsight wasn't that much different than the previous efforts from director Zack Snyder with both "Man of Steel" and also "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice". With many voices clamoring for the director's cut of the material, it has finally emerged, in the shape of a lengthier feature, which enhances some of the plot points from the previous version, but for the most part retains the same DNA. The film follows the events from "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice", with the world mourning the passing of Superman, and Bruce Wayne/Batman, looking to build a team that can battle the challenges which lie ahead. He has the support of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, but he attempts to recruit Arthur Curry/Aquaman, without much success, fairing substantially better with the young Barry Allen/Flash. Diana in the meantime tries to recruit Victor Stone/Cyborg, without much success, since he is still coping with living in this new type of existence he has been forced to. As a menace appears in the shape of Steppenwolf, working for the sinister Darkseid, these supernatural individuals have to learn to put their differences aside, in order to prevent the destruction of the world. Even if that means bringing Superman back to life.
The differences between both versions of "Justice League" are substantial, obviously starting with the fact that this current iteration is twice as long as the one which premiered in the theaters. However substantial those alterations are, most of the issues that consumed the original film are demonstrably here as well. Zack Snyder has been a director where the visual flourish and stylistic choices always seem to outweigh whatever character development and nuance the narrative needs to have. If some of his films have been more successful in the marriage of narrative and visuals, such as "Dawn of the Dead" or even "Watchmen", the ones where his fingerprints are more visible on the screenplay, that fragile balance is eclipsed. In this particular case, the film is divided in several chapters, all of which detail the assembly of the team, with the sole aim to battle a seemingly unbeatable opponent. The problem remains that in the 4 hours this film takes to tell its story, the villainous figurehead of this film is nothing more than a digital artifact with no real motivation to take over the planet, aside from just wanting another planet. There's no dimension to the villainous creatures, nor to their minions. The central group of heroes is remarkably bare in terms of dimension and interaction also. Amy Adams, Diane Lane and Jeremy Irons, all excellent actors on their own, have literally nothing to do (how many times is Jeremy Irons going to say Master Bruce). You'd think that in a film of this length, there would be enough time to actually provide an arc for a few characters, but aside from Cyborg, whom we get a brief insight on his origins, not many are granted much time aside from some episodic moments. What is left to admire is once again a faulty narrative without actual characters, but with superlative visual effects, lots of slow motion and a talented group of performers without much to do. It's a longer film than the previous version, but it's not a better one.
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