Zack Synder redeems himself with his untouched vision of the Justice League.
Zack Synder. The name itself gives me the chills. Not in a good way. I have not been impressed with any of Synder’s films. His use hyper-stylization and the fact he under lights scene has made me less than a fan. He ruined Superman. He ruined Batman. Hell, he ruined Watchmen.
I can’t stand the man. 3 DC Comics films ruined and then Justice League and I swear I wanted him off the project. I started to hear rumors of execs at Warner Bros not being happy with Synder and planning on getting rid of him during mid-filming. I crossed my fingers.
Then tragedy happened. Autumn Snyder, Zack’s 20-year-old daughter, committed suicide. This is not something I would ever wish upon anyone. No parent should ever outlive their child.
Synder dropped out of the film and Joss Whedon picked up their reins to finish the movie. The 2 director’s style didn’t mesh and the movie was a mess.
Then rumors of a director’s cut of Justice League were bouncing out there. This led to a grassroots campaign by fans and some of the actors of the film, with Synder just sitting back and manipulating things. Warner Bros gave in and decided to give Synder a shot, but not in theaters (COVID didn’t help either) but released on their new streaming platform, HBO Max.
I got a chance to see it before the public. I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but I decided to give it a fair shot. And I’m here to say, it was actually pretty good.
The plot still revolves around the world dealing with the loss of Superman and the otherworldly despot Darkseid seeing this as a chance to dominate Earth. Batman and Wonder Woman must find and recruit a team of heroes to confront the forces of Darkseid.
The film clocks in around 4 hours, and before you complain about that, remember that Avengers: Endgame was 3 hours. Also, the characters of Justice League didn’t have their own movies to set up backstories as Marvel did. Synder does a good job giving each character plenty of screentime. It did take me several starts and stops of the film to finish, but I did get wrapped up in it. I think if it was in a theater, I can’t see myself looking at my watch. It was compelling enough. Lots of easter eggs too which always nice for a comic book movie.
There is still the signature hyper-stylization and low lighting in some scenes, but that’s Synder as a filmmaker. Personally, it seems all flash, no substance to me. There are those who enjoy it. I’m just not one of them. But this time it didn’t take me out of the film.
While I’ll never be a true fan of Zack Synder and truly did enjoy his vision of the Justice League. Let’s just hope Warner is done with Synder and put the fate of the DC Extended Universe in more capable hands. Somehow I doubt it though. Still a good watch!
Many thanks to HBO Max and WarnerMedia for allowing me to review the Justice League.
HBO Max is proud to support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention on behalf of ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE premiere. You can donate to the AFSP here.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League premiers on HBO Max, Thursday, March 18th.
Newsdesk