SPOILER REVIEW: Zack Snyder’s Justice League – A Genre Defining Masterpiece

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a monumental achievement in superhero-movie history. It’s the Lord of The Rings of comicbook movies. Plain and simple, so grand in scale, yet so very character driven. 

“You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders” –

Jor-El from Man of Steel

THIS is DC’s strength, when they treat their characters as mythical beings akin to the ancient Greek gods. DC heroes are Gods trying to be human while Marvel heroes are humans trying to be gods. THAT is the strength of DC’s roster of super powered beings.

And you know what? Both approaches are equally as fitting for their respective universes. This movie should be the blue print for DC and Warner Bros going forward

The story of this movie starts right at the end of Batman v Superman with the death of Superman. His death-scream that travels ’round the world awakes the motherboxes, which gets the attention of Steppenwolf and sets the stage for the forces of Apokolips to invade earth and claim the Anti-Life Equation. Batman and Wonder Woman set out to find other Metahumans to fight united against Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons.

Everyone in this movie gets their fair share of screen time, especially Ray Fisher’s Cyborg, who is the backbone of this entire movie. Ben Affleck is amazing as Batman, Gal Gadot IS Wonder Woman and Henry Cavill is my favorite Superman of all time. The scenes that I found good in the Joss Whedon cut was (as I suspected) scenes that Zack Snyder shot before his departure from the project. But they give of a completely different vibe in the Snyder Cut, and the context in many cases are completely different. And most of them are scenes with Ezra Miller’s The Flash. Yes, he is still somewhat of a comic-relief in this movie – but that’s not his character defining trait. He is as heroic as the rest of the League, especially in the final battle with Steppenwolf, where the mother boxes unite and cause a huge explosion, killing the other members of the Justice League.

The scene that follows is probably one of the best moments in all of comicbook movie history. The Flash runs so fast that time is reversed, and he prevents the unity of the motherboxes, saving the world.

Another character that really got butchered in the Joss Whedon version is Cyborg and his supporting cast. He was relegated to be a side-character in the older version, while here he is more or less the main character. The relationship with his father Silas Stone, played by Joe Morten, is rocky to say the least, after his father used one of the motherboxes to save Cyborg after a car-accident.

Even the villains are great in this movie, Steppenwolf feels like an actual three dimensional character and not just a mustache twirling baddie. His motivations makes sense and he is actually menacing. Zack makes it clear that Steppenwolff, even though he is a formidable threat, is an obvious underling to Darkseid. I can’t stop thinking about when Steppenwolf tells Desaad about the Anti-Life Equation and Darkseid shows up in the hologram. The fear in Steppenwolf’s eyes gives him an extra dimension.

Lets now talk about that Epilogue.

I have probably seen all incarnations of Batman and Joker conversations. Every live-action and animated version. But this?

This is easily my favorite dialogue scene I’ve ever seen between these two iconic characters. When Batman has met the Joker in previous live-action iterations, it has mostly been their first one-on-one encounter. But this version oozes a 20+ year history between the two of them. It’s a dialogue that would fit right in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns or Batman: Hush. And the F-bomb that Batman drops in this scene is justifiable.

And Martian Manhunter, played by Harry J Lennix in the final scene, was a perfect tease for future stories in this universe.

This is a Zack Snyder movie after all, and the visuals are some of the best I’ve seen from any director. Every frame is like a comicbook panel brought to life and the score by “Junkie XL” (Tom Holkenborg) elevates it to a whole other level. The four-hour runtime may scare some people, but the time went by so fast for me so it was never an issue. The chapters helps out a lot if you don’t want to see the entire movie in one sitting.

PLEASE, watch this movie. It is everything a DC-fan could ever dream of in a Justice League story. It’s epic, it’s emotional, its funny, it’s hopeful and a spectacle.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League have redefined what a superhero team-up movie can be. And for that I’m forever grateful.

Thank you Zack Snyder. 

Your daughter would absolutely love this.

For Autumn.