I vowed to temper my enthusiasm for this movie simply because the original "Justice League" set a fairly low bar. I purposely went in thinking I'm not going to be saying that ZSJL is one of the greatest superhero movies ever. I'll be happy if it's just better.
Except now I've seen it.
Wow. I'm impressed.
Zack Snyder's "Justice League"
is one of the best superhero movies--if not ever, at least in the DC universe. I'd put it up there with "Watchmen", "V for Vendetta" and "Wonder Woman". It's actually very good in its own right, not just by comparison to the original "Justice League". If anything, ZSJL makes you realize just how lousy the original was.
Rather than being let down, I'm surprised that I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.
There isn't any facet of the movie that isn't better, sometimes far better, than Joss Whedon's version. They may both be working from a premise about heroes coming together to fight aliens, but Whedon was making a comic book movie. Snyder is telling us a story about gods and monsters.
As I'm writing this I'm watching the first few minutes of "Justice League", and the problems are obvious. Whedon sets up the "we're going to be invaded" premise within the first few minutes through some perfunctory expository dialogue. Snyder, on the other hand, takes his time laying out the backstory of each hero in a more leisurely fashion, with beautiful photography and music and exquisite directorial timing. You can argue that Snyder's version is too slow, but I'm telling you that after you've seen it, it seems that Whedon's version is paced
too fast. It's like he's always in a rush to get onto the next scene.
A few notes I made as I watched:
- It only takes about ten minutes for you to feel that you are watching a completely different movie. I did not expect to be hooked by those first ten minutes, but I was.
- The cinematography, especially in the beginning, is magnificent. Lengthy shots and elegiac music give everything the feeling that you are watching mythology, rather than an action movie.
- The 4:3 aspect ration was not nearly as off-putting as I thought it would be.
- The underwater effects are sure better than they were in "Aquaman".
- It's cool the way the Green Lanterns show up. It's not much, but it's nice to see them.
- Ditto Martian Manhunter.
- Cyborg's powers are, frankly, creepy. Much is made of how there is nothing on the planet he can't hack into. It's presented as if that's a good thing.
- A concluding scene involving Barry, Supes and the mother boxes is a bit muddled (trying not to give any spoilers here), but not nearly enough to ruin the movie.
- We really need to stop using Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" in everything. I hear it in so many movies it's becoming a cliché.
- The dreaded "cliffhanger" is merely a setup for a sequel movie. ZSJL survives well without it. If you feel the so-called cliffhanger would bother you, just stop when the movie says "Epilogue", and you'll have a much more satisfying ending. Seriously.
- The end credits contain two really nice bits. One is a solo title card, "For Autumn", that actually made me a little teary-eyed. (I'm a real softie.) The other was a really thoughtful touch. The first item under "Special thanks to..." was "All the fans who made this film possible". That's us, folks.
Overall, the difference between the two movies is that Whedon's film comes across as something directed by talent-for-hire, and Snyder's movie is more like a work of art by someone who truly loves the subject. I'm not gonna whack Whedon completely here, because now that I've seen this, it seems to me that the common thread of the worst DC movies is that they were dictated by the bean counters at Warner Bros. rather than the creative people.
In the end, the true test of this movie is, would I watch it again? And if there were any sequels, would I see them?
Yes. Yes I would
.
Nevermind.
