Yes, it's true - Zack Snyder’s Justice League is pretty good
It’s not possible to discuss Zack Snyder’s Justice League (ZSJL) without first mentioning the insane Hollywood drama that made its existence possible.
Back in early 2017, when director Zack Snyder had completed a first cut of the superhero epic that would see Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman and Superman join forces, Warner Bros. studio were in a panic - they had lost faith in Snyder’s dark fantasy vision for Justice League and did all they could to grind down Snyder’s directorial idiosyncrasies to a flavourless mush in order to make it easily digestible for mass audiences. Snyder left the project before its completion. In late 2017, Justice League was released. Nobody liked it. But fans of Snyder’s grimly serious style were especially pissed off; the movie was risk-free, devoid of resonance and badly assembled.
After a years-long, relentless internet fan campaign to complete his original work, a streaming service, HBO Max, gave Snyder 70 million dollars to bring his Justice League to life. And now it’s out, in all its 4-hour splendour.
ZSJL, while retaining the basic plot of its theatrically released sister movie, is the violent opposite in its feeling; it’s decadent, consciously mythic and bursting with gorgeous tableaus and a sense of grandiosity.
It’s an R-rated film intended for adults yet there’s something wonderfully childlike in how earnestly it treats these comic book characters. Snyder isn’t terribly interested in bringing the members of the Justice League down to earth. Rather, he seems transfixed on their lethality, sensuality, and devotion to their duties. They exist here as they exist in the imagination of nerdy kids who take superheroes as seriously as a Christian takes the Bible; like a kid, he is looking up at them. If you don’t mess with that point of view and watch it with a mindset of ‘how dare this film not wink at its silliness’, I think you would often find this film plainly absurd. If you’re on that wavelength though, it’s often hypnotic and stirring.
The presentation is unique, as it’s filmed in 4:3 aspect ratio, to better display its grand IMAX format. The story is divided into 6 chapters and an epilogue, presumably for allowing breaks. At 4 hours long, ZSJL moves at a confident pace; it’s somehow between a long film and a tv miniseries in how its story is told, as it’s filled with backstories, world-building, sequel bait. If you’re not too familiar with DC comics mythology, it’d be borderline dadaist at points, save for Cyborg’s moving origin story. Is that ‘bad’? Poor storytelling? An argument could be made.
Beyond the film itself, ZSJL is a triumph of a strong creative vision plainly beating out a compromised vision of commerce, greed, and cowardice. That it even exists is beautiful; that the film itself is beautiful is a gift.