Finally, ‘Justice’ Zack Snyder gets it right with super long ‘Justice League’
“Zack Snyder’s Justice League” will remind you that this is the guy who directed “Watchmen.”
“ZSJL” is Snyder’s version of the film he left at the end of production four years ago, turning the reins over to Joss Whedon due to the death of Snyder’s daughter.
The 2017 version runs 120 minutes, and it’s bad.
Snyder’s new version is a whopping 242 minutes, and it is a very different and much better film.
Its plot has been rejiggered, strengthened and shifted around and, at just over four hours, it is undeniably excessive, unless you’re one of those never-toomuch, die-hard fans.
Superman is still dead at the beginning. Bruce Wayne aka Batman rides a horse over mountains to get to the bar where Arthur Curry aka Aquaman (Jason Momoa) hangs out when there is a “King Tide.” Why doesn’t he take one of Batman’s many flying machines? Maybe he wanted time away from worrying about the end of the world. In one of the film’s best scenes, villagers sing to the waves after Aquaman, who feeds them fish in lean times, swims away.
The film is divided into five parts. Most of them are spent assembling “metahumans”
Batman, Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot, a giant asset), Aquaman, Victor Stone aka Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and Barry Allen aka the Flash (Ezra Miller), whose superspeedy movements are filmed in, of course, slowmotion. Fisher and Miller have much stronger roles. Miller gets to have a mismatched buddy relationship with Aquaman. Fisher has more things to do, although one of them is to use more foul language than the others. We get better, deeper backstories. A frankly dull Lois Lane (Amy Adams) still mourns Superman’s death. Martha Kent (Diane Lane) has lost the farm. Queen Hippolyta (a terrific Connie Nielsen) fails at great cost to keep Steppenwolf (voice of Ciaran Hinds) and his “parademons,” which resemble the flying monkeys of Oz, from grabbing a “Mother Box.” If Steppenwolf finds the two other boxes, he can create “the Unity” and ravage the Earth and enslave its people for his overlord Darkseid (voice of Ray Porter).
Yeah, that’s the plot. Snyder, who is partial to a squarish aspect ratio and murky, darkened visuals, has mastered the mechanics of superhero movie-making, which require a command of cataclysmic and metamorphic imagery, evoking here the dream visions of the legendary Jack Kirby.
The film resembles animation and truly is a comic book come to life. But superhero smashing, crashing and blasting can get monotonous.
Affleck lightens things up with comic asides. Jeremy Irons is fun as his high-tech Alfred. The film traverses the DC comic book worlds: Metropolis, Gotham, Central City, the isle of the Amazons, as well as London, Paris and Russia. Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke seems destined for bigger things. The Martian Manhunter (Harry Lennix, whose superpower is his voice) makes his introduction. The theme of unity under duress rings true for these times, even if you don’t need a movie as long as this to tell you. Snyder and Chris Terrio, two of the screenwriters, made a conscious effort to lighten up and tone down the grim. Minus that CG mouth, Superman (a buff Henry Cavill) goes shirtless for a ridiculous period of time. Another sequel is cued up in case you didn’t know it was coming. Allison Crowe sings Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” at the end. Hallelujah is right.
(“Zack Snyder’s Justice League” contains superhero movie violence and gruesome images)