With the Snyder Cut, fan culture runs amok
DIRECTOR ZACK SNYDER’S CUT OF JUSTICE LEAGUE, out March 18 on HBO Max, is way better than the original version released in theaters in 2017. It had to be. The theatrical cut of the DC Comics superhero movie was a dissonant mishmash of two radically different directorial styles that left audiences confused, critics unimpressed and the studio reportedly at a financial loss. During filming, Snyder left the project after the sudden and tragic death of his daughter, and another director, Joss Whedon of Avengers fame, took over. Whedon reshot much of the movie, and whether by poor communication or studio interference, the plot became incomprehensible—and Whedon sprinkled quips throughout to try to brighten his predecessor’s signature gloomy tone, to the consternation of Snyder’s most devoted fans.
The new cut dubbed the Snyder Cut by fans on the Internet, lasts four exhausting hours. But Snyder uses his doubled run time wisely. Whereas Whedon’s version gestured at vague, tearjerky backstories, Snyder gives each hero personal stakes, particularly Ray Fisher’s Cyborg: his strained relationship with his father becomes the much needed heart of the film. The villain Steppenwolf, too, gets a motive—redeeming himself to his villainous family. The CGI battles look better, and are longer and bloodier, if that’s your thing. No longer tonally bipolar, the film is one man’s vision, for better or worse. It’s uniformly dark—and not just figuratively: Snyder transformed several daytime scenes into murky nighttime ones. (Points for consistency, if not for visual clarity.) And he has said he is donating some of the proceeds to suicide-prevention programs.
