The Snyder Cut

[Psyren]

Maybe. It's more the superhero meta-verse formula being applied to it I guess.

To me, it's like... remember Universal Studio's attempt to launch the Dark Universe? They've long since given up on that, obviously, and redirected the Universal Movie Monster franchise into much cheaper - and I would argue much better - Blumhouse pictures like the recent-ish The Invisible Man. It feels like if Universal decided - on whatever streaming platform they have - to re-release Tom Cruise's The Mummy movie as an extended cut and acted like it was no different than any blockbuster franchise picture being released in [current year] that's going to have lots of spin-offs and sequels.

Sure, with this Justice League, you'll get the intended nerdgasm moments of seeing Darkseid or whatever. However, the connective metanarrative and reference porn this kind of media saturates itself in to build hype and stir conversation is not really going to lead to much given they've already reset their strategy into whatever it is they're doing now. Seeing it laid bare like in this trailer has a level of Emperor's New Clothes to it.

Well, probably, I don't know what lurks in the hearts of WB studio executives.

I imagine they'll look for whatever elements here people liked the most, and allow those to survive Flashpoint while the rest gets blipped out of continuity. The problem is that they still have no unified direction or plan like the MCU does with Kevin Feige and Sarah Finn.

[Clertar]

I imagine they'll look for whatever elements here people liked the most, and allow those to survive Flashpoint while the rest gets blipped out of continuity. The problem is that they still have no unified direction or plan like the MCU does with Kevin Feige and Sarah Finn.

I wonder what Flashpoint we'll get if WB's compass is catering to popularity with the fanbase.

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[Rater202]

I was purely going off publication date but there's some interesting stuff here.

I wonder how much of MCU's Eternals will explore the Thanos connection.

Well, the current volume of Eternals comics seems to be written with Synergy with the movie in mind—to the point o changing the appearances of some of the Eternals to match their actors to a degree* and it's using Thanos as a villain.

But MMCU Thanos is so radically different from Comics Thanos, save for some superficial similarities, that I'm not seeing it.

They'll probably use the Eternals to set up whatever the "next" cosmic scale threat is.

*Eternals are called that because they're immortal and unchanging. They cannot permanently die and cannot deviate from their core natures and assigned roles. Usually if 'killed' they'll respawn, and Eternals can technically survive even if their body is completly atomized, but they need outside help to revive from some things, and sometimes it's more time/cost-efficient to just create a new body and put the Celestial's essence into the new husk. Sometimes, Eternals take this opportunity to change their appearance. It can be a minor tweak or it can be as extreme as changing sex and apparent Ethnicity—the most extreme change is Sprite, who is currently a girl in her physiological early teens when previously Sprite had been a permanently prepubescent boy.

[Peelee]

Wellllll, technically Darkseid predates Thanos... but it wouldn't be the first time the original got so overshadowed by the knockoff that general audiences and even fandoms view the original unfavorably.

Before clicking, I thoight those links would take me to Oreo and Hydrox.

Of course, naming a cookie what sounds like a 19th century shorthand for a common chemical isn't the best marketing, to be fair.

[Psyren]

I was a bit harsh on Deathstroke there - he may have been overshadowed by Deadpool in the popular consciousness but he's still decently noteworthy. There were some, let's say creative liberties taken with his Teen Titans incarnation, but I see him as a solid enough villain to carry a future Batman or Suicide Squad movie. He's at least a B- or C-List rogue.

[Taevyr]

I was a bit harsh on Deathstroke there - he may have been overshadowed by Deadpool in the popular consciousness but he's still decently noteworthy. There were some, let's say creative liberties taken with his Teen Titans incarnation, but I see him as a solid enough villain to carry a future Batman or Suicide Squad movie. He's at least a B- or C-List rogue.

Deathstroke's a great character, but I'd rather see him as the Dragon with a Luthor-type as the actual BBEG: he's perfect for the role of the main enforcer just earning his paycheck, and said paycheck just happens to involve shooting batman, or stabbing supes with a kryptonite spear.

I really dislike it when they write him as personally involved in supervillain shenanigans, unless it's to finish a contract or involves his supremely messed up family: his main pathology is that he's too damn professional, isn't exactly squeamish about the jobs he picks, and does whatever it takes to finish a contract by the letter.

[GrayDeath]

On the opne hand, the existing movie sugged Darkseids Eternal Antil Life >Balls.

On the other hand, Snider can only do short, mood evocing stuff well.

So, lets hope we get 5 short movies in one? ^^

[understatement]

I was a bit harsh on Deathstroke there - he may have been overshadowed by Deadpool in the popular consciousness but he's still decently noteworthy. There were some, let's say creative liberties taken with his Teen Titans incarnation, but I see him as a solid enough villain to carry a future Batman or Suicide Squad movie. He's at least a B- or C-List rogue.

Weirdly enough, I've always had a soft spot for the cartoon version. The show was rerunning when I moved over here and it honestly took me around halfway through DS Rebirth before I realized they were the same character. WB will likely never make that Nightwing movie, but I think Deathstroke would be a pretty good antagonist for it if it ever happens.

***

On the trailer...hmm. Early reviews have mostly the

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better than the 2017, but that's not saying much

sort of feeling, and that is definitely not enough to motivate me to go watch or stream a four hour film.

[Psyren]

Deathstroke's a great character, but I'd rather see him as the Dragon with a Luthor-type as the actual BBEG: he's perfect for the role of the main enforcer just earning his paycheck, and said paycheck just happens to involve shooting batman, or stabbing supes with a kryptonite spear.

I really dislike it when they write him as personally involved in supervillain shenanigans, unless it's to finish a contract or involves his supremely messed up family: his main pathology is that he's too damn professional, isn't exactly squeamish about the jobs he picks, and does whatever it takes to finish a contract by the letter.

Yes exactly. He's the muscle, the skilled operative/enforcer, not the Big Bad. I understand they wanted a big Batman villain as the antagonist to justify/contrast Robin as the team's leader, and he had to be a metahuman of some kind to justify not getting immediately steamrolled by the likes of Starfire and Cyborg, but whenever I see him show up I find myself asking where the profit is. They also have some really weird ties between him and Trygon in some episodes that I still haven't figured out plotwise, though it's been years since I've seen the series.

Will Arnett's silky voice is fantastic as a main villain for that series, I just don't think that character fits. I don't know DC well enough to pick a great replacement though. Brainiac?

[Rater202]

Yes exactly. He's the muscle, the skilled operative/enforcer, not the Big Bad. I understand they wanted a big Batman villain as the antagonist to justify/contrast Robin as the team's leader, and he had to be a metahuman of some kind to justify not getting immediately steamrolled by the likes of Starfire and Cyborg, but whenever I see him show up I find myself asking where the profit is. They also have some really weird ties between him and Trygon in some episodes that I still haven't figured out plotwise, though it's been years since I've seen the series.

"Slade" (since they can't say Deathstroke in a kids show and just calling him "The Terminator" would run into legal issues) was killed in the same incident that resulted in Terra being petrified.

It's not explicitly stated, but the implication is that he went straight to whatever passes for Hell in the DC multiverse.

He cut a deal with Trigon: A resurrection in exchange for making sure that Raven fulfilled the purpose for which she was conceived.

Of course, Trigon resurrected Slade as an undead creature rather than restoring him to true life, so as Soon as Slade upheld his part of the deal he betrayed Trigon and helped the Titans resurrect Raven to defeat Trigon... But only becuase the means of resurrecting Raven were also the means by which Slade could be restored to True Life. And presumably, because the Earth being a blasted wasteland is inconvenient for Slade's plans.

[Psyren]

"Slade" (since they can't say Deathstroke in a kids show and just calling him "The Terminator" would run into legal issues) was killed in the same incident that resulted in Terra being petrified.

It's not explicitly stated, but the implication is that he went straight to whatever passes for Hell in the DC multiverse.

He cut a deal with Trigon: A resurrection in exchange for making sure that Raven fulfilled the purpose for which she was conceived.

Of course, Trigon resurrected Slade as an undead creature rather than restoring him to true life, so as Soon as Slade upheld his part of the deal he betrayed Trigon and helped the Titans resurrect Raven to defeat Trigon... But only becuase the means of resurrecting Raven were also the means by which Slade could be restored to True Life. And presumably, because the Earth being a blasted wasteland is inconvenient for Slade's plans.

Thanks, that actually helps. Between the episodes always airing out of order, them needing to obliquely skirt around the not-so-kid-friendly aspects of the plot, and the length of time since I last watched any of it, I genuinely had no clue what was going on. Slade being some kind of hellbred revenant in that continuity actually makes a lot of sense.

[Mordar]

I always liked Deathstroke - first exposure was in The New Teen Titans, a few months after I was introduced to Taskmaster. Ever since, I wanted to see Deathstroke vs Taskmaster, while Bats/Captain America look on and argue about who will win.

I think DS is solidly "street level" and is a good opponent for Bats in his own book...but isn't even close to my pick for Bats' opposite in a Legion of Doom style team. It doesn't seem to make sense if there isn't money on the line, and Luthor would probably pay for someone with more juice than DS instead of trying for an even match.

I recently watched Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons. Kind of disappointing. They kind of tried to give him a Punisher vibe (or Expendables?) and it just didn't feel quite right.

All of that said, his appearance was about the only thing I liked in Justice League...

- M

[Psyren]

I wouldn't have Luthor hiring DS to take down Bats in any event. There are less prominent "rich Kingpin financial backer" style figures that fit better with such an approach - Black Mask for instance, or Penguin, or maybe a pre-powers Maxwell Lord.

[Mordar]

I wouldn't have Luthor hiring DS to take down Bats in any event. There are less prominent "rich Kingpin financial backer" style figures that fit better with such an approach - Black Mask for instance, or Penguin, or maybe a pre-powers Maxwell Lord.

Bane would throw DS at him too, I think. But in terms of bringing together a Legion of Doom, there can be only one Batrogue...and DS wouldn't be the one in my opinion.

I think there is plenty of reason to think that Luthor wouldn't even be the Legion of Doom catalyst. The Superman adversary could well be Brainiac...but Justice League gave us Luthor building the villains.

- M

[Rynjin]

Deathstroke is a strong contender for my favorite DC villain; I have a big love for mercenary bad guys more than the maniacal world dominating variety. He has been screwed over in every single live action appearance he's had. And some animated ones. Lookin' at you, Son of Batman...

[Mordar]

Deathstroke is a strong contender for my favorite DC villain; I have a big love for mercenary bad guys more than the maniacal world dominating variety. He has been screwed over in every single live action appearance he's had. And some animated ones. Lookin' at you, Son of Batman...

See also: Bane.

Preach, brother.

- M

[Ortho]

It's the 18th and The Snyder Cut has officially dropped, and I've decided to watch it so you all don't have to. The opening credits are currently scrolling, so this may take a while.

The first surprise is that it's in a 4:3 aspect ratio.

[Dire_Flumph]

I'm watching in chunks, got about 1:30 in and will continue during the weekend. There are some improvements, but it is sloooooooooowwwww.... I can't imagine watching this all in one go. It's not terrible, but it's so joyless.

Spoiler: Minor part 1 and 2 spoilers

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Definitely feels like a workprint version. Lots of redundant scenes that go nowhere or where people talk about things we just saw (Bonus when scenes are additionally done in gratuitous slo-mo!). There's some better exposition, Darkseid, Steppenwolf, the Mother Boxes, etc all get explained in more detail. They actually tied continuity more tightly into the Wonder Woman and Aquaman films.

There's also some really headscratching stuff, like Superman's death cry being what supposedly wakes up the Mother Boxes for some reason. And I generally think Ezra Miller is a much needed spot of levity, but the new scene of him watching Iris mid-car crash for what turns into a creepy amount of time was a bit odd.

Haven't gotten to the crazier stuff that's supposed to be in here, no Joker or Martian Manhunter. Curious to see the rest, but am really in no hurry.

Edit: I can see why the Amazons don't think much of the World of Men

Atlanteans and Themyscirans: "We will build a fortress for our Mother Box and guard it with our finest warriors"

World of Men: Kicks their box into a shallow pit, "We're good"

[Ortho]

Spoiler: Notes and Ramblings.

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Well, the movie seems to continue the Snyder color palate of saturation and bloom - remember how colorful the Amazon's island was in Wonder Woman? Yeah, it's just brown now. Even the lens flares look dull. The MacGuffins continue to be MacGuffins.

Part 1
There's a lot of background vocals and slow motion where there really doesn't need to be. The subtitle "ancient lamentation music" pops up more than once.
Also Wonder Woman blows out the side of the bank building, which I don't think she did in the original Justice League.
Steppenwolf's CGI got an upgrade, he actually looks like a real character now - and is actually given some characterization! Apparently he wants to please some higher-up. But generic doomsday villain is still generic.
A lot of focus is given to nameless Amazon who we're apparently supposed to care about but she dies before her name is even spoken.

Part 2
Apparently Lex Luthor is the one who told Bruce of the imminent attack. This was literally a throwaway line; I have no idea why it wasn't in Justice League.
Amazons light the Beacons of Gondor via suborbital arrow, ok.
Actual worldbuilding, in that STAR labs is revealed to be studying Zod's ship.
Oh, so there's an entire temple under the temple of Artemis that was never shown before. Wonder woman enters, there's a mural of the MacGuffins and the BBEG. How convenient. Also the BBEG looks like Thanos on the mural, for some reason.
More gratuitous slow motion set to background music, this time with Aquaman! This movie would be only 3 hours long if they excised all the slo-mo.
There's a scene where Aquaman talks to William Defoe, and it's at this point I realize that the quality of the writing is....kinda meh. It's contrived and unrealistically formal, with faaaaaar to many infodumps. Let the dialog flow naturally, no?
The BBEG looks like a cross between Doctor Doom and the Green Goblin. No idea who this joker's supposed to be.
Infodump with Wonder Woman and Bruce. Complete with CGI flashback. The MacGuffins are world-ending, surprise surprise. Also the Green Lanterns just shoot laser beams out of their rings instead of doing something useful. And Steppenwolf seems to be Thanos's albino twin brother. And they come from a planet named Apocalypse, just to drive the point home. Also one of the MacGuffins was buried like 4ft underground in a forest instead of any significant defense put around it.

Part 3
Central City is introduced with a "Reduce Speed Ahead" sign, so no questions as to who lives here.
It's the Flash, and we're introduced to him via a truck driver who drops a burger and runs a red light. For like 4 minutes. Causing a car accident where Flash meets his love interest. At least here the slow motion is appropriate. Also it's the stupid !@^)(&#@%! cliché of Love at First Sight, which I hate with a passion.
Next is a rather funny scene in which it's apparent that the mooks can somehow swim better than literal Atlanteans.
Apparently everyone in this movie knows what the MacGuffins are, given how every nameless NPC knows that it should be defended and sprout lines like "I'll never tell you!"
Oh, hey, actual backstory to Cyborg! He doesn't just appear for some reason. Apparently everyone in this movie is a bad driver, because his mother took her eyes off the road in a snowstorm to hold a conversation with him.
And his father gave him the ability to instantly hack into anything and explicitly says that this can be used to launch nuclear missiles and manipulate financial systems. A reminder that he gave this to a moody teenager who just lost his mother. WTH?
Flash talks to his father, who's in prison, and tells the Flash to give up on his degree and never see him again. Guy's a jerk. It's also the second time e hear the words "You can be whatever you want to be", which makes me think this is supposed to be a theme of the movie or something.
Bruce invades the Flashcave to find and convince Flash to join the team.
Technobabble in the Batcave between Alfred and Wonder Woman, Cyborg interrupts via hacking(tm) to tell them he wants to meet somewhere in the city. Instead of just over the computers he hacked and has complete control over. Oh, and apparently Cyborg is legally dead, given that he has a gravestone.
Commissioner Gordon was aged like 40 years for some reason.
Cyborg's dad was captured, so now Cyborg has personal motivation!
Why are there steps leading up the Atlantean's MacGuffin? Who walks underwater?
Apparently the queen of Atlantis can just straight-up waterbend the blood out of Steppenwolf.
Aquaman shows up in the nick of time, has no effect on the villain taking the MacGuffin.

Part 4
Two hours in, and all the character introductions have been made, so I'm a little concerned as to what the heck the rest of the movie will be
The choreography for the rescuing-the-hostages fight is nothing special. Apparently kicking mooks with wings off of ledges is a way to make them fall to their deaths.
Batman uses Gatling guns here. C'mon.
More 'ancient lamentation music' subtitles.
Oh, joy, another MacGuffin! The Anti-Life Equation, whatever that is.
Oh, there's a THIRD BBEG! Steppenwolf's boss' boss!
According to Wonder Woman, Superman is the only person capable of putting up a fight to Steppenwolf. How convenient.
Backstory on the third MacGuffin! They're 'change' machines, whatever that means.
Creepy shapeshifter shows up to talk to Lois, for no apparent reason.

Part 5
Oh, COME ON. Cyborg still pulls his gun on Superman for no frickin' reason. The guy can take control over every digital system on earth in an instant, but can't control his left arm? This was moronic in the original Justice League and is still moronic now.

Wow, this ending is significantly better than the original.

Well, it's a very different beast compared to the original Justice League, that's for sure.

The good:

• The tone is much more consistent. It's far less headache-inducing to watch.
• Most of the plot holes from the original Justice League have been closed.
• Most of the new scenes expand on the characters, and several old scenes that clearly were padding are removed.
• Steppenwolf is given characterization. He's less of a generic doomsday villain here.
• Cyborg is fleshed out, and has a reason to exist, instead of just kinda being there.
• Flash actually participates in the film instead of being pure comic relief.
• The climactic fight is actually a climax, instead of the rushed mess we originally got.

The bad:

• It falls into all the typical Snyder pitfalls: gratuitous slow motion, lots of background vocals (subtitles appear as "ancient lamentation music" at least four times), there's never more than three colors onscreen at once and they're all desaturated anyways, general grim tone, etc.
• Some of the new scenes are blatant padding and have no reason to exist.
• The MacGuffins are still MacGuffins and the plot is still contrived.
• The stupid Cyborg-can't-override-his-own-left-arm-and-pulls-a-gun-on-Superman scene still exists. Yes, this scene is so stupid it gets a gripe of its own.
• More endings than the Return of the King. Most of which are plot hooks and/or fanservice. Which I don't care about.
• It's four hours long.

[agustin1987]

The fabled Snyder cut has recieved a lot of support from Fanboys all over the world as well as by the actors that worked on the film. Snyder has been consistently dropping plot points and characters that were part of his earlier narrative eg Darkseid, antilife equation and stuff. And this has led to fans constantly egging for the Snyder cut, signing petitions and what not. But is it worth it?

[Tyndmyr]

Watched the first 40 minutes, then flipped it off to go watch The Courier in the theater, which was pretty good if you enjoy spy films.

So, in fairness, I can't really review the whole 1/6th day runtime. But from what I saw, there was, uh, a five minute superman slow mo moaning montage? And then a gratuitously long series of aerial shots of Bruce riding a horse. Then after talking to Aquaman, the townspeople all sing a song. I think that part's new. At the very end of the stretch I watch, Steppenwulf shows up, and the ridiculously chrome armor doesn't add much, I think. Looks cheesy either way.

WW's initial bank fight prompted a lot of laughter from my girlfriend, and her ceasing to watch it.

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They added a lot of tension by having WW appear to miss blocking a bullet, and in slow mo, watch it fly past her. Then they cut to a shot of her blocking it earlier in its path.

They do this over and over again.

It is at least something of a flashy fight, which I suppose is better than boring, but yeah, blowing out the entire wall seems mildly reckless.

There is an awful lot of slow mo in this movie. Like, a ridiculous amount.

I feel like I should watch the rest of it just to properly critique it, but I can't say I'm enthused for it. Eh, maybe, if I get really bored.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by mjp1050
…I've decided to watch it so you all don't have to.

I for one thank you for your sacrifice.

Originally Posted by mjp1050
Steppenwolf is given characterization.

But sadly, not a name that makes me take him more seriously.

Also, he’s now a villain who brings the heroes together by invading Earth at the behest of a higher-up villain with cosmic plans. We really haven’t seen that before.

Originally Posted by mjp1050
The stupid Cyborg-can't-override-his-own-left-arm-and-pulls-a-gun-on-Superman scene still exists.

I dimly remember this, although in my mind it runs together with all the other ridiculous. It does seem highly contrived.

Originally Posted by Tyndmyr
There is an awful lot of slow mo in this movie. Like, a ridiculous amount.

This seems to be a frequent complaint.

All I can say is, thanks to those of you who watched it. Very glad I haven’t.

[Rynjin]

Wow, a 4 hour cut of a bad 2 hour movie feels slow and bloated? Color me shocked.

The people who were really invested in the release of this cut seem happy though, so that's good...I guess? Unless this starts a trend. Ugh.

[Trafalgar]

I got through it. It only took me two nights! And I guess that's one question I have: who is the target audience? Those of us with careers, spouses, kids, dogs, cats, aging parents, etc don't have the luxury of spending 4 straight hours on a single movies. I guess this movie is aimed at Zach Snyder fans without family obligations.

I am not against super long Director Cuts. I bought the LOTR Director 4 DVD Box set for each movie as they came out and I still watch them maybe once a year. Each movie is at least 3hrs on 2 DVDs with Return of the King at almost 4 hours. But where each DVD ends makes sense for a break in the story. So it works watching one DVD per night. I didn't feel like there was a good place to stop after 2 hours so I don't see how the Snyder cut would have ever worked in a theatrical release.

I am also curious how long this would be if all the slow mo was run at normal speed. 3 Hours? I am sure someone will figure this out.

I did feel like this version does a better job of fleshing out Cyborg and Flash. Visually and Stylistically, its much more cohesive as everything is now Zach Snyder. For example: In the original, everything was brighter so the batsuit was less than flattering to Ben Affleck but Afflecks fitness is hidden because everything is darker or more muted.

One of DCEUs strongpoints has been the casting (excepting Lex Luthor) and I think this version gives Gadot, Cavill, Affleck, Miller, Fisher, Momoa much more to work with. Leto as the Joker is a lot better than in Suicide Squad.

Steppenwolf is still a pretty lame villain. They've improved his visuals but, when Superman shows up, he ceases being a threat.

Overall, I think this is "Zach Snyder Unchained". Though normally I am against studio meddling with a director's decisions, I do think that it's a good thing for a producer to occasionally give constructive criticism to a director. Things like "you might need to cut down on the slow motion" or "why is there a 2 minute shot of Aquaman walking into the surf?"

[Friv]

My review matches up with a lot of people's.

If you really love Snyder's work, this is more of that. If you really hate Snyder's work, this is more of that. If you have mixed feelings about Snyder's work, you'll have mixed feelings about this movie.

I think that with a team of strong editors, the two and a half hour version of this movie would have been quite a bit better than the Whedon cut and could have served as a really good framework for a DCEU. I'm pretty sure I could have cut an hour from it just by removing the slow-mo and cutting a minute or two out of every scene in which people just stare thoughtfully, and kept all the scenes intact. As it is, they're just different beasts. This one is more dramatic but it lags horribly. The other one is more fun but makes less sense.

A few thoughts:
1. This movie does do a much better job of setting up Steppenwolf as powerful, rather than just making the Amazons and Atlanteans look weak.
2. Everything with Superman and Lois remains pretty bad.
3. The entire epilogue was unnecessary, and could have been a two-minute mid-credits scene, and a certain surprise character is... laughably bad.
4. Cyborg definitely got more to do, and Ray Fisher gave a solid performance, but the CGI on him was... not great. I see why Whedon decided to make cuts, even if I also believe that he did them in the most abusive way possible.
5. [Ancient Lamentation Music Plays]

[Tyndmyr]

So, after three attempts, got through the whole thing, and thus feel comfortable doin' a full review, though it does sort of mirror what others are saying.

The length drags. Four hours and change is a lot, there's no real way around that, and it's probably the biggest flaw. The odd thing is that it really doesn't have to be. Even leaving aside the gratuitous slow mo, there's a lot of stuff that's not at all essential to the plot.

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Starting off, we could cut the five minutes of repeated shots of Bruce on horseback. Just cut to him in the seaside village. The horse is relevant to nothing. Also, Bruce has helicopters. He can just, yknow, fly there. Like he flies away from it.

And then the operatic song that the village sings while one of the girls sniffs Aquaman's no-doubt fishy smelling sweater. Look, that's just kinda odd and ludicrously unnecessary. There's scenes like this peppered through the entire film, stuff that's just unconnected to everything else.

The actors are good. More time for them to flesh out their characters helps. The background for pretty much all characters is basically dead parents and then now, bam, car accident. For Aquaman they change it up and make it a boat accident. So, uh, roughly zero creativity here, but it's probably still a net improvement over the original Justice League, which kind of left Flash and Cyborg out of most of the plot. They at least have a purpose now.

I have no idea why Martian Manhunter is in this movie. His sole contribution to the plot, impersonating Martha, kind of just undercuts what otherwise would be a reasonably heartfelt scene between Martha and Lois. That could just be a normal conversation, you could axe his random appearance to Bruce because literally nothing happens, and be five minutes ahead with a net quality improvement.

The finale is at least a finale now. I'm not gonna say it was great. In fact, a lot of this feels like it's deliberately copying the Avengers with a darker, edgier feel. It doesn't really know what to do with Bruce, who ends up feeling like he's discount Hawkeye. The drama surrounding him making what amounts to a cargo helicopter feels...unnecessary. It's Batman. We can just assume he owns a bigass helicopter to get them to the location, leaving aside that half the team can probably get there faster on their own.

The Cyborg part with the nukes is odd. Like, seriously, handing a moodly teenager access to all the world's nukes by mistake would already be such an obvious error as to require some explanation as to why. Doing it on purpose is just mind boggling. Cyborg pulling a gun on Superman also doesn't make much sense.

It's also somewhat more clear why the mother box's wake up, which is good. Superman's death provides at least a somewhat rational reason for it to be now instead of any other time. Why they never woke up before his arrival, don't know, but it's something.

As for things like a black superman suit instead of with color? Eh. Largely don't care either way. It's an aesthetic choice, and the overall grim and gritty appearance is a Snyder thing, I get it. I just don't think it's important either way for this film. If you like it, cool, if not, fair enough.

The Amazons got wrecked pretty hard. Even against parademons, they end up extremely ineffectual, despite everyone else trashing them pretty hard. I think they were trying to make this epic, but it comes across as almost goofy.

Steppenwulf is still lame. Spikey chrome is, eh, the 90s halfassed version of costume design. Why not just use his comics aesthetic? It's better. It's also pretty dark, it'd fit Snyder's world. His face also just perpetually looks odd. Bad CGI or something? Whenever he's talking, it doesn't quite fit. At least he has sort of a motivation now, to make up to Darkseid for...something that is unexplained. Kinda halfassed, but I guess technically an improvement.

Luthor adds almost nothing. The dream sequence is odd. I don't mind Affleck as Batman, he's good at it...but I don't care for the new Joker. I also have no idea why Batman would trust Joker as a teammate. This whole portion is basically just a trailer for a sequel, I guess.

As an aside, the additional footage does perhaps add enough material that fans might make an actually pretty decent cut from all the versions. Apparently there is a black and white Snyder cut version that includes slightly different scenes? Eh, I'm not watching it again, again.

[Jan Mattys]

I have seen it.

All in all, it's still a very forgettable piece of cinema. but I'll say this about this cut: the Snyder Cut is evidently the second movie of a trilogy. While the original cut was just unadultered garbage.
The Snyder cut has like a million flaws, but at least knows its place and tries to do its job. Compared to the original movie, it's much more understandable and makes much more sense.

It is still miles away from being a polished product, but I guess even the most optimistic among us weren't really expecting it, weren't we?

[Dire_Flumph]

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It's also somewhat more clear why the mother box's wake up, which is good. Superman's death provides at least a somewhat rational reason for it to be now instead of any other time. Why they never woke up before his arrival, don't know, but it's something.

I'm still not through the whole thing, but I watched parts 3 and 4 last night, and I thought they had a slightly better explanation than that.

Spoiler: Mother Boxes

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So at the little super-powwow at the end of part 4, Victor reveals that his father was the one who woke the mother box up while using it to save him. That makes a lot more sense timing-wise in my view for why this was happening now. They then speculate that Superman's death cry was what spurred Steppenwolf into action as Supes was the only one powerful enough to give him pause. I kind of like that better than the idea that Superman's death cry was the only thing that put everything into motion. Steppenwolf probably would have made his move eventually anyway, but saw the aftermath of BvS as an opportunity to strike.

Spoiler: I will kill the universe with math!

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But what I don't understand from part 4, was if I got this right, Darkseid found the Anti-Life Equation on Earth in in the distant past before, then forgot where he saw it? Like, not even a ballpark solar system? Did I hear that correctly? Because that makes very little sense unless the gods hit him a lot harder in that flashback battle than it looked.

I'm a little disappointed the entire "Just save one person" exchange between Bats and Barry was gone though. I can understand Snyder wanting to only use his footage, but that was one of the few bright spots of the theatrical cut that really stood out when I first saw it.

[Tyndmyr]

]So at the little super-powwow at the end of part 4, Victor reveals that his father was the one who woke the mother box up while using it to save him. That makes a lot more sense timing-wise in my view for why this was happening now. They then speculate that Superman's death cry was what spurred Steppenwolf into action as Supes was the only one powerful enough to give him pause. I kind of like that better than the idea that Superman's death cry was the only thing that put everything into motion. Steppenwolf probably would have made his move eventually anyway, but saw the aftermath of BvS as an opportunity to strike.[/SPOILER]

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Hmm, maybe? The Mother box that woke up and called to Steppenwolf was apparently the Amazonian one, though, and that couldn't be the one that Victor's dad used.

It probably works better as a reason, but would require some reordering of how fights go, I think.

Spoiler: I will kill the universe with math!

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But what I don't understand from part 4, was if I got this right, Darkseid found the Anti-Life Equation on Earth in in the distant past before, then forgot where he saw it? Like, not even a ballpark solar system? Did I hear that correctly? Because that makes very little sense unless the gods hit him a lot harder in that flashback battle than it looked.

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Yeah...yeah that part was kind of brain damaged. I feel like if you've only ever been defeated once, and only one world has the anti-life equation you long for, and it's the SAME WORLD, you'd remember that.

I have no idea why that got added in.

!I'm a little disappointed the entire "Just save one person" exchange between Bats and Barry was gone though. I can understand Snyder wanting to only use his footage, but that was one of the few bright spots of the theatrical cut that really stood out when I first saw it.

Yes, I did miss that as well! That was a really great speech, and probably the strongest piece of characterization in the original.

[Cikomyr2]

I just finished watching the 3rd episode, and I have to say. Justice League was an average movie, its proving to be a pretty good mini-series. Every episode leaves me wanting more, and I don't tire.