'Zack Snyder's Justice League' movie review: A marked improvement over the past

Zack Snyder's restoration of his vision of 'Justice League' is not just a better film, it offers clarity on much of what has come in the past films directed by him

Zack Snyder's Justice League

Director: Zack Snyder

Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher

Score: 3.5/5

When Justice League came out in 2017 after a long period of controversy, I assessed it as a film that was good but had an issue with the villain. Over the years, I have revisited that film, and reassessed it to be a greatly flawed film with more than a few problems. Zack Snyder's restoration of his original vision, I'm happy to say, fixes most of them.

Born of a massive campaign spearheaded by fans who were displeased by the Joss Whedon cut of Justice League, Zack Snyder, who quit the film due to myriad issues has finally been able to give the world what he intended to do with his DC film universe.

Fundamentally, the eponymous 'Snyder Cut' of Justice League is the same as what we got in 2017: Batman, driven by a mix of guilt, inspiration and premonition, assembles a team to fight off a legion of enemies from the stars, who have come to Earth to turn it to ash.

Along the way, the greenhorn team clashes with the leader of these enemies, Steppenwolf, a disgraced general of Darkseid, in a race to collect and unite the three Mother Boxes, devices that can transform a planet into a copy of Apokolips.

Zack Snyder's Justice League, at its core, is presented as the culmination of what could be the so-called "phase 1" of the Snyder-driven DC film universe, where each of the heroes involved, who have previously been without purpose, finally finding their true calling: Defending Earth.

That is also perhaps the film's greatest merit: It manages to give meaning to Snyder's previous outings, Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, the latter of which caused a great uproar within the DC fan community.

True, the film is four hours long, and that is not a pretty run time in this day and age, but Snyder somehow manages to make nearly every minute of it count. He has clearly spent a great deal of effort in completing his vision, which has resulted in a film that is more cohesive, more concerted and more complete.

It also offers a more believable motivation for the actions of Steppenwolf: He seeks to undo his shame by conquering Earth, instead of whatever baloney was his cause in 2017. That, combined with his more monstrous, alien design, offers up a more potent villain than the past.

On the other hand, the League is also mostly improved in terms of characterisation. Barry Allen (Miller) is no longer an awkward teenager with super-speed ADHD, but rather a semi-mature proactive figure who is running from his past as much as he is literally running. Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) is closer to the reluctant hero figure for Atlantis that we see in the beginning of Aquaman, and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) is more... disconnected from the rest of the world. In terms of improving characters, apart from Steppenwolf, Cyborg has clearly gotten the most attention because his story is decidedly the more emotional one of the lot.

The Snyder Cut also cuts off much of the cringe-inducing dialogues and scenes from the 2017 film, and while it does include a bit of cringe of its own, it's not nearly as distracting as it was in the past. The visual effects are also mostly excellent for something that had only about seven months of work.

Overall, Zack Snyder's Justice League is a marked improvement over its past incarnation. It carries itself better than most Snyder films and offers a new vision of the DC film universe, even if that vision will never come to pass.