

The parts that are good-a more well-rounded backstory for Cyborg, more epic-ness and big fights-are a testament to Snyder’s commitment to his vision.
#Justice league snyder cut movie#
The movie isn’t bad, and it’s definitely an improvement over the 2017 hodge-podge version. The other part of the job is situating culture in a larger context, and the context this movie is arriving in is a nightmare.

Part of my job is having opinions on movies, and with this one the overwhelming feeling is: “OK, sure. At four hours, Zack Snyder's Justice League is too dense to just be a popcorn romp, and its grimdark nature is a shade too bleak to be truly uplifting, leaving it in a bit of limbo. But those films both nailed what superhero movies are, traditionally, supposed to do: entertain and inspire. Just look at films like Black Panther or Wonder Woman. Films, even popcorn-ready summer-release movies, can have an impact. And look, this is not an attempt to dismiss the power of cinema.

Some in that cadre have raised quite a bit of money for suicide prevention, an unequivocally positive thing. Some of these questions can only be answered by the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut collective itself. reportedly poured into the new version? (The one that existed on Snyder’s laptop is not the one now on HBO Max.) But was it worth the energy poured into maintaining a social media campaign for three years? Worth harassing critics? What would have happened if those fans had dedicated their time to something else? Has WB now taught fans that bad behavior will be rewarded? I don’t mean, was it worth the additional $70 million Warner Bros. Yes, I realize that by devoting this column to said film somewhat negates the argument I just made, but I only bring it up because, as I hit play on Zack Snyder’s Justice League on Thursday, the only question I really had was, “Is this going to be worth it?” Because it’s the it that has changed. Back in 2018, fans were losing their minds over the very idea of a Snyder cut-doing things that seem extremely disproportionate now that the film is finally out.

Covid-related theater closures have crushed box office revenue, and while stay-at-home orders have helped bring streaming service subscriptions to more than 1 billion globally, the importance of any one movie’s release can’t be anything more than a distraction from the global pandemic, racial injustice, and senseless, horrific death filling newsfeeds. Now, not only is the power of the internet even greater, the value of one single movie is even smaller. In 2017-2018, the Trump presidency was still young the effects of organized social media campaigns were only just beginning to come to light. It couldn't have been delivered at a time more different than the one into which the #TheSnyderCut was originally born. “Well, the fans have asked, and we are thrilled to finally deliver.” “Since I got here 14 months ago, the chant to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut has been a daily drumbeat in our offices and inboxes,” Warner Media Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said in a statement announcing the release last May. A four-hour movie with a built-in, uncompromising, and surefire audience? Yes, please. In 2018, WarnerMedia, the company that operates both HBO and Justice League studio Warner Bros., announced plans for the streaming service that would become HBO Max, and these things demand content to attract subscribers.
