Justice League (2017) – Encore Review

“No protectors here. No Lanterns. No Kryptonian. This world will fall, like all the others.” – Steppenwolf

Number of Times Seen – Twice (20 Dec 2017 and 23 Mar 2021)

Link to original review – Here

Brief Synopsis – A group of superheroes band together in order to try and stop an alien invasion of Earth.

My Take on it – This is a strange film to rewatch after seeing the Zack Snyder’s definitive 4 hour version of this story – Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021).

Ever since I was a kid, I was always a bigger fan of the superheroes in the DC Universe than the ones in the Marvel Universe and after watching so many Marvel films in the MCU, I always had hope that they would find a way to tell an epic story about the heroes of the DC Universe.

This is a film that I really enjoyed when it first came out and I saw it in the theater and was quite happy with the story despite it feeling a bit short for such an epic tale.

Rewatching this, after seeing the definitive version of the story depletes most of my enthusiasm for this cut of the film because so much seems to have been left on the cutting floor and it now seems so incomplete upon rewatching it.

The characters aren’t developed on a deep enough level and the special effects are also less spectacular here than in the 4 hour version.

This version also tries to be less serious than the Snyder version and many of the jokes just aren’t enjoyable enough when seeing how dramatic and serious this film should be.

The cast is great and allows us to see how these solo characters all are able to work together when deciding to keep Earth save from powerful alien invaders.

Similar to other films where we have eventually gotten a Director’s Cut, I probably won’t ever watch the theatrical version ever again because as good as it is, it still is far less inferior than the director’s version.

Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Director Zack Snyder and his wife, producer Deborah Snyder, stepped down from finishing the film after the suicide of his daughter in March 2017. They tried to remain involved in the film as a way to work through the difficulty, but after two months decided to step away from the project to spend time with their family. Joss Whedon, who had signed on for Batgirl, took over as director, managing additional scenes that need to be included in the final cut. Warner Brothers have stated that Joss would direct and write in the same style as Zack so there won’t be any tonal shifts or obvious changes in style. However, Whedon controversially fired Snyder’s composer, Junkie XL, and replaced him with Danny Elfman, who previously composed Whedon’s Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10) (downgrade from original review)

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