The Snyder Cut does not disappoint
On Nov. 17, 2017, the Whedon cut of “Justice League” was received with high anticipation by many fans of the DC characters and the iconic super-team. Now we have the definitive and better-received version of the film deemed the Snyder cut which was released on March 18.
The “Snyder Cut” is great and easily a stark improvement over the originally released version. The story is the same basic plot with some Zack Snyder flavoring, like the visions of the future or the shots in the trailers. Batman gathers the Justice League and they fight the bad guy, a pretty simple plot, but where the film shines is in its complexities. For example, the added Flash and Cyborg backstories made the audience care about those characters and it sets up their actual payoff in the plot, which was also cut from the Whedon version. In fact, most things, if not all the things added in the Whedon version were cut or changed.
But, there was one character that was better off in the Whedon cut which would be Wonder Woman. Diana in the Snyder Cut feels that she was missing compassion in the Whedon Cut. Diana not only kills every single armed goon in her introductory sequence, but she also goes out of the way to blow up the final goon instead of simply disarming him. In the Snyder version of the scene, she goes out her way to expertly but lethally take out the henchmen. Another example of this is when the League decides to bring Clark back to life. Diana in the Whedon Cut argues that it is a bad idea and that death is sacred and keeps that same position right until they bring Clark back to the land of the living. Diana in the Snyder Cut on the other hand agrees with the plan immediately and shows no signs of second thoughts.
But, all of the characters manage to shine in the film and get more time dedicated to them which makes the viewer care as a result. Meanwhile, all we were waiting for in the Whedon Cut was for Superman to show up and save the day.
The “Snyder Cut” was a stunning feat and a great film that trumps the originally released version in every single way while managing to put the stock back into Snyder’s vision for what the DCEU was supposed to look like. The “Snyderverse” was off to a rocky start with the controversial releases of the “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” films, but then “Wonder Woman” reignited the interest that the previous films had been waning. Sadly, the originally released version of the project would be dead on arrival because of the lack of singular vision in the project from the fact that Snyder left the movie to deal with personal issues. But, Snyder has worked past it and dedicated the film to his deceased daughter.
