The Zack Snyder's Justice League *Respectful* Film Discussion

[BatmanJones]

It's not a choice when you arent allowed to have a bearded Superman and your actor isnt allowed to shave.

Sure, but it is a choice to replace so many Snyder scenes to replace them with cheesier reshoots—without which there wouldn’t have been a choice to make. For just one example, the easiest one, how necessary was the opening scene with a monster-mouthed Superman chatting with fans?

Snyder shot 4 hours so Whedon already had more than enough to work with. Reshoots wouldn’t have been needed at all if Whedon hadn’t rewritten half of the script. Geoff Johns and others are not at all blameless in giving us the worst possible JL film. It was the decision of him, Whedon, Berg, etc that made the mustached Superman at all necessary. And even with the rewrites there was so much Superman footage that, to discard it in favor of some damn silly stuff, was absolutely a choice.

[I'm a Fish]

Sure, but it is a choice to replace so many Snyder scenes to replace them with cheesier reshoots—without which there wouldn’t have been a choice to make. For just one example, the easiest one, how necessary was the opening scene with a monster-mouthed Superman chatting with fans?

Snyder shot 4 hours so Whedon already had more than enough to work with. Reshoots wouldn’t have been needed at all if Whedon hadn’t rewritten half of the script. Geoff Johns and others are not at all blameless in giving us the worst possible JL film. It was the decision of him, Whedon, Berg, etc that made the mustached Superman at all necessary. And even with the rewrites there was so much Superman footage that, to discard it in favor of some damn silly stuff, was absolutely a choice.

Ironically this movie also had an opening scene with a monster mouth Superman because he was screaming at the audience. I know it was supposed to be serious but it came off as humorous for me.

I'm not defending Whedon, but I think the executives did make him change stuff. I don't know to what extent though, maybe Whedon when overboard on it.

Although Whedon is know to hate studio interference which was why he quite the MCU, so maybe they didn't mess with him at all.

[kalai]

Overall, I can give it a 7.
Some good scenes, Cyborg and Flash has more moments.
But there are some really stupid plot in the Director Cut.
1,Darkseid found Equation but forgot where Earth is, takes him thousands of year to find Earth again.
2,The Amazon and Atlantean, knowing Unity would destroy Earth, did nothing to prevent it, just waiting.
3, Martian Manhunter, did nothing when Zod and Doomsday are around, and did nothing to prevent the Unity.
4, Steppenwolf can look into people's memory with the spider thing but instead try to interrogate.
5, The Flash stealing the hot dog, touching Iris's face for no reason, and want to date Wonder Woman.
6, Diana is also known as the Bracelet Woman, who has to use the Bracelet to blow up the bank for no reason.
7, Aquaman didn't control any sea creatures and somehow is the only one to fight the parademons in the sky.
8, Darkseid didn't do shit when Steppenwolf fails, just looked at the Justice League, pretty lame.
9, Superman is still lost, he wanted to know why he came to Earth, does Superman mean anything, now why they brought him back.
10, Superman literally caused all these, first he triggered the ship and brought Zod to Earth, now he triggered the Mother Box and brought Steppenwolf to Earth.

[Primal Slayer]

Sure, but it is a choice to replace so many Snyder scenes to replace them with cheesier reshoots—without which there wouldn’t have been a choice to make. For just one example, the easiest one, how necessary was the opening scene with a monster-mouthed Superman chatting with fans?

Snyder shot 4 hours so Whedon already had more than enough to work with. Reshoots wouldn’t have been needed at all if Whedon hadn’t rewritten half of the script. Geoff Johns and others are not at all blameless in giving us the worst possible JL film. It was the decision of him, Whedon, Berg, etc that made the mustached Superman at all necessary. And even with the rewrites there was so much Superman footage that, to discard it in favor of some damn silly stuff, was absolutely a choice.

He was clearly trying to set up a more beloved Superman, one that would actually be missed.

[Lightning Rider]

Most of those sound a little nitpicky to me, they have explanations, though I do wonder why Darkseid forgot Earth's location. Or the fact Anti-Life was there. Maybe without the motherboxes he couldn't instantly transport there anymore? Unclear to me.

Sorry if this is getting into spoiler territory though - are they fair game in here?

[Baggie_Saiyan]

He was clearly trying to set up a more beloved Superman, one that would actually be missed.

But in that opening clip Superman literally did nothing, that whole opening scene in the theatrical just came off awkward.

Besides JL was supposed focus more on how the league missed Superman than the rest of the world, because well those are the characters we are spending most of the run time with not random civilians.

[LifeIsILL]

If you’re up for it, I’d recommend watching the rest. The first 80 minutes are the most problematic with regard to pacing and length. Going forward from the first hour or so it really, really picks up.

Oh for sure I'm excited to finish it. It seems like a proper Justice League movie for once. I didn't really feel pacing issues besides that one Aquaman slo-mo scene, completely unnecssary. It was the constant dread and overwhelming tone, as much as I enjoyed it I needed a break.

And speaking of Aquaman, DaFoe was great in here. That one scene he had in here was better than anything he did in the solo Aquaman film. The dialogue had weight to it and it got straight to the point.

[CosmiComic]

But in that opening clip Superman literally did nothing, that whole opening scene in the theatrical just came off awkward.

Besides JL was supposed focus more on how the league missed Superman than the rest of the world, because well those are the characters we are spending most of the run time with not random civilians.

The thing is they never gave us a Superman beloved by the general populace in the DCEU, so his absence in JL felt inconsistent

[kingaliencracker]

Overall, I can give it a 7.
Some good scenes, Cyborg and Flash has more moments.
But there are some really stupid plot in the Director Cut.
1,Darkseid found Equation but forgot where Earth is, takes him thousands of year to find Earth again.
2,The Amazon and Atlantean, knowing Unity would destroy Earth, did nothing to prevent it, just waiting.
3, Martian Manhunter, did nothing when Zod and Doomsday are around, and did nothing to prevent the Unity.
4, Steppenwolf can look into people's memory with the spider thing but instead try to interrogate.
5, The Flash stealing the hot dog, touching Iris's face for no reason, and want to date Wonder Woman.
6, Diana is also known as the Bracelet Woman, who has to use the Bracelet to blow up the bank for no reason.
7, Aquaman didn't control any sea creatures and somehow is the only one to fight the parademons in the sky.
8, Darkseid didn't do shit when Steppenwolf fails, just looked at the Justice League, pretty lame.
9, Superman is still lost, he wanted to know why he came to Earth, does Superman mean anything, now why they brought him back.
10, Superman literally caused all these, first he triggered the ship and brought Zod to Earth, now he triggered the Mother Box and brought Steppenwolf to Earth.

Just to respond to this...

1) Darkseid didn't find the equation or ever know where it was. He was looking for it and knew it was on a primitive planet but until Steppenwolf told him it was Earth he didn't know that's where it specifically was.

2) It's discussed that the Amazons and Atlanteans went to war and distrusted one another so that explains why they didn't do anything to prevent it. The United States, Russia, and China could work together to solve most of the world's problems but don't for similar reasons.

3) Martian Manhunter's inclusion was strictly for fan service IMO. So I don't disagree with that.

4) The only person who knew where the mother box was was Professor Stone and Steppenwolf never used the spider on him. He used it on the other scientists and while they were familiar with it they didn't know where it was.

5) Although I had a problem with the pacing and need for the sequence I didn't have a problem with it per se.

6) For no reason? The terrorist was about to kill all those hostages. She did it to save the.

7) I think that's fair. Aquaman was definitely better defined in his own film versus this one.

8) Steppenwolf failed so Darkseid decided to be tactful and wait. He more or less knew Steppenwolf would fail, as DeSaad predicted. He has been searching for thousands of years for the anti life equation so what's one more film?

9) Superman inspired Batman to form the Justice League, which ultimately saved Earth. I know some fans don't like that sequence of events but he served an important purpose.

10) Saying Superman caused Zod is inaccurate. More accurately would be that Jor-El caused Zod to come to Earth since he chose to send Kal-El there which led Zod there, which led to Luthor using Zod's body to create Doomsday, causing Superman to be killed and thus his scream triggering the mother boxes. But it's also explicitly stated in the movie that Superman's presence on Earth prevented the mother boxes from activating.

[kingaliencracker]

I think it's pretty unfair to say it's the same movie. Even if you matched the runtime but switched the main scenes around, it's substantively different.

So I actually loved Snyder's cut, but I agree with the principle that it's pretty much the same plot & sequence as the theatrical cut. It's much better, and it really puts the theatrical cut to shame. But I mean it's still the same movie, just paced & edited better.

[SugarMan]

I would agree with you here. Despite the pointless dark future teases, this movie has a very strong "putting the pieces back together" vibe, likely because the deconstructionist BvS garnered such a strong pushback.

But I don't think the average viewer will be able to make it through that first hour and a half.

People will watch, especially since they've probably seen everything else there is to watch anyway. We're in the era of binge watching, so a 4 hour movies isn't really all that long. People have binged through whole seasons that lasts longer than this cut of the movie.

[Ra-El]

Just to respond to this...
10) Saying Superman caused Zod is inaccurate. More accurately would be that Jor-El caused Zod to come to Earth since he chose to send Kal-El there which led Zod there, which led to Luthor using Zod's body to create Doomsday, causing Superman to be killed and thus his scream triggering the mother boxes. But it's also explicitly stated in the movie that Superman's presence on Earth prevented the mother boxes from activating.

How many thousands of years the Mother Boxes where on Earth? And we are supposed to believe that Superman is the reason they didn't activate before, it doesn't make any sense.

[Jabare]

How many thousands of years the Mother Boxes where on Earth? And we are supposed to believe that Superman is the reason they didn't activate before, it doesn't make any sense.

Zoe’s arrival might have alerted the mother boxes but Superman’s presence frightened them. Plus they spent thousands of years recuperating and analyzing the anti life equation

[Lightning Rider]

So I actually loved Snyder's cut, but I agree with the principle that it's pretty much the same plot & sequence as the theatrical cut. It's much better, and it really puts the theatrical cut to shame. But I mean it's still the same movie, just paced & edited better.

It's the same overarching plot, but a movie is made up of the characters as much as it is the plot, arguably more, and they were presented much differently. I can't call it the same movie.

[Ishmael]

Just watched it and LOVED it. The plot is the same, but the story is told very differently. It was amazing. Soooo much superior to what we got in the theatrical release.