ABOUT TIME
Whether slow or fast, time sure has a unique effect on everything. Given the changes in media, artistically and socially, not to mention exponential trends over the last two decades in box-office hits playing in countless movie theaters around the world (and, of course, certainly streaming services within the last half-decade), time is the one thing that tests the endurance of stories and characters, and how they’re interpreted. Plus, if you’ve seen enough movies like I have (not to brag), you’ll easily know the difference between art and commerce. In layman’s terms, “studio interference” vs. “artistic integrity.”
In the case of the DC Extended Universe (the WarnerMedia-owned label responsible for introducing the postmodern world to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and so many other superheroes), it started in 2013 with a gritty origin story of the “faster-than-a-speeding-bullet” Man of Steel (MoS), helmed by director Zack Snyder (who previously brought the striking-yet-violent graphic novels 300 and Watchmen to the screen). A counter to the more colorful and popcorn-munching adventures of Marvel’s Avengers team, Snyder’s grimdark revamp polarized many viewers with its more grounded and uber-serious tone, and very little joy. His direct followup in 2016, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (BvS), continued this trend and became a critical failure, beginning a poor streak for a cinematic franchise that introduced and/or reimagined various DC heroes and villains in a similar fashion (Suicide Squad, anyone?).
Things did start looking up for DC with the release of Patty Jenkins’ surprisingly-great Wonder Woman in 2017. Prior to that film’s release, Snyder and his team reportedly took the critical and fan reactions to BvS in stride, and, from there, aimed for a more optimistic and hopeful (but still grounded) story with the highly-anticipated team up of Batman and Wonder Woman with the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg, in Justice League (JL). The crew spent several months filming in 2016 and were in the early stages of the movie’s post-production, until an unexpected tragedy in Snyder’s family caused the filmmaker to step away (one of his children had committed suicide).
In the meantime, WB brought in Marvel and TV veteran Joss Whedon to direct additional scenes for JL, based on his success with the first two Avengers movies (2012’s The Avengers and 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron). Long story short, WB’s promise that the “finished film” (which was released on November 17th, 2017) would keep in step with Snyder’s original vision was quickly blown out of proportion, with sharp criticisms towards the “theatrical” version’s cheesy visual effects (least of all, Henry Cavill’s digitally-erased mustache, a holdover from his role in 2018’s Mission: Impossible--Fallout), its cardboard and bland design of the villainous Steppenwolf, and for reducing its titular heroes to campy, quippy, and/or exploited. Wonder Woman, for one, was little more than an objectified mother figure, contrary to her more heroic and sincere character in her solo feature debut. Cyborg, Aquaman and the Flash, on the other hand, lost a lot of their respective backstories (and we mean a lot).
Needless to say, countless fans and the generally public figured something was off, and was most certainly not in line with what Snyder had intended. What immediately followed was an unprecedented marketing campaign demanding that WB release the director’s true cut of the film, ranging from Time Square billboards to a plane flying over San Diego ComiCon, to fundraisers and awareness for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (a cause very dear to the Snyder family). Hence, the now-iconic hashtag, #ReleasetheSnyderCut.
Then, on May 20, 2020, during a “watch party” for MoS on the social media platform Vero (a similar event for the “Ultimate Edition” of BvS was held one month prior), Snyder made it official: after nearly two-and-a-half years of demand and fundraising, his long-awaited cut of JL was happening, and would be released on the newly-formed HBO Max streaming service. And to think this announcement came almost two months after Screen Junkies posted an “Honest Trailer” YouTube video as an April Fool’s Day joke. Go figure.
DOUBLE TAKE AND BEYOND or, “SHALL WE?”
To paraphrase Ace Ventura, history has certainly shown us that even the most respected and intuitive film critics and movie-goers can be wrong from time to time. (And that can go both ways, whether a film was initially poorly-received or overly well-received.) This analogy applies particularly to now-revered movies that got a bad wrap (or were simply misunderstood) when they were first released. Walt Disney’s Fantasia. Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. And now, Zack Snyder may be emerging as the filmmaker of his generation to fit that same bill.
Perhaps no director since Kubrick has had, to an extent, such a reexamination of his body of work in recent years--at least from a devoted fanbase. This can be traced back to November of 2017, when the so-called “theatrical cut” of JL was both critically and commercially savaged. (This criticism even led yours truly to take another look at BvS.) I’ve been following the DCEU since 2016, when the highly-divisive BvS made a huge impact in the industry. And make no mistake, it is a polarizing film. Even so, it was the first time, as a “critic” and movie-goer, that I began to understand the importance of artistic integrity, for better or worse.
Snyder had released “director’s cuts” for four of his films before, including Dawn of the Dead (2004), Watchmen (2009), Sucker Punch (2011), and BvS. In years past, various director’s have done the same; the “director’s cut” is usually released a few months after the “theatrical” version, which can, in some cases, improve the overall experience (or just try a viewer’s patience), transforming a film into a more-realized story with plot holes filled in and character arcs deepened.
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| Zack Snyder behind the scenes of Justice League, with Ray Fisher (top) and Ezra Miller (bottom) |
Rare is the case where removal of “studio input” improves the overall film. Take Blade Runner, for example. When it was first released in 1982, Warner Bros insisted that a voiceover narration from star Harrison Ford would explain the plot of a detective searching for android criminals in a futuristic Los Angeles more clearly (a note that, along with a forced “happy ending,” Ford and director Ridley Scott both hated). For a “director’s cut,” released ten years later, Scott removed the voice over and kept a more ambiguous and challenging ending, and the film was thoroughly reexamined and better received. This overall reception would reach its apex fifteen years later, with a 2007 “Final Cut,” approved by Scott as the definitive edition.
Or how about the original Superman franchise from the late-Seventies and early-Eighties. Believe it or not, director Richard Donner (the man behind the 1978 landmark film) shot the first and second installments back-to-back. But a clash between Donner and the film’s producers behind the scenes led to only 75 percent of the second movie being filmed, and Donner was eventually fired and replaced with director Richard Lester. The 1981 sequel, Superman II, while critically and commercially successful, differed in tone to what Donner had established. Then, in the early 2000s, nearly two decades later, a dedicated fanbase began demanding a director’s cut of Superman II, based on footage seen as special features on laserdiscs and VHS tapes. And in 2006, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut was released.
On March 18th, 2021, Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released as a four-hour, feature-length epic, expanding (and restoring dignity to) various character arcs and keeping in step with the world and tone established in MoS and BvS. (Sounds like George Lucas’s “Special Editions” of Star Wars from the late-Nineties, right? Well, not exactly.) Given the current state of global affairs, what with racism, violence, and a pandemic, this film’s themes couldn’t be more timely or empowering.
A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN
After watching the long-awaited Snyder Cut on HBO Max during its premiere week, I forced myself to go back and watch the 2017 JL (or, "Joss-tice League," as some have dubbed it) to compare the two, and to fully recollect and observe what made this superhero epic go from a highly-anticipated blockbuster to just another mediocre and forgettable comic-book movie at first. Even though most of the 2017 movie had new footage (and highly-altered and/or re-edited material), the fact that it still bears Snyder’s name as the “director” is salt in an open wound. Those who’ve been following the former music video and commercial auteur’s career will know he’s not one for conventionalism. To be fair, Snyder’s films have problems; violence and sexuality among others. But a lack of sincerity isn’t one of them.
Things that are off right away in Whedon’s version include Danny Elfman’s replacing score (more of a retro hodgepodge of past character themes), an opening video stream with Cavill’s now-infamous CGI upper lip, and high lighting and color tones throughout (ditto some obvious blue screen imagery, recalling past failed comic-book adaptations like Spider-Man 3 [2007] and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace [1987]). I can’t help but recall another film that had a similar, downright butchered, overhaul--at least in its North American distribution in the mid-Eighties: Hayao Miyazaki’s animated masterpiece from 1984, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, re-edited as a 90-minute version under the title Warriors of the Wind.
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| Steppenwolf: 2017 vs. 2021 |
Getting back to "Joss-tice League," it seems they wanted to play off the success of Wonder Woman, let alone the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is apparent from this version’s opening “video blog,” rooftop fight, and credits set against a farmer’s market in slow-motion, followed by a homeless man holding an “I Tried” sign. The same goes for new scenes at the Daily Planet with Lois Lane and Martha Kent, Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince discussing Steppenwolf’s backstory involving the Mother Boxes, Barry’s “brunch” monologue and reluctant characterization, a subplot involving a Russian family, a mid-credits scene where the Flash and Superman race each other, and an orange color scheme replacing Snyder’s blue backdrop during the film’s climactic battle.
It’s funny, because I actually believed some of these elements were Synder’s ideas. The White Stripes’ “Icky Thump” and Gary Clark, Jr.’s rendition of “Come Together” (both of which ended up in the 2017 cut) were featured in the early trailers before Snyder’s departure, after all. And while only a few brief lines work to some degree (i.e., Aquaman’s “He’s not alright,” Flash’s “Pet Cemetery”), they collectively count for cheap laughs. Perhaps it’s fitting that Diana’s “I work with children” sigh applies here.
Synder has reportedly never seen the “theatrical cut,” but he estimates that only 25 percent of his footage ended up in that movie, based on what close friends have told him. From my recent viewing and analysis, he’s not far off. Because that 2017 version was a real stinker, maybe even more than Suicide Squad.
In his recent book, “Release the Snyder Cut: The Crazy True Story Behind the Fight That Saved Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” author Sean O’Connell talks about Warner Bros and DC following in Marvel’s footsteps, and how one Snyder/DC fan considered that approach to be “unwise”. Another fan, however, used a more applicable (if candid) metaphor. Said fan, Justin M. Lesniewski, described it this way:
There’s nothing wrong with McDonald’s . . . It’s a certain type of product. It’s mass produced to sell to as many people as possible, and high-quality culinary art is not a primary value for the company. You know what you’re getting, and it can be enjoyable every once in a while. However, a steady diet of it will kill you.
Adds O’Connell, “Extending the metaphor, Lesniewski posits that food is fuel for the body, but art is fuel for the soul. And Zack Snyder, in Lesniewski’s opinion, makes art.”
Fan Jack Ferrelly agrees, “All forms of media must evolve to stay relevant and to do better, whether that involves modernizing mythology or holding a mirror to society and politics.” Remember that scene in Unbreakable, where Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson meet for the first time, in the art gallery? I rest my case.
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| Ben Affleck in Zack Snyder's Justice League |
Fan Dallin Hancock believes that Snyder’s films “transcend the medium of entertainment to depict these dark, cruel, and violent worlds, and [Snyder] insist[s] that even in such worlds, goodness and beauty and sacrificial love can still exist and are even more powerful than the darkness itself.”
Many other fans, along with the aforementioned fans quoted in O’Connell’s book, claimed that Snyder’s films made them appreciate cinema as an art form, including transcending genres and character types. Perhaps no fan put such film theory into perspective quit like one Michael Schinke:
I can account for my life as a serious movie fan as being clearly bisected into pre- and post-Batman v Superman periods. Before BvS, I was content to let movies simply pass before me as a way to occupy time, and I didn’t engage in any conversations deeper than expressions like, ‘That was cool.’ But when the intellectual s--t hit the critical fan following BvS’s release, along with the re-agitation of the vitriol against Man of Steel, I felt like I had to evaluate my film consciousness in an extreme way to understand why the supposedly obvious problems didn’t seem to irk me as they did others. I found myself reading about film theory, researching cinematography and editing, gobbling up articles about storytelling and character arc and story craft. . . . I will never not be grateful for the opportunity those movies helped me make.
Reading this, I couldn’t help but recall (and be grateful for) how I looked at films differently as a college student in my Intro to Film class in 2007, and since 2009 and beyond, when I really started to take discernment and examination of film seriously. The same applies to the purpose of my blog, Film Freeq; ditto writing with a purpose (and for the right reasons) as opposed to writing for the sake of it.
“WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY . . .”
Cinematic universes are commonplace nowadays, generally with stories centered around characters whose origins trace back to comic books of the early- to mid-20th Century. The most well-known and financially successful company has, no doubt, been Marvel, whose ongoing cinematic “phases” have introduced postmodern audiences to the likes of Iron Man and Captain America, as well as more obscure entities like the Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Strange.
Even for all of its massive success, popcorn thrills, and engrossing storytelling, the MCU, as a whole, seems to have followed a specific formula that tends to be more passive than challenging. Granted, they have branched out with rare genre-bending entries (both under and outside of the Disney label) like Deadpool, Logan, and Black Panther. Even the last two Avengers movies (2018’s Infinity War and 2019’s Endgame) undeniably kept the cinema-going experience alive in spades. But risk seems to be scarce here. And that’s where the DCEU comes in.
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| Jared Leto in Zack Snyder's Justice League |
I have written in the past about what makes DC challenging. At the same time, while Marvel characters represent more modern sensibilities, DC characters, by comparison, have a more mythological, almost ancient, vibe to them. One of Zack Snyder’s common traits, in fact, is mythological subtext, which can be seen in the Spartan soldiers in 300 (2007), for example. On the heels of Christopher Nolan’s successful Batman trilogy at the turn of the 2010s, Snyder and company (with Nolan’s support) applied that same aesthetic to the Superman mythos. And the result seemed to come out of nowhere, equally enthralling and dividing viewers. While many praised Man of Steel’s visual and gritty aesthetic, others were caught off guard by it. Even more so with the subsequent BvS, which introduced an older Bruce Wayne into the world that Superman was now a part of, as if starting from scratch. The response was polarizing, enabling WB to rethink their cinematic universe strategy.
In recent years, the response is still divided, but the passing of time, again, has provided a better understanding of what Snyder and company were attempting to do. If anything, BvS was not a passive blockbuster entertainment, but rather a work of art that was challenging, for better and for worse. Much can be learned from it both sides. And Snyder’s influence has remained present throughout the DCEU, especially in standalone features with Wonder Woman and Aquaman, respectively.
Whether you think his films are brilliant or sluggish, you can’t deny that Zack Snyder challenges our perceptions of what a superhero/comic book movie can be. Seeing the world as it is and not sugarcoating it, but still hoping for what it can be, almost like Field of Dreams. MoS had the elder Jonathan Kent foreshadowing his adopted son Clark’s abilities and how they would impact peoples’ perceptions on earth. “[My father] was convinced that I had to wait," declared Clark, "That the world was not ready. What do you think?” Likewise, were audiences ready for these kinds of stories? Maybe yes, maybe no.
In many ways, MoS and especially BvS were ahead of their time, as was 2017’s Wonder Woman (both cinematically and aesthetically). BvS had an interesting, if strange, way of mirroring audiences’ and critics’ perceptions of Snyder as a filmmaker (“He is not our enemy”). It also has grey lines between fantasy and reality, as well as characters falling victim to the lies of the world. The same goes for what the world can do to “inspirations,” to “heroes,” to mythological figures who are deeper than they seem, and how these figures remember who they really are when all is said and done. If anything, they’re interpretations. But they’re not the only ones.
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| Zack Snyder's Justice League |
“THEY SAID THE AGE OF HEROES WOULD NEVER COME AGAIN”
Watching the appropriately-named Zack Snyder’s Justice League (I’ve seen it three times as of this writing), I marveled (so to speak) at the never-before-seen footage of its titular characters and their respective arcs, including citizens of Aquaman/Arthur Curry’s underwater kingdom of Atlantis; Wonder Woman/Diana Prince’s fearless island of Themyscira; and a deeper backstory of the defenders of Earth,” the “Mother Boxes,” and a much more intimidating Steppenwolf along with the big bad Darkseid. There’s even a completely revamped take on Jared Leto’s previously-criticized interpretation of the Joker (from 2016’s Suicide Squad) in one of the film’s central moments (four minutes of new footage, shot in 2020, expanding the “Knightmare” sequence from BvS). The film really takes its time and adds weight and ethereal emotion, and gives each character their moment(s) to shine, individually and collectively. Whereas Whedon’s version was conventional and studio-driven, Synder’s version is much more genuine. (And yes, the whole mustache fiasco is out, while black suit Superman is in) It really shows. It’s also fulfilling, in many ways, to see what was promised in initial teaser trailers released in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Talk about a long time coming.
There’s also more action and scope, in a full 4:3 IMAX frame rate (a rarity for now-standard widescreen televisions and movie screens). At least two versions of this cut are now available on HBO Max, including the full color version, and an edition in black-and-white titled “Justice Is Grey” (which I’ll mention in a bit). As far as plans for theatrical screenings? Some exclusive engagements are being considered, but I do really hope a few local theaters in my area will hold exclusive showings. They deserve to, especially for the IMAX experience.
More importantly, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is consistent with the world established since MoS and, again, turns what was once a mediocre and forgettable movie into a great one, complete with Snyder’s trademark slow-motion shots and Junkie XL’s incredible score (the guitar riffs during the team’s first battle knocked my socks off). Although, the movie did gain an R-rating for its violence (various characters get graphically dismembered during key battle sequences) and some unnecessary language choices (at least three f-words pop up during the four-hour runtime, including one from Batman himself.) Also be prepared for some massive cliffhangers, some bits that could’ve been shortened or left on the cutting room floor (a la Francis Ford Coppola’s “Redux” version of Apocalypse Now), and a few challenging themes that test these characters and where they could potentially go from here. (Snyder reportedly had two more films in mind after this one.) Even so, the scope and attention-to-detail is massively impressive, and the more-fully-realized characters are a great showcase for onscreen representation.
It’s worth noting that the aforementioned “Justice Is Grey” edition looks great, joining the likes of other B&W versions of recent blockbusters like Mad Max: Fury Road and Logan. As seen on Snyder’s Vero account, this is his preferred version of the film, 1) because that’s the way he’s been marketing it, and 2) because that’s the version he reportedly lived with for as long as he was off the original film’s post-production, and as long as the #ReleasetheSnyderCut movement has been a thing. It amazes me how much footage they were able to get in 2016. The B&W photography gives the film a memorial look, with real attention to characters (including a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from Snyder himself, during an opening scene in a coffee shop).
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| Ray Fisher in Zack Snyder's Justice League |
SECOND CHANCES
Now that the Snyder Cut is out (and Snyder’s forthcoming Netflix film, the zombie heist thriller Army of the Dead, out next month), fans and DC/Snyder devotees have transitioned to a new phase: for Snyder to complete the five-film arc he had initially envisioned. Hence, a new hashtag, #RestoretheSnyderVerse.
Only time will tell. Then again, whoever thought we’d actually get the Snyder Cut for real? It was the fans, their support, and their tenacity that made all of this possible to begin with. Actor Ray Fisher, perhaps, said it best during a livestream panel at the 2020 “Justice Con”:
There’s no way any of this would have happened without the support of the fans, without the support of the individuals involved. There’s just no way. I mean, this is history. It’s monumental. There’s nothing that’s ever been done like this before. So for me, it’s like . . . this is something I’ve said over the years. If this is the only experience I’m blessed to have in this business, I’m fine with that. This is going down in cinematic history, for a lot of different reasons.
Like I said, time has a unique effect on everything. It sure does on the Flash.
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