The Justice League Re-imagined

In 2018 Justice Leauge, directed by both Joss Whedon and Zack Snyder, was released and seen as a major letdown to most audiences. One contributing factor to this is the fact that Snyder, who had directed most of the DCEU movies up to that point, had to step down due to family issues.

Three years later, a new version of Justice League was released, specifically under Snyder’s creative vision exclusively on HBO Max. What is being dubbed the “Synder Cut” has brought some major changes that contribute to an overall better movie than its original version.

A few small changes made come in the form of the rating and color. The movie is now rated R allowing it to be darker in concept and execution which matches the tone of the movie. This is the same for the color as it is much less colorful to match the dark tone, but sometimes it is a bit too drab and colorless.

Another big difference is the run time. This movie is four hours long, twice the length of the original. It definitely does not need to be this long but it allows for a lot more to go on during the movie. 

One of the best changes to the movie made is the dialogue. Characters like Cyborg and Flash are really fleshed out in this new version allowing the audience to easily connect with them and be more likable. Along with this, a lot of the quippy jokes and cringy lines were either altered or removed allowing the movie to flow without getting old.

Another big inclusion of the Synder Cut is the inclusion of Darkseid. Darkseid is the big bad guy of the DC universe and despite setting him up, his presence in the first version was sorely missed. With his inclusion and the movie even including the Anti-Life Equation, the stakes are raised even higher. Also, despite his minor roles, the addition of the Martian Manhunter is really cool for DC fans to see and helps widen the universe.

Lastly, the added scenes of both action and character development really boost the movie. Characters are given real motives and character moments that help the audience connect to the cast of heroes. This lets a movie that has a lot of central characters not leave one feeling like an empty person or filler hero. Each of them is given personalities and are unique are from one another.

Overall, despite running longer than needed, the Synder Cut is a definite improvement to the original Justice Leauge. With many new scenes and many small changes to the original scenes, this movie should be watched by any DC or just superhero movie fan in general.