There is information in here that SOME people may deem to be plot details (spoilers), I do not believe that is the case, however, take heed.
So a lot of people are aware of the saga that was Justice League. Long story short: in 2016 Zack Snyder sought to make a Justice League movie that would bring together the DCEU heroes from his own Man of Steel and Batman V Superman, as well Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman. After having completed photography and editing on the film, the director underwent a devastating family tragedy at which point WB decided to, instead of pressing pause on the production, remove Zack Snyder from the movie, bring in Joss Whedon to reshoot and rewrite almost the whole damn thing and curtail the movie down to two hours. It was a super colossal disaster. A devastating mess of epic proportions, 2017s Justice League was a financial tragedy as well as ostracized by critics and fans alike. The studio had the world believing that prior to Whedon's involvement, the original version of Justice League was an unwatchable mess and only brought in a new director in order salvage what was entirely unwatchable and god-awful in order to delivery "something" resembling a movie to theatres. Fine fair enough, I guess.
In 2021, however, we know better now don't we? Is Zack Snyder's JL a better movie than the theatrical release? Yes. Far and away this is a better movie, both in terms of storyline as well as craftsmanship. IS ZSJL a cool movie in its own right? It is. I am a weird freak, and so I got a kick out of Man of Steel as well as Batman V. Superman, flaws and all. The truth is that if you like enjoyed Snyder's DCEU, Wonder Woman, Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, then you'll like this. If you gasped in terror at those movies, well then you're not going to like Justice League either. It's all fruit from the same tree. However........ I found myself asking "WHY IN THE HELL did they even bother getting another director to reshoot the movie?" Let me explain without getting into plot details:
This is, on a fundamental level, THE SAME movie as the theatrical release. There is A LOT more in here yes, it is bloodier, has more foul language and mercifully it is shot on film, however the overall plot points are the same. Superman is dead, Batman is going on a mission to gather the team, Batman goes to recruit Aquaman and Barry Allen, Diana goes after Cyborg, Steppenwolf shows up to steal mother boxes and raise hell, the League gathers together to resurrect Superman, Superman comes back and is kind of crazy, the League has a fight with Superman, Superman takes off with Lois, the League goes to Russia to deal with Steppenwolf by themselves only to get their asses handed to them, Superman shows up, kicks Steppenwolf's ass and saves the day, Bruce buys the bank that held the mortgage to Mrs. Kent's farm and here we are. That is the GENERAL plot of the 2017 movie and that is the GENERAL plot of the HBOMAX movie. Yes, the 2021 version is far and away better in every imaginable way, but the overall story arch is the same. So why in THE HELL did they have to bring in another director to screw around with everything? A kid with an iPad Pro could easily edit this four hour epic down to two hours in an afternoon.
At this point it is clear that the leadership at WB have no idea what they are doing. The company is being run people, ostensibly, who have no clue about the movie business. They may be "business people", but they certainly do not know anything about filmmaking. My recommendation is that if you have a free afternoon or evening watch this movie. Do yourself a favour and forget that the 2017 version even exists.
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