Justice League The Snyder Cut Trailer: Is There Hope?
Since the announcement of the Snyder Cut of Justice League the internet has been divided. For some this is a victory, the chance for a true vision of the Justice League to be realized. For others, it’s just another stumble down an infinite winding path of mediocrity for the DC Cinematic Universe. Since the original announcement Snyder has teased various images over social media. He’s added further fuel to the fire, stoking the excitement of the Snyder Cut acolytes. And furthering the rage of dissenters saying he’d sooner burn it all then use a single second shot by Whedon.
Justice of the Justice League
This past weekend at the first every DC Fandome event Snyder talked about his vision of the Justice League movie. They even released a trailer featuring tons of new footage. We have to ask ourselves if it’s going to be enough to fix a film fundamentally flawed at it’s core. The Justice League came after Marvel’s Avengers. The first great Super Hero team-up movie that brought in $1.5 Billion worth of box office revenue. Warner Brothers and DC wanted to capitalize on that same energy. Unlike Marvel, in the eyes of the fans they didn’t build the right to make the movie. Despite the huge budget, special effects and star-studded line up, the fans were right.
After re-watching the Justice League, there are a lot of moments that on paper were beautiful. They were true to the Justice League and the characters we have known for 70+ years in the comic pages. But in a universe we had only briefly known for 3 movies, it wasn’t enough. There’s a scene in Justice League that should have went down in history as one of the most iconic moments in super hero cinema.
Batman and Wonder Woman argue over the choice to use alien technology to bring Superman back from the dead. Everyone knows the threat earth is about to face requires the strength of Superman and the inspiration he invokes. Bruce argues for the use of the Mother Box, but why? One movie ago he thought that Superman was the single most dangerous entity on the planet. This is despite him saving the world. Now he wants to bring him back using a technology he knows is evil. And without knowing how it could affect the man of steel. If the roles were reverse and Diana wanted him back it might have worked. Despite the fact she had never met him before the day she fought Doomsday beside him. But the scene instead flounders and leaves fans scratching their heads as to why either of these characters feel the way they do.
Is There Any Hope?
With the multitude of problems in the film can the Justice League be saved with a Director’s Cut? The short answer is no. But what Zack Snyder has planned is not a directors cut. It’s an entirely new movie. The proposed new Justice League will be four hours long, has required substantial reworks and re-shooting and the new costs are in the millions. This isn’t just a director in an editing room re-cutting the movie.
With that in mind and with what we’ve seen in the trailer…maybe it’s possible? From the moment I first saw Justice League in theaters, despite loving the performances of Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Ezra Miller and Jason Mamoa, I knew it wasn’t a good movie. I knew a directors cut would not save it. I still question whether Zack Snyder truly understands these characters enough to even make a new Justice League movie. But, even with all of that, the new trailer looks good. The music choice is questionable at best.
But I do warn against being hopeful. Movie trailers are for building excitement and fan hype. I’ve been fooled into seeing terrible movies by good trailers and I’ve waited to see great movies because of terrible trailers. Judge for yourself when it eventually drops, in four separate one-hour parts and be ready for a collective “I told you so,” if it fails to meet expectations again. However, if the Justice League Snyder Cut miraculously does the impossible, I will be the first to admit I was wrong.
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Feature Image: Screenshot Justice League Snyder Cut Trailer by Warner BrothersDC Comics