Sadly, real life plagued this production, and director Zack Snyder had to leave the production due to the death of his daughter. So, a replacement was brought in. I mean, on paper, it sounds fine. Bring in the guy who had a successful run of genre TV shows and who directed the Avengers movie (you know the #2 team-up), and let him wrap up filming. Well...the problem is that the guy they brought in was Whedon. Now my own personal issue with the guy aside... no, actually not. But I'm jumping ahead of myself here.
For tonight's viewing, I want to cover the 2021 Snyder Cut of this movie. I can appreciate Superman II with both the Lester and Donner cuts. Each one is a good movie on its own with strengths and weaknesses. Each one is enjoyable and cringy in equal measure. I prefer the Donner cut, but the Lester one is still good. I can't say the same for Justice League.
I enjoyed the 2017 Justice League, but things felt off. I knew it the moment in the interaction between Steppenwolf and the Amazons. These didn't feel like the elite warriors that took out Nazis in Wonder Woman. These were bikini-clad pulp fighting women. Was it Whedon? Was it Snyder? I don't know, but the dialog was Whedon. It was also not the only thing. We know that after Snyder left Whedon reshot a lot of the movie. He also rewrote the script. There were also allegations of abuse, racism and sexism on the set from Ray Fisher (Cyborg), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman, though she shut him down), and Kiersey Clemons (Iris West, who's skin was lightened in the Whedon cut, that is where she was left in it). This opened the door for other actors to share their tales of Whedon's long-standing misconduct on set.
I detailed his fall from grace already, so no need to go over that again. It was reassuring to hear some of my long-time critics tell me, "Wow, you were right back then." So yeah I really can't watch the 2017 cut anymore, all I see are his attempts to "improve" the movie.
Now, I am not a big Snyder fan boy, but I do think the 2021 cut is superior. It explains things better, the pacing is better, and the character development is much better.
There is only ONE thing in the 2017 cut that I enjoyed that is not in (nor would it fit in) the 2021. After defeating Steppenwolf Cyborg says "Boo-ya" as a nod to the Teen Titans show. I am sure Whedon's kid watched it, he is the same age as my kids and they loved that show. So did I.
Oh, yeah, the plot.
Ok, Superman is dead, even though it looked like he might come back to life at the end of BvS. Bruce is feeling guilty and perceives a new threat. So he is gathering up a team of super-powered people, Meta-Humans, to help. Ok, kudos to writers Chris Terrio and Zack Snyder for having Batman build the league. That is a new one and it works here with Bat-Fleck. We get the Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyborg.
In the 2021 cut Cyborg is our focus hero. He is the newest and in recent versions of the comic Justice League (New 52 and beyond) he is also the newest member. This was drastically reduced in the 2017 cut. but it makes sense to have Cyborg, Victor Stone, as our way of seeing the League.
Anyway...Parademons are attacking, Motherboxes, Darkseid, Steppenwolf. All BIG THINGS you would want the League for. Steppenwolf attacks the Amazons to get the Motherbox they are guarding. Then he heads to Atlantis to get their theirs. The third Motherbox is being studied by Victor's father.
The new League decides they need Superman back, though Diana is reluctant. They devise a plan and bring him back. In the 2017 cut they just come out and say it, in the 2021 cut it is built up more. There is more gravitas to it. More, "is this something we should be doing?" It's not quite the same as The Return of Superman in the comics, but it...no, it really doesn't make much sense in either version. I would have done it differently. But he is back, black suited (like the Return) and they are off to battle Steppenwolf and the three Motherboxes.
The ending battle is fun no doubt. Both Cyborg and Flash prove their worth to League as the youngest members. Superman and Cyborg prevent the Unity of the Motherboxes, and Diana shows how she "takes care" of her enemies. She is a warrior with a sword after all.
Watching the two side by side again (and that's six or so hours, was up till 2:30am), I am left feeling a bit worn out, to be honest. Whedon's 2017 version comes off as creepier, a little more sexist (any scene with Wonder Woman and/or the Amazons), and honestly, like he has something against Cyborg. Is that my post hoc knowledge in the way? I don't know, but I will say this for certain: the 2017 version is weaker by any measure you care to employ.
Though I will say this, Snyder needs to figure out how to trim down his own stories.
In the end, the differences are best summed up for me in the scene where Steppenwolf attacks the Amazons. In the 2017 cut, he is creepily referring to the Motherbox as "Mother" and telling the Amazons they will love him. In the 2021 cut, he is threatening them with annihilation and telling the Amazons they will fear him. To which Hippolyta asks the Amazons to show him their fear and to a woman they shout, "We have no fear."
Mera pulling the water and blood out of Steppenwolf was also pretty cool too.
I am going to say it. If there was a scene with a woman being a complete bad-ass on her own (not counting Wonder Woman) Whedon pulled the scene from the 2017 cut.
Cameos
As I mentioned before, Marc McClure, who played Jimmy Olsen in the Salkinds/Christopher Reeve Superman film series, has a brief cameo as a police officer in the 2017 version and a different police officer in the 2021 version.
Synder himself makes a cameo appearance in his cut. He is sitting in the coffee shop Lois is leaving right before she sees the resurrected Superman.
Another "cameo" and one very close to Zack Snyder's heart, are the billboards for the AFSP, or the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. His daughter committed suicide while filming this movie. He dedicated it to her in the end credits.
I know I said I'd talk about Wonder Woman today, but it is late, and my eyes are killing me. I'll have some more to say on the the other films, Wonder Woman, and the end of the DCEU later.