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Poster Description: The poster is black and white, with “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” written at the top in white. The JL symbol is surrounded by a square with a star-shaped gap between the letters. Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Batman, and Cyborg stand side by side. |
You can read my thoughts on the first part of Zack Snyder's Justice League here. I watched the second part with cautious optimism and wasn't entirely disappointed.
PART 2: The Age of Heroes
1) Okay, the mystical vocalisations are getting annoying.
As with Justice League, Wonder Woman is introduced to the story rescuing hostages in a court. Though this is, admittedly, in the first part, Diana is accompanied by what the subtitles describe as “mystical female vocalisations.” Like to the iconic Wonder Woman riff, the vocalisations herald something kickass is about to happen – and it does. Nevertheless, the music is always the same warbling pattern, which sounds remarkably like the voice in the opening credits of the Noughties reboot of Battlestar Galactica. Not only that, but the identical vocals are also more noticeable when you watch the parts one after the other. Hans Zimmer would later rectify this repetitiveness in Wonder Woman 1984, but I guess we’re stuck with the editor copying and pasting whenever Diana Prince is on screen.
Speaking of Diana…
2) Wonder Woman has to have specially made shoes, surely?
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Image Description: Diana (Gadot) is in a dark cave, holding a flaming torch to read its walls. She wears a cream coat, white shirt, and red lipstick with her hair pulled back. She looks mildly horrified. Behind her, a wall illustration shows three elaborate boxes. |
In the wake of Steppenwolf’s coming invasion, Queen Hippolyta signals to her daughter by firing the burning arrow of Artemis to Earth; though highly improbable, it’s arguably one of the more gorgeous shots of the film. Diana then travels to Greece to retrieve the arrow, which then leads her to a hidden chamber. Diana has to make a flaming torch and jump down a hole to get there – in high heels. Incredibly, they stay intact. The whole scene reminds me of something out of The Mummy or Indiana Jones, which is alright in my book. If there’s ever another Wonder Woman movie (hopefully not in the same calibre as WW1984, please no), I want it to involve an archaeological excavation of some kind. Yes, I am that much of a history nerd.
3) *Gasp* Is that a hint of back-story I see?!
Let’s face it, Joss Whedon had no idea what to do with Aquaman, Cyborg, or The Flash. While Aquaman acts as a passable standalone film, Snyder’s version compliments it nicely. Still in the Icelandic village, he rescues an erstwhile fisherman before snagging a bottle of whisky to stride out into the water again – in slow-motion, of course. Instead of The White Stripes’ “Icky Thump,” we get Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the atmosphere is so much gloomier. This version of Curry is still excellent, but there is a real sense of his loneliness, too.
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Image Description: The camera focuses on Arthur Curry’s head and shoulders. He scowls, his long hair blown into salty tangles by the sea breeze and spray. The top half of his body is covered in symmetrical tribal tattoos. |
Arthur comes to an underwater temple with a stone statue holding a trident. Then, who should turn up, but Willem Dafoe? He plays Vulko, who offers a lot of exposition around Arthur’s heritage (an Atlantean queen for a mother and human father, etc.), with a plea for Arthur to, in no uncertain terms, get his head out of his arse and claim his birth right. Had the Snyder been released before Aquaman, I do not doubt that it would have offered enough intrigue for people to see Arthur’s story in cinemas; it does far more than Justice League ever bothered to include about him.
4) DeSaad is made of de molten metal (sorry).
As hinted at in the first part, Steppenwolf aims to conquer Earth for (almost) sympathetic reasons. We learn about it through an exchange between him and a figure named DeSaad, who appears to act as a messenger. Steppenwolf was cast out by a lord named Darkseid (more on him later) for betraying him, under the condition that Steppenwolf conquers fifty thousand worlds to barter his return. So, nothing too tricky, then.
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GIF Description: Steppenwolf is in a dilapidated warehouse, surrounded by pulsing roots. He steps back from a metal obelisk that melts with golden sparks to reveal a tall, hooded figure with a pointed chin and glowing eyes. |
With his eyes and mouth like magma pits, DeSaad’s character design is stunning - although Peter Guinness sounds like he recorded his voice through an electric fan. Still, it adds to the unsettling otherness of this new character.
5) Stakes? I love stakes!
What irked me most about Justice League was that the stakes were not made apparent at all. So what if there were three Mother Boxes and some horned alien was looking for them? Not only did it make it hard to care about the characters and their motivations, it ultimately felt like rushed, lazy storytelling.
Not so in the Snyder Cut.
Bruce shaves his stubble with a shameless piece of product placement. Diana strolls into his top-security bunker without breaking a sweat; there is some banter, which is nice. Then things get serious, as Diana/Gal Gadot narrates a full-on info dump that probably would have worked better at the start of the film, Lord of the Rings-style. Ah, well.
As exposition goes, it’s pretty useful, explaining what the Mother Boxes are, their significance, and we get to see Amazons, Atlanteans, humans, and Green Lanterns – yes, really! – fight alongside Gods, including David Thewlis’s Ares.
(Nope, still not convinced by the casting choice).
The big baddie is Darkseid, unique to Snyder’s version, a less loquacious Thanos if you will. It’s a gripping sequence, not to mention incredibly violent as we watch a Lantern gets his hand chopped off, among other deaths. Darkseid also gets an axe in the neck, but his end remains uncertain at this point.
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Yup, that’s going to leave a mighty mark… Image Description: Darkseid is a bald behemoth with skin like a rock or crocodile. His mouth is open in a roar of pain as he grapples with an enormous axe protruding just above his collarbone. Blood spills from the wound. |
The second part of the film ends with these familiar lines:
DIANA: They said The Age of Heroes would never come.
BRUCE: It has to.
Unlike in Justice League, Affleck keeps it quiet and
sombre, which makes it more believable.
So...?
At this point, we are over an hour Snyder’s film, happy in the knowledge of what the League is up against. Hurrah, colour me invested. Furthermore, we shall learn more about Cyborg and The Flash, and their collective daddy issues in the third part…
My Sources:
Zack Snyder’s Justice League poster - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12361974/
Image: Diana discovers the Mother Box plot - https://torontosun.com/entertainment/movies/gal-gadots-wonder-woman-uncovers-darkseid-in-new-justice-league-clip
Image: And the winner for Best Smoulder goes to Jason Momoa! - https://batman-news.com/2018/12/06/zack-snyder-shares-deleted-aquaman-scene-from-justice-league/
GIF: DeSaad talks with Steppenwolf - https://q-the-rockaholic.tumblr.com/post/646023148961185793/desaad-steppenwolf-and-darkseid-zack-snyders
Image: Darkseid is wounded - https://www.quora.com/Whats-something-that-makes-no-sense-about-Zack-Snyders-Justice-League
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