The Snyder Cut isn't perfect, but it’s undeniably a look at what could've been for the D.C. Extended Universe and a chance most of its characters never had.
First, let's get one thing out the way. Is the Snyder Cut better than the Josstice League (Joss Whedon's version of the Justice League)? Of course, it is. Granted, that's not really necessarily a hard thing to do, and it's the bare minimum of what the film is supposed to be. But did the film actually succeed in being a decent film? I would argue yes.
For one, director Zach Snyder gives us a proper buildup to these characters. From the first film, Victor Stone, aka Cyborg (Ray Fisher), barely even seems important to the team. Now with the Snyder Cut, not only is he important, but much of the story is connected to him. I'm always a stickler for when characters of color in these superhero movies are given an actual storyline and not just put in and used for their powers. But especially after the year, Ray Fisher has had after accusing Joss Whedon of misconduct, to see him get to really shine in this film is a good enough reason, in my opinion, to give the film a chance alone. It's very clear this film could've and should've been much more of a breakout role for him, and unfortunately, due to Whedon, he wasn't given a fair chance.
In addition to Cyborg, the Flash is given more time to shine and is given a scene at the end that really stands out and shows what Flash can do in a way that fans of just the movies have never seen. The dialogue in the scene is pretty cheesy, but I appreciate the scene itself.
On top of proper buildup for the characters, there's also proper buildup for the plot, which honestly goes hand in hand, and seeing as how both are things that were non-existent in the "Josstice League," we see more and more why the film was a mess. It's not really just backstory, but these tiny expositions that Snyder makes sure are included make the narrative greater and help the audience understand why the team works the way they do.
So what are the negatives? As I've stated, one thing that makes this film better than the version preceding it is that it takes its time building out its plot and characters, but it certainly did not need 4 hours to do that. Snyder's scenes include a lot of slow-motion that isn't necessary. They could've shaved an hour down easily, and it would've still been as equally good a film. It could've still established the characters and their personalities, the villain's origins and motives, and given us a satisfying conclusion that felt like it paid off. The movie was divided into 6 parts which, on top of adding to making it longer than it needed to be, felt like a cop-out from having to make the movie actually flow seamlessly from one scene to the next.
Outside of length, while the movie is a vast improvement from the first film we saw, it still has remnants that didn't make the first film great either. There's only so much a new version can do. All in all, I enjoyed myself a hell of a lot more than I did when I bought my ticket to see Justice League in theatres back in 2017.
The Snyder Cut is literally so different from the 2017 version that I’m now convinced that Whedon made the movie bad on purpose because no way did you have the option to put some of these scenes in and just chose not to. While Snyder has so far confirmed that the Snyder Cut isn't canon, hopefully, the positive reception to this film will have him and Warner Bros. sitting down to discuss the possibility of next steps that can give fans the D.C. Extended Universe that we deserve.
Grade: B-