Zack Snyder's justice league review, spoilers

Alright, bear with me for a while.

Those past few days, one of the things that really made me happy was to see people who weren't sensitive to Zack's way of storytelling, actually pick up things, mostly the symbolism part, and enjoying this movie. I love watching discussions about superheroes (from the big two to the third parties) and especially have them discuss personalities, struggles, victories, and the likes.

I can appreciate Snyder, Nolan, sometimes Shyamalan, or even Tarantino filmmaking because they make films that aren't following a formula nor are made into standard movies. their movies make you think and are always multilayered. (to this day I'm still discussing Inception and whether or not Cobb's dreaming, the hateful eight also have a piece of wonders, regarding Samuel L. Jackson's character, etc..)

I've loved Man of Steel and I remember the pieces I wrote explaining why I loved his Kal-El (the immigrant experience, which I share with him. Him being literally a god but immensely human too (and frankly when you know his creation and all the little details surrounding it -did you know EL meant God in Hebrew? did you know that Kal meant either Voice or Ship? did you also know that the Nazi in 1940 did see him as a Jewish superhero given he was very Jewish-coded? when I write a piece about him, I will share the sources I found in a very nice article about it.) He wasn't perfect, he was just starting, he had to choose between the old ways (or traditions of his birth culture and in his case a civilization made of conquerors) or the ways he was raised with (or the civilization of his adoptive parents/ the country he lived in). He was a man who was living a life made of challenges -inner conflicts, outside conflicts- and yet he still CHOSE to do the right thing. yes, he made mistakes (but in superman 2 he also did fucking kill Zod, so what's that argument anyway?) and it was done with pain. yes, I know the consequences weren't "showed" but, I guessed that he dealt with it and decided to do better from now on.

I loved BVS and all the little things it said about the characters he introduced. Again, you understood that Batman crossed the line, mostly due to a traumatic event that broke him down so much that all the unaddressed traumas in his life (cue, his family's death) couldn't be tucked down in his heart. he just snapped. and it was his journey from the old, tired, disillusioned man who had one too many bad days towards redemption and the light. he achieved it by the end of the film because he was inspired, he was confronted with his own loss of humanity and regained it come to the end of the film. (and the filter does tell that story too. since at the end of the movie, "colors" return). Wonder Woman, also inspired by Superman, came back to the world once again and was so effin good during the short screentime she had that I wanted more of her.

JL... JL was a feast. Without spoiling too much for those who have not seen it, it was a journey.

It was a movie about second chances, redemption, rebirth, and grief. there was so much diversity in it (we saw a lot of different ethnicities taking front and center and filmed respectfully. ) it was a movie about gods who walked among humans (the DC comics always had that vibe) BUT who are extremely humans too. (thus, flawed).

Batman's arc was so beautiful. we had him operating on faith, we had him opening up to others, we had him healing from the trauma he had been through, with companionship, selflessness, and Hope. the epilogue scene was so beautiful when you realize that the manor is under construction, we're in Autumn, the lake is calm (cause water is such a BIG element in those movies), he's at peace with himself, finally. someone said rightfully so, that he fulfilled a promise he made and gathered people not out of anger or grief or revenge, but out of hope. Besides, he's so boss when he fights! like;... he's the most batman that will ever Batman. besides at various point others rally around him to protect him (cause he's the non-meta, an only human person there, so the most vulnerable) and at the end, superman just pulls him up so he could join the other gods (the new gods that are the justice league). he's their equal, despite his humanity and because of it. that made me tear up.

Gotham City also has a personality in this movie... so much so that I wanted a Ben Affleck movie about Batman and Gotham... for Yesterday!

Lois Lane also had her little arc about grief. every scene she was in there was rain (up until Superman came back to life, then the rain had stopped, the ground was wet but she was moving forward, finally accepting to 'come back to the living', more at peace with herself and the idea that she would never see him again). She also anchors Superman to his humanity as soon as they see each other again. (and saves Batman from him, like she saved Clark from him in BVS). I loved her arc, mostly because that was intimate, elegant, sweet, and respectful.

Superman: needless to remind that this is literally Jesus's story, right? but aside from the obvious, (you know, the butterfly which are symbols for rebirth? the sky color which reminded us we were at dawn, the fact he was looking back at the swing from when he was a kid? what we got instead was a man at peace with himself finally embracing everything about him. the most vibrant moment of this was when he was preparing to fly again. this time with words from both of his fathers, pushing him through and forward. and then he took off and then we have this renaissance painting vibe when he's in outer space, gorging himself with the sun. with the beautiful music that reminded us of Flight in MoS. I don't know why some people refuse to see that he's far more than just muscles and had been portrayed as far more than this but, okay I guess?

Wonder Woman: I'm sorry but have you seen the lore we got for her? we saw her culture, we saw diversity, we saw her sisterhood. we saw her be both fierce and without compromise, (during fights), adventurous and clever (please more of Lara Croft Wonder Woman), confident, respected (nobody objectified her, nobody questioned her words as well and people listened to her), she was strong in a physical way, strong emotionally as well, and yet, kind (the scene at the bank afterward? in all of her interactions with her teammates as well). she had her struggles and mentioned them, but unlike the others who were trying to figure it out and had just started to figure themselves out, she was already ahead of them. in this rare place between regrets and doubts yet confident enough to move forward and try. she was trying. you could tell (and she was clumsy while doing it. cue scenes with Bruce at the computer and Alfred and the tea). Her new theme is so much more badass and organic! albeit, I can understand why some people would be irritated to hear it over and over again. I loved it because it was different each time. the way they sang it wasn't the same :) conveying different emotions :D

Aquaman: He wasn't that much here, but we could see his struggle. have you noticed how the sea outside (so not his underwater scenes) was agitated. he was drinking which indicated he was trying to numb his wild emotions. the guy wasn't at peace at all. After all, he's a bi-ethnic man, with one of the sides being superpowered. not accepted anywhere and with an absentee mother. he was rejecting his responsibilities because he wasn't connected to these people and was still angry at what happened to him. (he never asked for any of this) and you see him take responsibility, care for his fellow teammates (he is the one who shows a lot of empathy for Victor, for the villagers and concerns about the rest too), NOT SOME DUDEBRO, I was so happy that he wasn't. besides the song used for him (It goes there's a king and a kingdom etc;.) was very fitting... melancholic, close to how he was feeling at this moment. and at the end, you can see that the water next to him is very calm.. as if Arthur was appeased and ready to move forward (which he did anyway). I'm so happy many people noticed too :D

Flash: He was.. oh he was so touching. this funny, kind, caring, and awkward person. you know, speaking a lot to hide his anxiety -at least he was coded as neurodivergent to me and having anxiety which led to him speaking this fast and having a hard time connecting with people-, he was Brave, determined, I legit cried when he got shot and had to do his mini-flashpoint. his relationship with his father, the hope, the perseverance, the unbridled joy when he was able to have "his foot in it". I love how they respected him and didn't go "Ewww weirdo" because he's probably neurodivergent. they just took him in and that's it. he understands his powers, so he's not looking into mastering them, his arc wasn't so much about him as a meta-human but more about Barry Allen. what that man could do, (not if he could do it), why he would it, who he is. we got a glimpse of it and I want more now.

Cyborg: Okay, phew... first of all... he's the heart of this movie okay? there are so many things to say about him but he's a good-hearted kid okay? selfless and boss as hell. He's a stand-in for people with physical disabilities (Zack said so), who are often seeing their agencies reduced by able-bodied people. they are often seen as less, as "broken" (like in the movie), and helpless. Victor's journey is so fantastic. he went from self-loathing, self-imposed isolation, anger/ issues with his father (who was an absentee father, too engrossed with his work) to someone who worked through the pain to understand the body he was in, make his situation "his" and own his life and destiny. he had all this power in the world and what does he do when he first uses it? he helps others. he was willing to sacrifice himself to save the world. he's as heroic as they get and he inspires his other teammates too. he's a hero, he's their equal in all the senses in the world and visually you can see his transformation. (yes, bits by bits because you can't heal in one big swipe of the finger. Healing takes time and for him, we can visually see it since his armor isn't completed. at the end of the movie, his head is held high, he smiles and he flies.)

I used to be Steppenwolf (at least when I was working at this horrible place. always trying to please the boss and former supervisor before I became their supervisor) and only to be disrespected by them like Steppy was. I loved him here, I felt for him so much. I loved Darkseid, (I mean... he was done justice here), I loved Desaad as well and wish we could see more of Granny goodness.

Maybe next time, I'll tell you all the little things we see when it comes to Darkseid and the almost-religion of Hell that comes with him in the very short scenes we saw (cause he gave me king vibe and god vibes and it's fitting since he's a god and a king too)

Well, all that was just to say that the movie is multilayered, comic book accurate, an experience to live. something I am very happy I got to see and sad we won't be seeing anytime soon. :)

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

the Snyder's cut, road to watching the next movie.

 The Snyder's cut, what a journey! 

Alright, I am excited about the movie, as everyone of you already knows. I've tried to shorten the text as much as I could, but it's not an essay. take it more as my usual ramblings about things I like, in this case: Snyder's version of superheroes. 

Disclaimers: I absolutly understand that his cinema isn't for everyone and you have the right to dislike his movies, just as I have the right to absolutely dislike the x-men franchise (except Logan). so, I'm not bashing people who don't like him, don't worry. 

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Prior to the idea of the movie, I had little knowledge concerning the industry. I also had faith in the movie-goers, faith that quickly dwindled as I was made aware of the toxic side of fandoms. I used to think that maybe people would be decent enough not to send death threats to actors, producers, or directors but I was wrong.  Some people go to such extremes and we've seen it with ghostbusters (2016) and the very disgusting people who engaged in cyber-harassment, rape threats, and racist outbursts towards Leslie Jones. We've seen it happen with Kelly Mary Tran and Daisy Riddley and even Rian Johnson.  those people would not back down from bullying others into submission. Unfortunately, those are the loudest voices and you can find them all over the internet. And those voices are of course, given a platform and listened to by studios.

Back to the movie. I think that there is a lack of good faith when it comes to people reacting to zack Snyder's cinematography. You could criticize his work (no work is perfect and no work suits everyone), but you can't possibly say he doesn't know how to direct nor doesn't he know how to tell stories.  It's absolutely alright to not like a director's work. I for one, don't like the portrayal of the X-men and mutants Brian Singer did in all of his movies. Once I went past the curious choices he made regarding my beloved Marvel teams, I started to look at how exactly he constructs his movies and why they don't mesh well with my own taste.  I compared his movies with each other and realized they constantly clashed with one another which made it hard to digest. Yet, people love these movies, and every time I mention I am an x-men fan, they would talk about the movie because that was their segway into Marvel comics. Good for them, I honestly am happy that the movies led them to take interest in the x-men but I would never be seen or heard say I do love them, cause I don't.

So, why is it that people are so allergic to Snyder and his vision of the superheroes? allergic to the point that studio interference was so ham-fisted into the project that we got the god-awful Josstice League. That's not a novelty here, studios go with the flow and they try to make sure they will earn money. Some people, the very loud people, decided that they wanted the movie to be similar to the Marvel movies and I sincerely believe that they didn't think this through, In what capacity should movies ALL look alike? I knew I had a Marvel overdose by the time BvS was out, I had enough of "funny" one-liners and quick banters between people. I was looking for something different and less formulaic. I was looking for an actual identity and I had it with Snyder. I had it and quickly lost it to Studios that were too afraid to commit to their first idea. 

You know, it's a little enraging, because I wished we had his full vision on display.  it could have been released to the public and nothing would have prevented the studios to reboot it later? I understand, it's the rush to the billions and that's where they lost. They missed an opportunity to serve something different, instead, we got the fun but limited Shazam (very purged from the deep topics they could have talked about but instead brushed off for cheap and easy laughs), and Aquaman (again... they really ham-fisted the dudebro persona of Jason Momoa and muzzled the director's affinity with horror movies. It could have been exciting to have the bright Atlantis (perhaps a little too light-bulbed) and the monsters of the abyss. but the movie was actually fun and decent.  we could have had something different and unseen but studios got cold feet instead. 

Back to the movie. Actually, Man of Steel. I keep laughing through my teeth when people who love Nolan's cinema jump on Man of Steel without realizing that Nolan wrote the story and the screenplay.  it is a story that would have been directed by Nolan should he have stayed on board. Zack really just directed it, gave it a soul and his style. I sometimes wonder what would Nolan's fans say if it had been done by their "batman's trilogy god" instead of Snyder. The movie made me discover the subtle relationship between directors and screenplay/ story writers, as well as the & and the "and" in a script/story. I'll share it with you. when you have a script written by A & Z that means both wrote at the same time. they worked together. when you have a script written by A and Z that means both wrote their scripts and they meshed it together with the script written by A being the most prominent script in the end product.  mindblowing, right?  but when you look at BvS for example, you see that it's the latter's case, which could explain why we had a sensation of watching two movies instead of one. 

Back to the movie, and actually Zack Snyder's style. It's not for everyone. much like most movies aren't for everyone as well. Titanic? gigantic success but a bore-fest for me when I watched it. X-men movies? I can't stand them, except for Logan. it's the only movie from the whole franchise that I love and why is that? mmm I guess it's because of both the tone, but the way those characters are treated, and the audience that follows. nothing is dumbed down, nothing is oh so simple either. the movie has you think, it's riddled with symbolism, it has several layers to it and I love those types of movies. This what Snyder's work is about. The symbolism (sometimes in your face, sometimes very subtle), the humanity of his characters, the many layers you can find upon watching the movies he makes more than one time. I had a field day with both Man of Steel and BvS because of this. because he gave me everything I've ever wanted in a superhero flick. everything, from the filter to the grandiose entrance of Wonder Woman against "Doomsday" was up to discussion. his Batcave, his motives, what could have happened to him to make him stray from his moral compass so hard? 

I heard so many criticisms about Batfleck, "oh but he doesn't kill", "this is not the real Batman", and I'm thinking. Well, the original batman did kill, what about that? Are you going to ignore it because comics code happened and they made it so he never kills anymore? what about, "If he's killing people left and right what happened to him to make him do this?" I mean, has it become so difficult for people to see beyond what the screen is showing? But then it dawned on me that perhaps people have connected to one version of the character and don't want to see anything else on the screen. I mean, many people grew up with the Adam West version of Batman and hated what Burton did to it -Some people grew up with the 92 cartoons and didn't like Schumacher's version. I guess that it really comes to people who had a full version  of what their heroes should/must be and therefore could never accept that something different might exist. It's fair game, really, we can't possibly love everything but what crosses the line for me is the whole public lynching that seems to have been the norm for a long while now.  (remember what happened to the star wars prelogy and Jar-Jar?) 

Back to the movie, again. Why is it so bad to have different versions of the same character existing  today?  Maybe this version of superman didn't ring a bell to those who preferred the Richard Donner version. I think it didn't. However, while I'm absolutely not speaking for everyone here, I can tell you that the Snyder version of both Superman and Batman rang a bell to me. You see, I remember what Nolan said after he made his Batman trilogy: it was time to put those heroes in the 21st century. people change, societies change over the years and decades and that's a fact.  Superman had always been the story of an immigrant who proved to be the citizern of his country despite his different origins. back in the days it meant something crucial for his creators, to make an all-american man with just a few upgrades and an almost divine moral compass. it had to be done because outsiders suffered from so many discriminations and prejudices that they had to be more than perfect. the idealized society also had to be accepting with superman's enemy showed as being essentially evil.  Then you also had the looming shadow of war, that called for idealism and a little dash of a romanced society to rouse some patriotism from readers and a very manichean vision of the world. After all, it was still a time when ugly people were seen as evil and beautiful people as the embodiement of good. 

Nolan and Snyder's superman spoke to me more than any other version of this character did. Same with MCU's Captain American who inspired me more than th eone in the paper.  (especially in captain america 2).  His experience as an actual immigrant, who had to choose between assimilation or communautarism and decided to be the best of two worlds spoke to me on a soul-level. the reception the public had of this "alien", this "different person", spoke to me as well. the world either fantasized on him, worshipped him, put him on a pedestal or downright hated him, feared him or remained suspicious. I felt inspired with him because he kept choosing to do the right thing despite all the shit thrown at him. This superman, for the first time was finally approchable. Yes, it's not going to be a version that agrees with everyone, but can't we just appreciate that we live in a time when we can have the Donner's version around, the Snyder's versions around and also the CWs version of the character as well. we can have it all, we can have everything and I would say that it's a good thing that we can witness it. 

In conclusion: I am extremely excited about the Snyder's cut. you know, because he managed to at least have his movie out the way he wanted it without studio interference. I want to see the heroes I really loved with Snyder's vision and talk about it for days, weeks, maybe even years. I am not saying it's going to be the best film in the whole world, but I can't wait to have my 4 hours of serotine injected through the eyes. 

let's hope you can, if not liking the movie, at least understand that people love them and respect their choice to love those movies.