That’s my double Hot Take, each has their advantages and disadvantages.
I wasn’t expecting to have this reaction. I’ve always known I’m not as much of a Snyder Fanboy as I sometimes come off to others, but clearly I myself was overestimating our alignment. So much of what I liked about the Theatrical Cut that is not in the Snyder Cut I really assumed would be.
I’m quickly growing to have a similar relationship with Justice League as I do Superman II where my ideal hypothetical version of that movie combines elements of the Theatrical and Donner versions. However the differences in Aesthetic Style here make doing a Fan Edit not nearly as easy.
I can say that while the Theatrical Cut should have been longer, 4 hours I would not have tolerated for a movie theater viewing where I can’t pause it. No Superhero movie should in theaters be longer than The Ten Commandments. However like the LOTR Extended Editions home viewing is different. The same runtime as the Avengers movies would have been the ideal.
The best “superficial” praise I can give the Snyder Cut is that every scene or moment which is on paper the same in both versions is better executed here, better editing and cinematography and special effects and definitely a far more cohesive Musical Score. And a lot of the longer scenes, and other stuff one might say adds nothing to the “plot” and may therefore get criticized as padding actually helps the film’s Gravitas and Characterization.
As far as the actual story goes the chief improvement in the Snyder Cut is everything involving Cyborg and his Father and the characters connected to them completely cut from the theatrical, he is the heart of the film and who was most done dirty by the theatrical cut. Most of what I now dislike about the theatrical version are the alternate scenes with them.
However there is one more detail of the Theatrical Cut I would be completely adverse to including in an ideal hybrid cut and that is the Flash landing on Wonder Woman’s boobs gag. One of the few Anime clichés I’m glad I (usually) don’t have to worry about in a Hollywood movie.
The Flash is overall also done better by The Snyder Cut, but I also like everything with him in the Theatrical besides that one gag I just mentioned. However I don't consider major extra Flash scenes to be necessary.
Aquaman comes off about the same in both versions, which is good, he’s cool.
Steppenwolf I don’t care about either way. He is different but I really don’t care about his greater depth. As I said before in Super Team formation films I’m fine with the villain being just a plot device. The DeSaad and Darkseid scenes I enjoyed as a Nerd, but I don’t think what they add to the film really matters, they were there to set up future films that still might never get made, and Darkseid is the kind of character I feel should be ominously mentioned for years before he's ever even glimpsed.
However what I would most prefer to be gone are the Injustice inspired bad future visions, and I now want that gone from BvS too. I was hoping that storyline would be resolved by the end of this film. I don’t want more Evil Superman BS, that was supposed to be done away with once this film finished Clark’s Hero's Journey. It turns out Snyder was planning more than a Trilogy and that disappoints me.
The Theatrical version of Justice league for all it’s plot holes and imperfections is still a fun movie that gets most of the core characters right. And compared to The Snyder Cut is far better as a Superman movie, or a Batman movie and sure as hell a better sequel to Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman films.
The Theatrical Version despite having less than half as much Runtime feels like it has twice as much humanity. Patrick H Willems talked about how Whedon’s Avengers movies have more glimpses of the normal civilian population and their reactions to the Superheroes then the Russo films, and that same contrast exists here.
That Instagram video of the kids recording Superman at the beginning, that goon Batman uses to bait a Parademon, the Opening Credits sequence, having civilians around they need to protect during the big final battle, and other little moments right before cutting to the end credits. All of that adds a lot of humanity to the theatrical version that I missed here.
I want to talk briefly about the Mustache controversy of the theatrical version. People keep saying it's something you can’t not notice, except when I first saw it I hadn’t heard about any of this and I indeed didn’t notice it. That one particular screenshot people like to meme to me just looks weird because of Cavil’s facial expression, in a way lots of freeze frames in a film will.
I hate the inclusion of the Black Superman Suit. A lot of people think it's a requirement for a Superman returns from the Dead storyline, but this isn't a direct adaptation of Reign of The Supermen. I would have been fine with it if it was only temporary like in those Comics, but him having it in the closing shirt rip shot symbolizes what I’ve already complained about and feel betrayed by. I’m one of many who defended Snyder’s choices for Man of Steel and BvS on the grounds that it's Superman’s beginning. Instead The Snyder Cut has revealed that Darker Edgier Superman was the long term plan.
With Batman I’ve already praised that scene where he coaches Barry and how much I liked that. I also liked that Lois calming Superman down was Bruce’s plan, in the Theatrical Cut that’s the pay off to Barry’s future warning, in the Snyder Cut it only adds to that to set up a final pay off later. I also like when he says to Alfred that Clark is more Human than he is.
In the Snyder Cut Diana kills that British Terrorist, this isn’t exactly contradicted in the Theatrical but it's clear that’s something Whedon chose to cut because he knew it didn’t fit with how Jenkins’ Wonder Woman movie ended. A lot of people have been praising the moment with the little girl soon after saying “how could they cut that?” they aren’t looking at the context. There was no way to include that while still hiding that Snyder had filmed Wonder Woman killing someone. In addition to that I also don’t like her being so determined to decapitate Steppenwolf either.
I also miss all of the interactions between Bruce and Diana unique to the Theatrical Cut. I do not interpret them Romantically, Alfred is just being a naggy parent who wants grandkids. I like that they talked about Steve Trevor, something only briefly alluded to in the Snyder Cut. I like that Bruce is a dick in one scene but not going to Frank Miller levels. I like that he sees Diana as the one who should actually lead the team.
As stand alone works of art The Snyder Cut is more “Auteur”, but both were in truth collaborative projects. I appreciate both and I hope the Theatrical version is never buried and forgotten.
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