Leigh Paatsch: Justice League a rip-roaring reworking of superhero adventure

Three years after misfiring with the original, director Zach Snyder has redeemed himself with a rip-roaring reworking of Justice League.

In 2017, there was this movie called Justice League. A lot of people saw it, but not many people liked it.

Fans with a proud alliance to the DC Comics stable of superhero legends were aggressively underwhelmed by the trite treatment meted out to the likes of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman.

The name listed in the credits as having created this big fat disappointment was that of director Zack Snyder.

However, the movie he thought he made was most certainly not the film that lumbered on, then limped off the screen.

(A personal tragedy for Snyder’s family and the meddling of a nervous studio meant the final cut fell into other, less accomplished hands. Hello, Joss Whedon!)

Now, in 2021, there is this movie called Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

JK Simmons, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Ben Affleck and Ezra Miller in a scene from Justice League. Picture: Warner Bros

With a fresh budget and access to a deep archive of unseen footage and unused production elements, Snyder has finally seized his chance to deliver the Justice League so many wanted and nobody received.

Sure, this new Justice League is as much a restoration project as it is a redemption of Snyder’s unfairly sullied reputation.

However, the record should show it is also a rip-roaring superhero action picture in its own right, and more than justifies all the considerable resources and effort poured into it.

The record should also show Snyder’s definitive cut comes in at a running time of four hours. That was never going to be an attractive proposition in cinemas, but not a problem in the schedule-your-own-intermission world of home streaming.

The Justice League storyline is more or less the same. In the wake of a shockingly premature demise for Superman (Henry Cavill), Batman (Ben Affleck) is tasked with recruiting a crack team of costumed crime fighters to, you know, save the world and stuff.

Justice League is as much a restoration project as it is a redemption of Snyder’s sullied reputation.

The Justice League storytelling style, however, is markedly different, and mostly for the better.

The proof is there in the improved outcomes for almost all the featured characters.

While Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) are still the MVPs of Justice League, they doubly benefit from the sterling backup of Cyborg (Ray Fisher’s performance is a revelation after being hacked to shreds in the original version) and The Flash (Ezra Miller’s annoying tendencies are still there, but no longer shred the nerves).

Perhaps best of all, Snyder rectifies the original Justice League’s biggest bungle.

The first movie had one of the least impacting screen villains in living memory: Steppenwolf (voiced by Ciaran Hinds).

The new version introduces a new, enhanced and appreciably fear-inducing Steppenwolf, now worthy of all the chaos and catastrophe he will be causing.

ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE IS AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON BINGE FROM 6PM THURSDAY AND ON FOXTEL’S DC MOVIES POP-UP CHANNEL.

ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE (M)

★★★½

Director: Zack Snyder (Watchmen)

Starring: Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Ciaran Hinds.

Finally in a League of their own