Zack Snyder's Justice League

_Zack Snyder's Justice League_ is able to turn one of the worst superhero movies of all time into a fantastic film filled with great action, heart, and depth. The original 2017 _Justice League_ cut was unbearable to watch, each line of dialogue felt out of place and extremely corny. I was physically cringing at almost every scene. These problems are completely wiped away in the Snyder Cut allowing for a more character focused and emotional telling of the dawn of the Justice League. The entire film is completely different, with scenes completely cut and the order adjusted to have a more organic viewing experience. With a runtime of four hours, I was really nervous of feeling bored or the movie having a large amount of filler to pad the runtime, but that is not the case. Each scene is crafted perfectly to deliver important character depth, allowing the viewer to gain an emotional connection with each of our heroes. Cyborg, Flash, and Aquaman all have very fleshed out introductions, giving the audience a glimpse of their motivations and struggles living in a world with their powers. Cyborg has a tremendous arc with his struggling relationship with his father, which gets great pay off in the end of the film. The Flash feels grounded too with his motivation for fighting crime to help prove his father's innocence. With this new perspective and tone, his quips feel more like that of an immature kid (much like Spider-Man) rather than infused comedy that was forced by the corporate overlords. Batman and Wonder Woman are great in this film, with each giving arguably their best performance as their respective characters. Batman feels like a man who has truly learned from his past mistakes and wants to gather and lead his team rather than divide. Wonder Woman is a confident bad-ass Amazon who's heartfelt and understanding presence is the glue that holds the team together. Aquaman does not have all that much of an arc in this film but has a great lead into his solo movie which is noteworthy. Not only are the hero's more fleshed out but so are the villains. Steppenwolf has an actual motivation that the audience can sympathize with and understand. This leads him to feel more genuine in his conquest to take over the world. Steppenwolf plays really well with the backdrop of Darkseid who is looming in the background of every scene of our villain. It really creates a relationship akin to the Emperor and Darth Vader. The introduction of the life equation adds much more stakes and an emphasis on what the conquest is actually about. The action in this movie is great. The R rating added more room for the scenes to be more brutal and visceral with blood and gore, and even a beheading! While the majority of the film had pretty decent CGI, there were a few scenes that looked really out of place. Especially the ones with Darkseid and his lackies, which reminded me of a character straight out of a PS2 game. This largely had to do with the limited budget and time constraints the Synder Cut was given. This film delivers on Zach Snyder's vision of Justice League, and I am so happy it exists. Although it also brings a sense of sadness as well, because the movie sets up for so much potential for the DCEU and now that future has all but vanished. **Score:** _88%_ **Verdict:** _Excellent_