Review Detail

Bionic Bob takes a crack at making a Bronze Age cut of the DCEU’s Justice League, & like most of his edits, it’s a lot of fun. There’s a bunch of new music added in, from Don’t Fear the Reaper at the beginning & You’re the Best during the assault on Steppenwolf’s stronghold.

In addition, less related to the edit, but since the release of the Snyder Cut, there seems to be a rejection of anything related to the Whedon cut, which I must disagree with. At the very least, the reshoots have a good sense of economic storytelling, from Batman hunting the parademon & reminding us of his guilt from BvS at the start to seeing his frailty over barely being able to be a hero anymore later on, it’s good humanizing moments & not the unapproachable godlike being that Snyder seems to go for.

Also, between this edit & the JL Grindhouse edit, I say I prefer placing Bruce recruiting Aquaman until after he hears the backstory from Diana, logic be darned. Frankly, I’m surprised Bob didn’t use Jim Gordon’s line about Batman “working well with others AGAIN” from the trailer didn’t make it in here, since a Batman that’s a team player seems right up there with Bob’s sensibilities

That said, however, there IS Snyder stuff I prefer/Whedon stuff that makes me wince. For instance, the reshoot of Lois & Martha at the Daily Planet. While I prefer Lois Lane not shutting after losing the man of her life, I find the scene too bright (especially given the otherwise great recoloring of this edit), and the “my source isn’t a she” bit feels especially pointless in this version (though, I want to say there was new music at the end of the scene, which, regardless if it’s new or not, was nice).

Next up, Barry Allen. I find Whedon’s take on Barry to be too much of a random, whiny kid character, speaking bad Russian, complaining about his low blood sugar, or saying a fist bump with Cyborg would be “racially charged” (which, if what Ray Fisher said about Joss Whedon is true, is just extra cringey). However, I do accept the brunch bit, since it gives us Barry complaining about how people are too slow for him. I think that wrinkle of his character would work especially well with some Snyder scenes, like pushing people up the stairs or quick stepping out of the way from Parademon fire.

And while I love the new music choices, I still find Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” overplayed at this point, especially since Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine has pretty much earned that song from now until the next 20 plus role reprisal of a comic book character. Plus, there’s literally a song by Crash Test Dummies called “Superman’s Song,” about the bleak possibility of their never being another figure like Superman to bring hope to the world ever again, which would’ve been perfect for this edit.

Speaking of Superman, the moustace. I don’t mind it when Superman is holding up Batman, since he’s *supposed* to be intimidating & unsettling there, but when he’s trying to be all “yes, ma’am” charming with Lois on the farm he turns into a monster man I just want to see die in a fire (he looks fine in the final battle, though). I also missed the “I’ll take [the ring] as a yes,” moment from the Snyder Cut.

To wrap up, the last part I want to talk about is Vic Stone. I appreciate keeping what you could from the Snyder Cut, like him going into the Mother Box, but it doesn’t feel as impactful to me. I’d say it has to be because the framing in that scene is still focused on Victor & his family, rather than Victor’s mom & a fully human Victor. It might’ve been better reframe that scene so those two aspects are the focus when Vic first enters the the Boxes.

Also, not sure how much compositing would be required, but it would be great if we had the shot of Cyborg from the Snyder Cut flying into the sky, with a smile on his face, & then Superman seeing him & deciding to join him in the air. Bonus points for fulfilling Jor-El’s statement about humanity joining Clark in the sun & accomplishing wonders (then again, anything would be better than the tepid narration from Lois at the end of the Theatrical cut).

Overall, I still enjoy what this edit stands for more than a lot of Snyder Cut purist edits do, even if there’s stuff from the Snyder Cut I do prefer. My ideal JL edit would have red & blue Superman, Flash entering the Speed Force, & the entirety of Victor’s story (“F*&# the world” & all). Until then, this will be my go-to JL edit.

So there you have it: Become a Fan of Justice Today!j