Zach Snyder's original version is 1000 x's better than the one Joss Whedon put in theaters. DC made a huge mistake not trusting Synder.

I don't want to discuss the Machiavellian machinations that led to the butchery cut from 2017 and then to this one seeing the light of day - suffice to say that I am not hopeful for the future - yet I am grateful for them leading to me getting to see Zack Snyder's cut. Other than being way too long, it was a pretty perfect film. It would have been a much better business decision to split it into two films and getting twice the money from cinemas than to cut and reshoot it into stupidity.

After watching this cut I knew why things happened, what the motivations of the characters were, including the villains, Superman's lip didn't make me cringe, new characters and story ideas have been introduced and I am hopeful for the DC Universe for the first time in a long time. Easter Eggs galore! And it also had a nice end scene that foreshadowed a possible continuation, but also gave enough so you understand what it could have been even if no film is being made of it. It's not a one minute Marvel post credit scene, it's a full on subplot about the future. Hell, it made me want to see more of Jared Leto!

Is it perfect? No. There were some scenes that I would have gladly had edited out: people bursting in song like in a Bolly film, people climbing stairs, Lois Lane talking to Clark's mom, Lois Lane talking to a random street cop, Lois Lane standing still thinking, etc. The character of Cyborg's dad was also weak, even if I really like the actor.

Bottom line: I thought that the 2017 cut had a bunch of characters that were not explored or otherwise pointless. The Snyder cut fixes all of that and adds meaning to everything everybody does. It's not mindless fun like the 2017, but has a shape and a place in the world and would have given me hope in the DC Universe if I didn't know only AT&T's desperation brought it to light.

The much-heralded 'director's cut' version of JUSTICE LEAGUE, expanded to four hours. I ended up enjoying this on par with the original film, but for very different reasons. Obviously the story is much better here, but it's simply too long-winded at four hours and the whole chapter thing feels a little arrogant. The film ends up as the usual CGI overload with little basis in reality or following the laws of physicals, and that whole epilogue flash forward dream sequence is just confusing and feels unnecessary, like a tacked-on trailer for something else. On the plus side, the back stories are fun and the actors work hard to make this all come together, but at times this felt more like SUCKER PUNCH than WATCHMEN.