Zack Snyder’s cut of “Justice League” made its debut on Thursday on HBO Max, a subscription streaming service launched last year by AT&T Inc’s WarnerMedia.

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Given Zack Snyder’s deep personal tragedy that led to his departure and Joss Whedon’s ‘CGI jaw Superman’ – what reached the theatre wasn’t a complete disaster, but certainly not the Justice League we wanted, reviews Film Companion.

This nearly-finished version of the Justice League is different, better, visionary, ecstatic and earth shattering.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is ‘different’ when it comes to visual stylisation, comic book faithfulness and CGI. The movie also has the advantage of hindsight, $70 million and a significantly longer runtime (which would have been criminal in a theatre) – therefore it is certainly ‘better’ than Whedon’s version.

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Zack Snyder’s Justice League is tonally and visually superior and gets Batman, Flash and Cyborg right. Ben Affleck’s Batman as the core hero, bringing together our superheroes is finally believable and so is his message of hope. This edition allows him to be a less dour, but just as kick-ass. Cyborg’s role is fleshed out, along with the father-son conflict, and finally we get to see Ezra Miller’s Flash be the hero he needed to be in the theatrical run.

Superman’s action sequences are better.

However, what didn’t work for the film is that it is too long and borders on bloated. The additional footage, and the epilogue is little more than unnecessary fanservice and feels out of place.

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There are extended sequences of irrelevant Nordic villagers singing and creepily pining for Aquaman, one-minute long multi-angle shots of a terrorist walking into a building, Snyder slow-mos of an American football game, and coffee making lessons from Alfred. But then there’s also additional footage of visions, extended battle sequences, and character moments that do add to the experience.

The longer, more indulgent Snyder Cut is perfect for streaming platforms but it would have certainly not fared well in the theatre. I really think that HBO MAX was on to something with the original idea of a 4-part episodic.

We should be glad that fans got to see Snyder’s vision and that the movement succeeded. That’s a landmark moment in itself.