Ever since the 2017 release of the original “Justice League,” fans of Zack Snyder relentlessly demanded to see his intended version of the film after he had to step down from the project. Now at long last, Warner Bros. has finally released Snyder’s “Justice League” on HBO Max. 

The four-hour film definitely has flaws but the action is extraordinary and the previously simple plotline has been transformed into a well-thought-out epic. The film also has more time to spend with its interesting characters and provides emotional story beats for nearly all of them. This contributes towards significant improvements in the characters by giving them more back-story. An example is Cyborg, who is now an important pillar of the film. 

The slow pacing of the story seemed pointless initially, but it provided a good introduction for its characters and fluently solidifies their importance to the film, giving the audience time to reflect upon events instead of bounding from scene to scene. 

Snyder’s film is significantly longer which complements the imagery and music throughout it. It helps develop a realistic point of view where the heroes aren’t going to be happy or sarcastically cracking jokes. Instead, the serious nature shows how the protagonists are more concerned with how they need to protect their planet and its lives if they ever want to survive an alien invasion. It slowly shows its cracks when it included the continuation of the Nightmare scenes, causing a bit of confusion. 

Despite this, the villains in the story make up for it. In the original film, Steppenwolf was a generic antagonist who was there simply to be punched. This new film provides great motivation for him and shows the audience that he’s just a small piece of the puzzle that we haven’t figured out yet. 

In the end, “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” is fun and has a good blend of superhero stories. It takes the kitchen sink approach as it throws everything at you. Make sure you set those bathroom breaks, and watch it on a big screen for the action.