This is a fascinating watch, it’s such a great insight into filmmaking.
I’d advise anyone to watch this and the theatrical cut back to back, you’ll learn so much about the process, rearranging scenes, editing, etc.
Pros:
- Compared to BvS: the script is much more structured, coherent, and simple. Also, this film doesn’t try to have any political depth or social commentary, which is a plus because that requires a filmmaker with subtlety, and Snyder is no such filmmaker. Finally, it doesn’t make any major mistakes like the Martha scene or Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.
- Compared to the theatrical cut: it does a much better job at fleshing out the characters. This particularly helps for Cyborg and Steppenwolf. It kinda turns Cyborg into the coolest character of the DCEU. Also, the editing of the action scenes is much better.
- I love that it has a big, epic tone. The storytelling feels like it takes a lot of inspiration from Lord of the Rings.
- Some great character moments, particularly with Alfred (I also liked Flash running back in time, the killing of Steppenwolf and Aquaman’s scene with Vulko ). There are actually quite a few laughs in this, more so than you’d expect from a Snyder film.
- The score is good (ignoring the overplayed WW theme).
Cons:
- It looks kinda hideous. There is an artificial and fake feeling to most of the scenes. The way it’s directed and shot can only be described as cheap and a visual overkill.
- Casting. Some of the main actors aren’t competent enough to star in a film like this. As long as they keep Momoa, Gadot and Miller, these films will always feel like discount Avengers films.
- It kinda drags, there are some scenes that could’ve been cut or shortened in order to improve the pacing. This is one of the things the theatrical cut does way better, even if it’s much more bland as a cut.
- The Flash still runs and acts like a moron. It particularly stands out in this cut because his Looney Tunes-esque antics are cringeworthy and don’t fit here, and his character still feels very barebones.
- Like BvS, the setting up of future films feels very clunky and forced.
- Though nowhere near as bad as in BvS, I once again noticed some painfully overwritten and forced dialogue.
In short:
Is it better than the theatrical cut, or BvS? Yes.
Is it a good movie? Not by any metric.
3.5/10
[7.1/10] Phwew. This one was kind of all over the place. There’s some nice ideas here: Rick and Beth working together through the lens of barely-contained child abandonment issues, Jerry feeling powerless and so reducing everyone to a camping environment where he can shine, a subversion on the Last Starfighter-esque “my teenage habits prepared me for the real world” bit with Morty and Summer. But it just gets really out there and unfocused through all three, and they don’t dovetail especially well, especially when you throw in Yaweh or Zeus or whatever the hell that’s supposed to be, and it turns into a strange science vs. religion throwdown.
This is one of those episodes that probably could have used another draft or two along the process. There’s not a lot of big laughs (though Rick and Beth talking about how to manage their little society generates some solid chuckles), and while the episode taps into the Smiths’ strange family dynamics, it mostly just splashes around rather than actually sticking to some particular point. The Beth/Rick stuff is quality and even a little sweet in places, but it’s not like the show ultimately has a strong point either beyond reverting to the status quo. On top of that, the religious material was really aimless and general, with a grab bag of biblical references without a strong purpose.
Overall, there’s some neat individual moments in this one, but the episode doesn’t really hang together, and feels more like a hodgepodge of different ideas than a harmonized, unified story.
(The "Planets Only" gag at the end was a solid laugh, though.)
