All right, so, as I mentioned some days ago, I've now finally seen the Snyder Cut, aka Zack Snyder's Justice League, in its entirety, thanks to my local library (you can consider this lame if you wish, but the only way I was ever going to watch this was if I didn't directly pay for it in any way, which I did not do here other than through my tax dollars). I didn't watch all 4 hours at once, but just one 35-40 minute chapter at a time, with the exception of the epilogue which I did watch with the final chapter).

Before I dig into my deeper comments, let me give you my summary first....largely to my surprise, I would say I actually liked it overall (albeit with some MASSIVE criticisms and reservations), and it is definitely an improvement over the theatrical cut, or the Joss Whedon Cut if you prefer, which I still considered to be an enjoyable mediocrity, largely because, for all my other problems with it and its portrayal of the other DC superheroes, it was SO nice to have a Superman who looked, sounded, and acted like the real Superman again (which a horrified Zack Snyder obviously worked feverishly to get rid of right away in his cut). It had less depth than 90% of episodes of the Justice League animated series from 20 years ago, or the old SuperFriends cartoon for that matter, but being just mediocre still made it stand leagues (pun intended) ahead of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman.

So, let me repeat again....overall, I liked ZSJL (again, with some massive criticisms and reservations). As a film in its own right, I would probably score it 3 stars out of 4. As an adaptation of the DC characters I loved for over 40 years and to some much smaller extent still do, I would score it 2 1/2 stars out of 4 (with both scores, again, being much higher than MoS or BvS).

A few quick general comments, and then I'm going to comment on the movie's handling of each character. First off, this thing is just way too fucking long. Even watching it one chapter at a time, making it more like watching a TV series (like the masterful HBO version of Watchmen), the pacing was just GLACIAL. Besides losing the entire epilogue (which I will never watch again even if I do rewatch the film itself at some point), another 45 minutes or so should have been trimmed. This movie should have been 2 hours 40 minutes tops, and I would argue that Snyder hadn't even earned the right to that length of a runtime, but I digress. Perhaps he could have started by limiting the slow-motion (which is redundant talking about Snyder) intro shot of Superman's death scream from BvS to a mere 47 minutes or so.

Secondly, I will never get over the fact that this, along with the Ultimate Edition of BvS, is rated R. And there is absolutely nothing in this film that warrants the use of that rating other than the repeated use of the word "fuck", one of which occurs in the new Batman/"Joker" scene in the epilogue which was written and shot specifically for this cut. I know that Snyder's edgelord fans (who already all misinterpret undending slow-motion for thematic depth) all surely creamed their underpants at hearing Batman tell "Joker" that he is going to "fucking kill" him, because they feel that Marvel movies are for babies and that the Snyderverse films are "cinema for adults", but actually it's all utterly juvenile, not mature. It's the equivalent of a 13-year-old kid back when I was that age thinking he's so hardcore for drawing the logos of his favorite heavy metal bands in his chemistry notebook.

And this is coming from someone who swears all the fucking time in his regular life, not so much out loud as in text messages and in my head. I've got nothing against the word or other profanity in their own right. But it has no business in a movie starring Superman and Batman and the other iconic DC heroes (or Snyder's more or less warped interpretations of them anyway), it's embarrassing. They really made a Justice League movie rated R, meaning it's inappropriate for kids, the audience these characters were originally created for. I just can't wrap my head around it.

Okay, I know I'm sounding negative despite initially saying I liked the movie overall. Let me talk about how it handles each character.

Superman: On the one hand, Snyder quickly expunges all the moments from the Whedon version where Cavill got to play a friendly, charming and charismatic version of the character who inspires hope. On the other hand, Cavill isn't forced to spend the entire film with a grimace as if he is undergoing a horrifically painful bowel movement, either, as he did in BvS. You already know how much I utterly loathe Snyder's grimdark portrayal of Superman, but I concede that in this film, Superman is mostly on-model, at least once he has his sanity again post-resurrection. He looks and acts like Superman, even though he's doing it in a costume that is darker than Batman's.

That said, I have to point out that there is no reason for Supes to wear the black costume in this film. The Snyder edgelord fans will point out that he did in the "Death and Return of Superman" storyline in the comics back in the 90s, which is true, but there was a specific story reason there. In this case, it's simply the costume that Superman chooses to wear from now on, because it's what Snyder wants him to wear because he hates the classic Superman (why oh why was he allowed to make Man of Steel I will never for the life of me fucking understand this). That he is even wearing the black costume for Snyder's take on the iconic" Clark opens his shirt to reveal the Superman emblem underneath" in the final shot (not counting the epilogue) says a lot, I think.

It's worth pointing out, too, that the only point in the film where Superman is wearing a version of the blue and red suit (even Snyder's immensely desaturated and colorless as possible version of it) is in the epilogue's Knightmare sequence, the one where Snyder gets to go back to his ultimate grimdark version of the character where he is just full murderous villain, proving the claims that Snyder was always building to the classic Superman over the course of the movies to be the utter bullshit they always were. Zack Snyder hates Superman, and it sure comes across (to me, anyway) that he resented WB's insistence that Justice League show the real Superman for just 10 minutes that out of spite he made sure to do it in the black costume (again, darker than Batman's) instead of the colorful red and blue one, and to remind you in the epilogue that if he got to continue making DC films he was going to have his Superman go on to be a monstrous figure who single-handedly murders thousands if not millions.

Lastly, it must be said, the way Superman so easily beats the shit out of and dispatches Steppenwolf in the finale after Steppenwolf earlier thoroughly outclassed not only the entire rest of the Justice League together but the entire Atlantean and Amazonian armies really makes you wonder what role there is for the rest of the League if Superman is around. It also makes it even more absurd that he lost to psycho-Batman in BvS, although to be fair that film's script required Superman to also be the dumbest man on the planet in order for that scene to work.

(Okay, one more thing---it's not new to this cut, but the moment when the Flash sees to his horror that the resurrected Superman can see him running at super-speed is still the single coolest moment in the entire DCEU, and I do give Snyder full credit and kudos for that. It's awesome.)

Batman: Full credit here as well, as this is very much the Batman from the comics in just about every way. He looks like Batman, acts like Batman (mostly), and sounds like Batman. Affleck as Bruce Wayne also is the Bruce Wayne from the comics. I may have one or two very minor quibbles (so minor I won't even bother going into them) that are just a matter of preference, but this is Batman. Affleck definitely justifies his controversial casting as Batman with this film, and I'm glad that Whedon's mostly-awful joke lines of dialogue are gone.

If you forget that Batman v Superman ever happened (and hey, I'm all about that in every way), this is a perfectly on-model depiction of the character. That said, at least in this film the events of that earlier film still allegedly happened, but ZSJL just completely pretends that Batman was a sadistic and insane psycho-killer, and he never experiences any consequences for it, despite the assurances that it would be a major theme in the Justice League movie. In my opinion, the actions of Batman in the earlier film simply can't be redeemed (I know that Snyder believes he did nothing wrong anyway) and this movie seems to agree so it doesn't even try, mostly just pretending that Batman never broke bad. Batman in ZSJL never is forced to undergo a reckoning for his earlier sins, either by himself or anyone else, he just carries on as classic Batman (mostly) as if BvS never happened.

It's frustrating, because between this film and the Batman scenes in the first Suicide Squad (which were the only good parts of an otherwise execrable film), it shows just how good Affleck could be as the real version of the character and makes me sad he couldn't just play him in the first place. Just like Cavill with Superman, a character he was born to play more than any other human being who ever existed (yes, even more than Christopher Reeve) but was just never allowed to by Zack Snyder.

Wonder Woman: Not as charismatic as in her solo film, which remains easily the best film in the DCEU cycle, but still good overall. My main beef is the way she handles the bomb situation at the beginning of the film when she could easily dispatch the bad guy without killing him but chooses to turn him into gooey paste in front of the schoolchildren while also raining rubble down on the police in the streets below---Zack Snyder's always gonna Zack Snyder, kids.

Also---I'm sure Snyder meant the "ancient lamentations" music that played every time WW did literally anything in the movie to be beautiful and powerful, but it was so unintentionally funny, more so every time it happened. It was so fucking ludicrous and hysterical.

Cyborg: I am no expert on the character and he was never a part of the Justice League I read growing up or well into adulthood. I never really read the Teen Titans comics where he appeared, and most of the comics I ever read with him were in the New 52 version of Justice League a decade back where he replaced Martian Manhunter. I thought he was pretty good in this movie and at least as far as I can tell was more or less the character from the comics albeit more grim and dark (because, of course). The sloooooooooow-motion flashback scene was more unintentional hilarity, though. But Cyborg was pretty good here, IMO.

The Flash: Man, I admittedly was never looking forward to the Justice League movie that Snyder was making in the first place, but I always was intrigued by the casting of Ezra Miller and looked forward to his portrayal. Instead, he was one of the things I disliked most in the theatrical cut and even without a lot of that really bad Whedon dialogue I don't like him any better here. Hate his personality. REALLY hate that insipid and ugly armor he wears as a costume, especially that football-shaped helmet. I hate that doofy goofy way that he runs, which looks so ridiculous. WHY DO YOU PUT A SPEEDSTER IN ANY KIND OF ARMOR PLEASE GOD HELP ME UNDERSTAND.

Aquaman: I've already conceded, I know that I'm in a small minority here, but I utterly loathe everything about this casting and conceptualization of the character. People love Jason Momoa as Aquaman, I get that, I know I'm in the minority. This just isn't the character from the comics at all to me (which is a plus to some), I don't like Aquaman looking like a Klingon and with weird glowing eyes. Don't like the whole Aquabro thing, although mercifully it isn't as strong as in the theatrical cut.

I do have to laugh at a couple things, like how this rightful King of Atlantis reveres the seas to which he truly belongs so much that he tosses his empty liquor bottles in them.

Long story short...still not a fan. But I know the ladies love him.

Steppenwolf: A VAST improvement over the theatrical cut. The CGI is much better and he sounds better and more intimidating as well, less like something out of SuperFriends. I'm not entirely sure how WW's sword was so useless against him the entire film until the very end when she was able to suddenly behead him (after he got his ass kicked 6 ways from Sunday by Superman), but hey.

The "Joker": Just utterly awful. I know I have David Ayer to blame for this, as he's the one who cast Leto in the first Suicide Squad, but ugh. Yes, I put "Joker" in quotes because I can never reconcile this mentally as being Batman's arch-nemesis. It's not the Joker to me at all, and I also have to say I don't feel like he really goes with Affleck's Batman at all, certainly not the way Heath Ledger did with Christian Bale or Jack Nicholson did with Michael Keaton, or even Cesar Romero with Adam West.

Commissioner Gordon: Fine. Rather pointless. Would have been better if JK Simmons just kept his normal bald head instead of the bad hairpiece.

Martian Manhunter: If you can tell me why MM would pretend to be Martha Kent in the otherwise nice conversation with Lois, I'm all ears. Unless it's supposed to mean that the real Martha has been dead for years and MM has only been pretending to be her the entire time. I love MM in the comics, but having him "revealed" to be the General character was just dumb to me. Good thing he never got involved in the Kryptonian invasion or the Doomsday attack in the slightest way, wouldn't want to blow his cover as the world is potentially ending.

Okay, back to discussing the movie in general. I realize I still am coming across like I disliked it as much as MoS and BvS, and I didn't, so I will try to sound more positive.

The music: Much better than in the theatrical version, and it hurts to say that---you know how much I love me some Danny Elfman, but that was not an inspired score. I thought the Junkie XL half of the BvS score was pretty weak, especially that over the top grimdark Batman theme that was unintentionally hilarious (I did like the Hans Zimmer stuff, enough to actually buy the whole score on CD no matter how much I loathed the film itself) but he was better here. The music was really good----or, at least the score was. The "ancient lamentations" stuff was just absurdly funny, and the various song choices didn't work at all either. But the score was good.

The look: SOOOO much better than the theatrical cut, especially the climax. Those ugly red skies are gone, and the shots are composed beautifully. The film looks gorgeous, for the most part. I will never like the desaturated color palette Snyder insists on for his superhero movies but like BvS the film is always at least gorgeous to look at even if the content itself is objectionable. High marks here.

Don't understand the small aspect ratio, though. Does not go with the epic scope of the film at all.

Speaking of which...

The scope: Feels genuinely epic, the way a film called Justice League should. Even though they are telling the same basic story, the theatrical cut did not feel epic the way this does. The flashback scene in particular to the first encounter with Darkseid on Earth is pretty glorious and admittedly stirred up a lot of the old love I've had for the DC universe which I though I had mostly lost over the last 5 years or so. Epic enough to warrant a 4-hour run time? Of course not. But still good.

Nits: I do have a few minor complaints that are admittedly more matters of preference than actual "flaws". Like, the purist in me wishes the Boom Tubes had been faithful to the comics and been horizontal instead of vertical, but I concede that's preference. I also wish that for just one single moment in either BvS or ZSJL we could have had Alfred being a butler instead of just Batman's man in the chair, but he never is. I still don't like the nightcrawler or whatever it's called, but it did feel less egregious here. As noted above I hate the Flash armor but could have accepted it if, say, Bruce had given him the real Flash costume at the end or something.

The epilogue: Specifically, the "Knightmare" sequence...just utterly, utterly hate it. I loathed it in BvS and I hate it here, and let me state right here that if WB for some reason changes its mind and does bring back Zack Snyder to make 2 more Justice League films (after MoS, BvS, and the theatrical cut of JL all vastly underperforming at the box office), I will never see them if they do in fact go the Knightmare direction. Not even if I can see them for free like I did here with ZSJL. That entire thing is an utter abomination and a betrayal of the DC superheroes, and the fact that it's his stated choice of direction to go with them proves once and for all he was ALWAYS the wrong choice to spearhead a DC universe on film.

As for the Luthor/Deathstroke scene...well, we already saw it as a post-credits scene in the theatrical cut, and that's where it should have stayed, IMO. Eisenberg's Lex Luthor was one of but many horrible atrocities in BvS and I could happily never endure a single more frame of him in this lifetime.

Overall...the movie really should have just ended without any of the epilogue (other than the Luthor/Deathstroke scene post-credits, if it absolutely had to be there). I'm certainly not interested in anything the epilogue promises/threatens to inflict upon me in the future.

I guess that's enough. I have other small praises and criticisms, but this is too long already, sorry. I know I probably sound more negative than positive, especially as an adaptation of the DC universe, but I swear I did overall enjoy it more than not as a movie. Still very flawed---the first Wonder Woman remains the only great DCEU film thus far---but I don't regret watching it, and I think Snyder COULD have made a few good DC movies if he were allowed zero story input and if WB had insisted that he use the iconic versions of the classic characters instead of going full grimdark and joyless. I still overall wish he'd never even heard of comic books or DC in the first place, let alone be the initial creative force behind the DCEU, but this wasn't terrible.

For what it's worth, here's how I score all the DCEU movies from best to worst, on a 4-star basis (****)

Wonder Woman: ***1/2
Shazam!: ***
The Suicide Squad (the James Gunn one from this year): ***
Zack Snyder's Justice League: *** (as a movie) **1/2 (as an adaptation of the DC universe)
Justice League: **1/2
Aquaman: **
Birds of Prey, or the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn: **
Wonder Woman 1984: *1/2
Suicide Squad (the first one): *1/2
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: *1/2
Man of Steel: *