RELEASE THE SNYDERVERSE! PT 3, "JUSTICE LEAGUE": THE SCREAM

This week I'm looking at some of the techniques Chris Terrio, Will Beall and Zack Snyder use in the new "Snyder Cut" of JUSTICE LEAGUE.

After rewatching BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN, I have to say I went into JUSTICE LEAGUE once again skeptical. BvS is just such a bloated story, built mostly around dudes that should know better wanting to throw punches. Even as I appreciate Bruce Wayne's motivation in theory-- Superman done broke Metropolis, yo--there's just nothing endearing in his character. In a sense Diana and Alfred pop as hard as they do precisely because Bruce is such a stone cold pill. 

And in the abstract the way Chris Terrio and Snyder start JUSTICE LEAGUE feels like more of the horrible same: seriously, watching Superman scream as he dies in slow motion is the second most Snyder-y thing a Snyder film could do (the most Snyder-y thing being destroying any and every city).  

But it actually ends up being this brilliant device to both initiate and unite the threads of the story. The sound waves of his death literally awaken the Mother Boxes, opening the main problem of the story. And their progress across the planet ends up allowing the story to touch upon the other heroes that we'll be meeting in this film, heroes whose journeys in a sense truly begin with Superman's death. The vacuum his absence creates draws them out of the shadows where they've been hiding. 

There is no better real estate in a film than the opening. It's the one moment you definitely have the audience's attention. When a film goes the extra mile of trying to capitalize on that attention with an evocative or iconic visual, it's often a big win.

At four hours long, there's a lot in JUSTICE LEAGUE that's probably just going to wash over you. But I'll bet if you asked people what they remember, they're all going to include that opening (also, that crazy ending). And not just that it was a slomo of Superman screaming, but how the waves introduced us to everyone important in this story. 

A great moment.