Social networks are today the real bosses in movie studios, and viral posts, and the Ashtags that become trendy, can lead to the dismissal of directors and actors, sometimes based on artistic qualities, and sometimes on the basis of inappropriate past or present behavior.
Director Zack Snyder knows this well because he has already been snatched twice by fans of DC Comics brands: the first time when fans were disappointed with his movie “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice” until they demanded that Warner Studios fire him; And the second time when they were even more disappointed with director Joss Whedon’s version brought in to complete the “Justice League” project that Snyder started – until they launched a viral campaign calling for the release of the original, full and hidden version of Snyder.
The director’s version of Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ came up, therefore, last weekend on the streaming service HBOMax in the US and yes VOD in Israel. The fact that this version is better than the version that came out in theaters in 2017 is not wisdom – it really was a mess Big and irrational.But is it good in itself? Before we get to that, there’s something more important to learn from this film and its incarnations, which demands from us press people, as well as social media users, a moment of mental reckoning, because for four years we told endless lies about the film And we believed.
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Right director Zack Snyder Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Ben Affleck as Batman on the set of the Leisure Justice League
(Photo: AP)
Fans, as mentioned, hated Batman vs. Superman, but Warner Studios continued to cling to Snyder and his dark, grandiose vision. It’s a fact that he got the green light to go out and shoot the next film in the series, “Justice League.”
About a year before the film’s planned release date, news broke that Snyder and his wife, producer Debra Snyder, had asked to leave the production following the suicide of Snyder’s adopted daughter from a previous marriage. According to media reports, Whedon, who had previously directed the two “Avengers” films for Marvel, was brought in to help renovate the script and complete the production according to Snyder’s vision as he faces a family tragedy.
At the time the fan narrative was clear: Snyder was the villain who destroyed the beloved superheroes, the studio realized this following the bad reviews, fired him and replaced him with the real hero of the comic book lovers – Widon, who not only signed the two “Avengers” films but also Responsible for the series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Firefly”, which are revered by geeks around the world. Widon, the world knew, has a sense of humor, an ingenious talent for screenwriting and a clear understanding of these materials and what delights fans.
But it did not help. Widow’s version not only was terrible, uneven patchwork that connected his scenes with Snyder’s scenes, in a film where the tone changed and logic was not found, it also caused the studio to lose money, after Widon’s completion filming brought the film’s budget to $ 300 million. . More than that: in the years since it began to become clear that Widon was a monster on the set: he got down on his actors, insulted and humiliated them. Actor Ray Fisher’s allegations abducted most of Widon’s outbursts, causing his filmmates to stand by him and bring the Buffy stars to mind that even then it was a nightmare to work with Widon.
When Snyder said in an interview that he took home a hard disk as a souvenir of his version of “Justice League,” Disappointed Widon began bombarding Twitter with the hashtag #releasethesnydercut (#distribute Snyder’s version). The hashtag went viral when Gal Gadot also shared it.
Then Warner Studios, looking for content for their new streaming service, realized that they could create a fan event that made waves on social media, without the fear of selling tickets in theaters.
They invested another $ 70 million in the film to allow Snyder to finish editing, work on the effects and even invite Ben Affleck and Jared Leto together to shoot a scene that was not in the original version. Snyder, for his part, said he was given the freedom to make the film exactly according to his vision: without considering the length, without getting comments from the studio and without demanding to reduce the violence to make the film suitable for the whole family.
Now Snyder also reveals that although he tried to continue working on the film after his daughter’s suicide, the fact that he did not receive backing from the studio – which was more attentive to fan disappointment – made him decide to retire from the project, especially when he realized Woodon was brought there to undermine him.
For years we have been told that Widon changed about 20% of Snyder’s version, and now Snyder’s film arrives and proves that Widon tried to tear it to shreds. Everyone in the production knew it, but if you now look at the news of the film’s production as soon as Vidon enters the picture, you will see how the studio and producer (Charles Ruben) lied, and how the media and fans bought their narrative. The players, too, apparently swore to keep quiet. Everything so as not to trip the film. From now on, whenever you hear about rumors from productions or even official news – know that there is a chance that you are being lied to.
And after all that, Snyder’s Justice League ‘is still a bombastic and messy film, but it has a fascinating core: skip the awkward first hour, bet on the last half hour, and you’re left with two and a half hours of coherence and effectiveness.
Just now, when he did not have to dilute himself, suddenly something in his work became clear. His vision becomes clear in retrospect: as soon as one sees the similar contours between “Justice League” and “300”, the film about the war between the Spartans and the Persian Empire that launched his career, it turns out that he is a director of mythologies. Snyder’s superheroes are violent and they fight demons and semi-gods. It makes “Justice League” an inhuman film, but clarifies the mythical world in which Snyder chooses to act. It is less a film for superhero lovers, and more a film for those who study the history of the myths of ancient Greece and the northern tribes.
Snyder’s personal story – the pain of an adopted girl who struggled with depression all her life until she succumbed to it – also resonates particularly strongly in this film, which deals throughout with the relationship between children and their parents, and especially parents who are willing to sacrifice themselves to save their children. This is the emotional heart of the Justice League, which is only now being revealed and makes it possible to understand in retrospect the painful story that inspired him.