So I've given into my curiosity and started watching Zack Snyder's Justice League: Justice is Grey Edition (ZSJL:JiGE... thats... um quite a title). Anyway I've not seen the theatrical cut of JL or even the color version of Zack Snyder's Justice League so my raw first impressions are of the version closest to Zack Snyder's creative vision (well barring the fact I'm watching it on my tablet with the tablet's internal speakers). I have watched the first two parts and so far I'm largely impressed but for one teensy little thing that RUINS EVERYTHING. Oh god the black and white. Its TERRIBLE!
It takes only a cursory understanding of film to recognize that shooting in black and white requires FAR more care and attention to lighting and composition. Without color contrast and distinct forms a black and white image can dissolve into a miasma of abstract detail. Zack Snyder either doesn't know this or didn't shoot with black and white in mind and just thought it'd be cool and artsy to lazily desaturate his color movie to satisfy his pretentions at being an artistically groundbreaking autor. Desaturating a color movie can work really well and breathe some new life into an old favorite (if you've not watched Blade Runner in black and white do it), but Zack Snyder's Justice League can't pull off the look. Characteristic of his style, the blacks are crushed the highlights are blown out with no detail visible in either. There are mid tones but they are smothered in so much high detail visual design that obscures clear identification of forms that they are no help either. The end result is a visual style that is too dark, too bright, and too dense to be clearly and instantly understood.
That isn't to say the movie is impossible to watch. Zack Snyder's mastery of mythic presentation and shot composition is on full display. The action is still largely visually clear and understandable, but it does take additional effort on the part of the audience. There are individual shots that look stunning in black and white, of course, but I can't help but imagine those shots would benefit from color. As for the actual content of the movie I've not gotten much past the exposition (despite being an hour in) so its difficult to judge this early on. However, the film is well paced so far with the hour passing quickly. It does feel like its jumping between characters and plotlines alot but given how much ground the film covers I cant imagine the movie structured any other way. Also commendable are the characters. Despite not having seen BvS I don't feel lost when it comes to Zack Snyder's Batman he is instantly recognizable and established, and even Cyborg (who by the end of the second part has only been on screen about a minute) is at least intriguing if not completely understandable yet.
The action is naturally spectacular. One of my concerns with watching ZSJL:JiGE divided into parts was that the first few parts would be boring slogs of nothing but exposition, but that's not the case. Each of the two parts has at least one satisfying action setpiece that takes up a solid chunk of the part's runtime without overwhelming the whole. Steppenwolf's assault on the Amazons does go on a bit long, a feeling compounded by the difficulty of deciphering the busy black and white visuals, but it is at least well done in every other aspect. It's tense and fun ranging from a tight enclosed space to a broad outdoor environment reminicent of the masterful action work in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Speaking of: part 2's big setpiece is even more reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings as Zack Snyder delivers an EPIC scale visual spectacle that in another movie could be the final climactic battle, but for its truncated length and painful narration by Gal Gadot.
So far ZSJL:JiGE is deeply flawed in its visual presentation, but shows promise despite that. I will continue to stick with the Justice is Grey Edition for now as I watch the rest of the movie piecemeal over the next few days.
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