People can argue all they want, but there’s being pretentious and then there’s this new level that Zack Snyder has created since the idea of creating chapters within the Snyder Cut is all well and good, but Snyder giving tips on how to view his version of the Justice League is pretentious to an extreme that not even Quentin Tarantino or various other directors have gone. Seriously, the guy has been given leave to do something that is enough to drop a person’s jaw when it comes to wondering just how far Warner Bros. will go to get the attention of the audience, or how much leeway they’re going to grant certain directors when it comes to gambling on what the audience really wants. Apparently this viewing guide will actually include Snyder telling people when it’s smart to take an intermission to let everything settle so that they get a good idea of what’s happening and what’s going on and how it meshes with the rest of the story. In other words, fans are going to be content to be told when to get up and take a break, and then spoon-fed each chapter like they’re children waiting for the teacher to deliver a little more of the story. It would be great to say that I’m way off base here with this, but such a development within a movie like this, and the fact that it’s apparently been the plan since 2017, is enough to make a person wonder if Snyder thinks he’s catering to children or first-time moviegoers.
It’d be great if this was a joke, but it doesn’t sound like one at this point, and it’s a bit insulting to the fans to think that they’re being given instructions on how to view a movie that they’ve been waiting on for a while. The worst part isn’t even the nature of the viewing instructions, it’s the fact that plenty of people will take Snyder’s words as gospel and do just as he says. In the meantime, dedicated fans of the Avengers sat through Endgame in its entirety, some of them perhaps quivering and ready to jump out of their seat at any given second. All that can be said at this point is that Snyder’s version will need to deliver in a big way since if it doesn’t, one can just imagine how badly the movie is going to be ripped apart by those that have been waiting, those that signed the petition whining, I mean demanding, no wait, begging for the Snyder Cut to be released, even when it wasn’t yet finished apparently. It’s fair to say that it would be kind of amusing if the movie turns out to be a flop, but it’s not a hope that it will since just to give the fans the desired treat they want would be nice if only to make certain that they have one less thing to continually complain about. What’s really funny though is that Snyder has already said that he doesn’t want to do a sequel so that one thing that people can’t complain about any longer might be replaced very quickly with another, the desire to see a sequel and to see Snyder take the helm again if this movie is any good that is.
With a 4-hour run time, the Snyder Cut is definitely long enough that one might need a break, but let’s be fair here and say that those watching at home might not since there are plenty of people that have binge-watched hour after hour of one show and probably don’t need the viewing guide as much. Plus, far be it from me to tell a director his job since obviously Snyder has been doing this for a while. But the need to let people process and absorb the material so it can mesh with the rest of the movie makes it feel as though Snyder doesn’t really think that people know how to follow the general plot and storyline of a movie, which is, once again, kind of insulting since it implies that people don’t know how to watch movies and think at the same time. There are plenty of issues with this approach, but a lot of people are bound to simply let it go thanks to the excitement of actually getting to see the movie finally. Just imagine if the Snyder Cut is all it’s supposed to be and more, people will be saying it was worth it, that Snyder is a genius, and that his style of directing is to never be questioned again. Okay, maybe people won’t say that last one as much, but one can just imagine what DC fans will be saying if the movie does live up to what fans are hoping for. Seriously though, a ‘viewing guide’?
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