I just finished watching the full four hours again last night too. I still spread it out over several nights and that's probably how I'll always watch it.
I *love* this film.
There's so much I love about this movie it'll be hard to express everything just because there's so much spread out over the entire four hours but here goes with a few:
1. The 6 chapters (plus epilogue) combined with the 4:3 aspect ration REALLY takes me back to those big TV miniseries "events" in the early 80's like Shogun. That makes this feel more "special" and super nostalgic.
And I really love the IMAX ratio. Yeah it's funny to be watching something with black bars on the sides but usually we have black bars on the top and bottom a picture that doesn't perfectly fit our living room TV's is nothing new. What I *hate* is information being lost due to cropping and since 4:3 is how he framed and composed the shots that's what I want to see. It still pisses me off that we have to watch IW and EG as freaking pan & scan movies at home.
The vertical space is very well used and highlights the towering buildings (skyscapers, Greek and underwater pillars) and heroes very well. I love it. And the overall look and cinematography puts most other superhero flicks (and certainly every MCU movie) to shame.
2. I love all the little moments that allow this film to breeze and us to get to know the characters and more of the world they live in. Even the stuff that makes me chuckle like the sweater sniffing/singing and epic pouring of Lois' latte, lol. I love it all. Barry's extended intro, Victor's full backstory and scenes of him using his manipulation of cyberspace to help families in need, all the little moments like Bruce and Diana's hands touching on the mouse pad and Alfred showing her how to make tea. I wouldn't have wanted any of that stuff cut out.
3. The theme of "second chances" that permeates through the entire film, both within the context of the story and the production of this particular cut in the real world. Not just Supes coming back to life but Victor reconciling with his dad, Bruce recruiting a new boy wonder and getting faith that things will work out which he probably didn't have since he was a child, Diana bonding with a new pilot and hints of a potential romance between her and Bruce and of course the ultimate second chance with Barry reversing time at the end. I did chuckle that Supes ended up being resurrected twice in one movie as a result of that, lol. Just great all around feels that I pretty much always want in a large than life superhero movie, no matter how dire the stakes.
4. The action is just top notch throughout and despite the insane run time I never find myself checking my watch waiting for the good stuff to happen. It's all good stuff. Like I said earlier interesting quiet moments and character development with just enough action to consistently break it up.
5. Steppenwolf is awesome in this movie. His look, voice, and speeches remind me of Darkness from Ridley Scott's legend making him both interesting to watch on screen and really fun to root against. He's a real powerhouse cutting through the Amazons and Atlaneans to the point where I found myself feeling kind of bad for those who couldn't escape his brutality.
6. Darkseid is cool. I saw a while back that there was some criticism leveled against him for being shown to lose his first on-screen battle but he was still kicking *** left and right and singlehandedly took out a Lantern before being overwhelmed so I don't consider his intro to be any worse than Sauron's defeat at the beginning of FOTR.
7. Knightmare. Wow, what can I say about this sequence that hasn't already been said. One of the best back and forths between Batman and Joker EVER. Other than the dumb reach around line it was pretty much perfect. I love BOTH got in each other's heads which you don't usually see, normally it's just one or the other getting the upper hand with the mind****. But no Joker was pushing all of Bruce's buttons and Bruce clearly rattled Joker with his pledge to fulfill Harley Quinn's dying promise. And then of course to save face for his reaction the Joker had to quickly play it off as if Bruce was bluffing. GREAT stuff.
Also there's something poignantly "meta" about the whole Knightmare epilogue, especially now that I know that it was filmed recently and not part of the original production shoot. That means that all the actors themselves were really in different places in their own lives as well, having suffered through any number of global and personal issues. A worldwide pandemic, lapses back into rehab, the ****storm that Amber Heard brought on herself, Leto getting unceremoniously ignored by Birds of Prey and upstaged by Phoenix, Ezra's Irish choking controversy, and of course Zack's own tragedy of losing his daughter and then having a usurper butcher his work. We really were watching a group of people who'd been through the ringer, both due to outside global events, poor choices, and personal tragedies. It gave the entire hellscape sequence just that extra level of authenticity that was impossible to ignore.
But I also like that you kind of *can* ignore it as a dreamlike "worst case scenario" that doesn't have to play out exactly the way that we say. That somehow with the team's newfound unity, extra assistance from the likes of Martian Manhunter and others, and knowing in advance that "Lois is the key" that maybe it will all be avoided. I'm a sap when it comes to these things so I like to have that happy ending option for my own head canon.
When it's all said and done I just like being in this world and experiencing the ups and downs and ultimate triumphs beautifully captured on screen. That freeze frame moment of the the team in mid leap surrounding the charging batmobile put a smile on my face like few superhero films have.
Sure it'd be cool to see more Knightmare stuff but like the T2 future war I can be content with what we got. At least the promise of that war will never be screwed up or betrayed. I like that Snyder's DCEU is so accessible. Three movies, a single trilogy, done. Or an expanded trilogy if you want to cherry pick the first WW or Aquaman or what have you. Otherwise I'm totally fine with the Snyderverse ending on this awesome high note. This was a great win for "what could have been" and for a guy and his family who went through absolute hell and still stuck the landing in the end.
