The first reviews for Zack Snyder’s Justice League are in, and it’s looking good for the director’s cut. Fans have been dying to see the filmmaker’s original vision for the team-up flick for years now, with the wait almost over as it hits HBO Max in just a couple of days. It sounds like Snyder’s loyal fanbase will be pleased with it, too, as its opening Rotten Tomatoes score is very positive.
Justice League 2021 is sitting at a strong 76% on RT, with the critical consensus reading: “Zack Snyder’s Justice League lives up to its title with a sprawling cut that expands to fit the director’s vision — and should satisfy the fans who willed it into existence.” This officially makes it the highest-rated of Snyder’s DCEU efforts on the review aggregate site.
The divisive director’s movies have infamously been given a hard time on Rotten Tomatoes, as Man of Steel stands at just 56%, with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice sporting a paltry 28% score. Not that he had anything to do with the theatrical cut, but 2017’s Justice League sits in the middle with 40%. Snyder’s JL is easily the frontrunner, then.
Obviously, its rating is going to dip over time, but this indicates that even its eventual lower score will keep it as one of Snyder’s best-received films. In fact, as it currently stands, it’s the highest-rated entry in his entire filmography, beating out the likes of 2009 non-DCEU DC adaptation Watchmen (65%) and animated flick Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (52%). When it settles, though, it’ll likely drop below Snyder’s previous top-rated movie, 2004’s Dawn of the Dead (Certified Fresh with 75%).
While some critics are calling its four-hour runtime “bloated,” Zack Snyder’s Justice League is also being labelled as “epic,” an “absolute blast” and far “superior” to the theatrical cut. Catch it on HBO Max this Thursday, March 18th.