A Complete Review of Zack Snyder's work

Cast : Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Ray Fisher, Anthony Hopkins, Cary Elwes

What was it about?
Kora and surviving warriors prepare to defend Veldt, their new home, alongside its people against the Realm. The warriors face their pasts, revealing their motivations before the Realm's forces arrive to crush the growing rebellion.

My two cents:
Well, once again, even though the critics for this movie were rather abysmal, I don’t think it was so bad. Indeed, in my opinion, this follow-up was neither better or worse than its predecessor and, at least, you have to admit that Zack Snyder is actually pretty consistent. Above all, what amazed me the most was how Snyder managed to get 4 hrs of running time from this material? Seriously, I don’t think it was really so bad, it was more that it felt so empty somehow. In this case, this village and these warriors had 5 days before the enemy would attack them and, out of these 5 days (which was ridiculously low), they took like 2 or 3 days to harvest wheat but it was rather pathetic. I mean, the whole idea was that the harvest would supposedly protect them but it was certainly not convincing. Of course, at some point, Atticus Noble gave the order to blast this whole village regardless of the harvest making their whole plan completely meaningless. In a similar fashion, sure, in ‘Seven Samurai’, a handful of skilled warriors could win against an army of bandits, but, in this case, they were facing an intergalactic super power would could blast them from out of space so I’m afraid the whole concept eventually didn’t work from the very beginning. At least, I think that Sofia Boutella was actually better but I think it was mostly because she had so very little dialogues this time around (like everyone else actually). Eventually, the funniest thing is that they gave an open ending for a possible sequel but, to be honest, I wish that Snyder would drop this, even if it did sound quite promising at first.

My rating: 05/10

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Cast : Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam, Anthony Hopkins, Cary Elwes, Jena Malone, Corey Stoll

What was it about?
When a peaceful settlement on the edge of a distant moon finds itself threatened by a tyrannical ruling force, a stranger living among its villagers becomes their best hope for survival.

My two cents:
To be honest, I don’t think it deserved such harsh critics though as I don’t think it was such a disaster after all. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for such epic Sci-Fi adventures and the damned thing was definitely ambitious. Still, even if I don’t think that it was really abysmal, it was still not good either though. I mean, it was visually not bad and it actually had some potential but, at the end of the day, I’m afraid most of it didn’t work. The most frustrating thing was probably the fact that, even though this first part was more than 2 hrs long, the story still felt curiously empty. Another issue was the fact that the characters were either poorly developed or barely entertaining or probably a combination of the two. A perfect example would be Gunnar. Indeed, the idea of a simple farmer getting involved in some intergalactic rebellion against a ruthless seemingly almighty empire was actually pretty cool but, unfortunately, Michiel Huisman did nothing interesting with this character. In fact, it was in fact exactly what he did, nothing, as he looked stunned and wooden through the whole duration. However, the worst of the bunch was probably Sofia Boutella though. Indeed, as long as she didn’t say anything, she was quite charismatic and badass but, as soon as she was speaking, it was seriously rather cringe-inducing. Sure, she wasn’t helped by the rather pathetic dialogues she was provided with and, in the contrary to the rest of the cast, she basically had to carry the whole thing on her shoulders but still. It is too bad because the fact that Netflix is still willing to put so much money in something new should be celebrated but the damned thing felt like a huge waste.

My rating: 05/10

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Cast : Dave Bautista, Nora Arnezeder

What was it about?
Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.

My two cents:
For this new flick, Snyder came back to his roots and made another zombie flick, 17 years after his directorial debut, ‘Dawn of the Dead’. Since ‘Dawn of the Dead’ remains one of his best movies, it was pretty neat that the guy was coming back to this genre. On top of that, I always had a weak spot for the heist genre and the fact that it was taking place in Las Vegas made the whole thing sound pretty awesome. Well, the first issue was with the title. Indeed, it seemed to be a rather cheap trick to link this movie to Snyder’s own remake and Romero’s legendary franchise when this movie actually had nothing to do with these movies. The next issue was the fact that, even though there were quite a lot of characters, it was rather disappointing that the most recognizable actor was Dave Bautista who’s basically a 3rd rank Marvel actor at best. At least, Bautista was not bad at all and actually gave a solid performance. Concerning the rest of the cast, even though there were plenty of characters, none of them was developed whatsoever though. It’s too bad because some of them had some potential. For example, you had some girl called Chambers, she didn’t have any dialogues whatsoever and after one really neat badass action scene, she was unfortunately discarded and turned into some zombie food. Concerning the story itself, well, I guess it was entertaining enough but it also felt rather lazy and generic.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons, Ciarán Hinds, Amber Heard, David Thewlis, Robin Wright, Doutzen Kroes, Kiersey Clemons, Jared Leto, Billy Crudup, Carla Gugino, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner

What was it about?
Determined to ensure Superman's ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne aligns forces with Diana Prince with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions.

My two cents:
To be honest, I didn’t remember much about the Whedon cut but, after reading the review I wrote at the time (see here underneath), I apparently didn’t hate the damned thing though. Basically, it was a rather misguided version of a movie which was never going to be amazing anyway. Well, in spite of what all the DC fanatics who were very vocal about getting this new version might argue, all in all, it was still not a really strong story though. It didn’t help that the storyline was just so similar to the one displayed in ‘Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame’. Indeed, on one hand, Thanos was gathering the Infinity stones and, on the other hand, Steppenwolf/Darkseid were gathering the Mother Boxes. On one hand, you had also Thanos who wanted to destroy a good chunk of the human population and, on the other hand, you had Steppenwolf/Darkseid who wanted pretty much the same thing. However, I have to admit that this movie was supposed to come out before the Marvel juggernaut though. The funny thing was that the Whedon cut was the shortest DCEU movie and this new version turned out to be the longest super-hero movie ever made so far, no less than that. Seriously, 4 freaking hours?!? On the other hand, there is no doubt that, this time around, the characters were much more fleshed out, especially Victor Stone/Cyborg. Furthermore, the tone was darker and much more consistent with the previous movies in this franchise and, this way, it also gave the whole thing a much more epic feeling, something that was probably missing with the theatrical version.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons, Ciarán Hinds, Amber Heard, David Thewlis, Robin Wright, Doutzen Kroes, Billy Crudup

What was it about?
Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his new-found ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.

My two cents:
Even though this movie has a terribly lame reputation, to be honest, I thought it was not bad at all after all. Eventually, even though it might be unfair, the main problem was that Marvel has set the expectations so high following the huge critical and commercial success of 'The Avengers'. I mean, this movie did work but it still never reached the level of the classic delivered by Marvel. Even with Barry Allen and the Flash who was your average wise-cracking teenager, Marvel already used the same gimmick with Peter Parker with some tremendous result. Still, the Justice League is a great team of super-heroes, the cast was really spot on and it was pretty neat to see how they managed to bring all these characters together. Still, even though there was quite some material to cover with all these characters, it was rather bewildering that they delivered the shortest movie so far in the DCEU, only because the previous movies were considered to be too long. Considering Steppenwolf, he was yet another powerful being who wanted to destroy our world which was seriously generic and I didn't care much for him. Eventually, I preferred 'Man of Steel' and 'Batman v Superman' though. Obviously, these movies were not so great either but I really liked the darker approach if only because DC was at least trying to do its own thing. Now, this darker tone is gone, obviously in a misguided attempt to please more people (which they didn't after all) and they gave us something too similar to Marvel which is too bad in my opinion.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Scoot McNairy, Lauren Cohan, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Jena Malone, Kevin Costner, Carla Gugino, Patrick Wilson, Jeffrey Dean Morgan

What was it about?
Fearing that the actions of Superman are left unchecked, Batman takes on the Man of Steel, while the world wrestles with what kind of a hero it really needs.

My two cents:
When I heard that they would make a movie with both Batman and Superman, I thought it was a great idea and a very smart move from DC. Indeed, even though 'Man of Steel' turned out to be decent, it wasn't exactly the massive box-office success they had hoped for. However, with this combo, it was practically impossible to not get a hit. Well, even though this movie has also a really weak reputation, I thought they pulled it off fairly nicely. As expected, we got 2 different storylines for each super-hero and both tales were pretty neat. Indeed, on one hand, they kept developing the idea that Superman is struggling to find a way to deal with his powers and to find a place in our world which remains the best way to deal with this character. On the other hand, they gave us an older and even darker and more messed-up Batman than the version provided by Nolan which was once again a very nice choice. Especially the opening scene, explaining his anger towards Superman, was crucial and very well done. So, they kept the dark approach chosen by DC and it worked, at least, for me. Unfortunately, pretty much everything else in the movie was rather half-baked, I'm afraid. I mean, most of those other ideas (Lex Luthor as the bad guy, Wonder Woman being also introduced, the relationship of Clark Kent with Lois Lane, Clark Kent's job as a journalist, ...) were not really bad but the 2 main storylines were already massive and complex and they should have focused on this conflict. Finally, to end another super-hero feature with yet another huge battle was rather disappointing and it seems that the writers don't know how to finish differently this kind of stories. Also, to kill off Superman, possibly the most powerful of all the super-heros, was rather ridiculous, especially in the very first sequel of his own franchise. Of course, he doesn't really die but the whole idea was really misguided, especially since the outcome was so predictable. Anyway, all things considered, in spite of its flaws, I still liked the damned thing.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe, Antje Traue, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne, Carla Gugino

What was it about?
An alien child is evacuated from his dying world and sent to Earth to live among humans. His peace is threatened, when other survivors of his home planet invade Earth.

My two cents:
Personally, I always had a hard time with Superman. I mean, how can you make a compelling story with a super strong immortal guy? However, this time, they managed to make him vulnerable somehow and it worked very well. The whole messianic approach was also really interesting and there was also a top cast involved. The masterstroke was above all to have Russell Crowe portray his biological father and Kevin Costner his adoptive father. I mean, Superman was basically brought up by Maximus and Eliot Ness. It doesn't get much cooler than that. So, all the stuff involving his struggling with his identity and how to handle his powers were really good but, unfortunately, I didn't care much for the rest. I mean, Michael Shannon, one of the most exciting actors right now, delivered a solid performance but the whole thing about the bad guy who wants to destroy Earth has been done to death by now. And the final battle in the town towards the end might have been nice with 'The Avengers' but here it felt really redundant. Finally, Zach Znyder knows how to direct action scenes but the end was pretty much overkill as it went on for 30-45 minutes with 3 consecutive fight scenes. Still, I enjoyed most of this flick and, in my opinion, it is easily the best Superman movie ever made.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm, Scott Glenn

What was it about?
A young girl institutionalized by her abusive stepfather retreats to an alternative reality as a coping strategy and envisions a plan to help her escape.

My two cents:
Before this movie was released, there was a huge buzz about it but, eventually, it was a flop at the box-office, pretty much like ‘Watchmen’. Well, eventually, it turned out to be a really misguided flick. Let’s start with the story which was way too much convoluted for its own good. Basically, you have this girl who ends up in a mental institution. Apparently, since she cannot cope with this place or because she is really mentally disturbed, she pretends/believes that this loony bin is … a brothel (Sorry, but I really fail to see how it should be an improvement…). But, it goes even further. In this brothel, she performs some dances (that you never to get to see) and during those dances, she ends up in yet another reality where she and her playmates has to fight various enemies such as giant samurais, WWI Germans, orks, dragons and they even have to stop a bomb as well. Seriously?!? Nolan did manage to get this multiple reality thing with ‘Inception’ but he did spend about 10 years writing the story to make sure it sounded more or less coherent. This movie was however just a mess mixed with some gig wet dream. Honestly, I felt pretty bad for the all young actresses involved. I mean, it is pretty obvious that they all thought they were getting involved in one kick-ass movie and they all gave their best shot but none of their character was really developed and they were reduced to some sexualized stereotypes. I understand that the whole thing was apparently supposed to be some kind of critic about our society but it didn’t change the fact that the whole thing was not really fun to watch and I really couldn’t care less about its pseudo-psychological shenanigans. Still, I must admit it, it was visually impressive, some of the action scenes were pretty badass and I give it some extra points for trying something different but I’m being really generous with my rating here.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Abbie Cornish, Joel Edgerton, Helen Mirren, Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham

What was it about?
When a young owl is abducted by an evil Owl army, he must escape with new-found friends and seek the legendary Guardians to stop the menace.

My two cents:
Even though this movie was certainly not a priority, for some reasons, I still ended up watching the damned thing in the movie theater with my step-son. I guess there wasn't much else to see at the movie-theater at the time. Anyway, before watching this, I wasn't expecting much but, eventually, I thought it was not bad at all after all. To be honest, I didn't really follow the whole story (in my opinion, it wasn't exactly really thrilling) but the best quality of this flick was in fact its animation. Indeed, the whole thing was seriously gorgeous to look at and, only for this, I think it is worth checking this flick. To be honest, I think it will have some difficulty to find an audience since the owls may look too childish for the adults but the tone might be too dark for the young children (the really convoluted title probably probably won’t help either). It's too bad because it is a very original animated feature compared to the usual productions delivered by Pixar and Dreamworks.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino

What was it about?
In 1985 where former superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach into his own sprawling investigation, uncovering something that could completely change the course of history as we know it.

My two cents:
I remember it very well, back then when it was released, there was a huge buzz about this flick. Eventually, pretty much like 'Sucker Punch' also directed by Zach Snyder, it turned out to be a disappointment at the box-office. I guess it was above all due to the fact that it was dealing with some rather obscure super-heroes and the fact that the tone was seriously bleak didn't help either. Anyway, I thought it was a damned fine feature, in fact, in my opinion, it is one of the best of its genre no less than that. Indeed, it must be the darkest super-hero movie ever made, alongside 'The Dark Knight', and the more I got to know about the characters and their inner struggles, the more I felt captivated by the whole story. Furthermore, I thought it was a really gorgeous movie. Later on, Zack Snyder would be in charge of the DCEU but, even though I did like 'Man of Steel', eventually, he wasn't really the right guy to carry the whole thing on his shoulders and none of his other movies in the DC universe would be as awesome as this movie was. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though I'm not surprised it actually tanked, I thought it was actually quite awesome, even if I might be in the minority.

My rating: 08/10

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Cast : Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Michael Fassbender

What was it about?
King Leonidas of Sparta and a force of 300 men fight the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

My two cents:
Even though it was a surprise success at the box-office upon its release, it seems to be nowadays a rather polarizing movie. Indeed, basically, you either love or you hate this flick. Personally, I thought it was pretty good. Indeed, above all I thought it was just visually really impressive. I mean, nowadays, we get a massive overdose of CGI but this movie is a good example that it can definitely enhance the story telling. The Spartans were also pretty awesome, they were totally badass and I thought they were rather believable as some of the deadliest warriors ever. This flick obviously displayed a progression for Zach Znyder from his interesting debut, ‘Dawn of the Dead’, and this progression was confirmed by ‘Watchmen’, his best movie so far which is really underrated in my opinion. Many viewers thought those guys looked really ridiculous in their outfit and, even though they definitely had a point, I thought it fit the ‘historical’ context. Still, even though, I really enjoyed it, I have to admit it was far from being flawless. Indeed, the story was entertaining but rather pedestrian and the political intrigue was really poorly developed (I mean, the bad guy gets killed and look how convenient! He was carrying some enemy coins in his pocket… How corny can you get…) Furthermore, their way of speaking wore me down after a while. I mean, it is like every time they open their mouth, even the most trivial conversation becomes some kind of overblown speech. Still, I thought it was a pretty cool flick and I had a good time watching this.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Michael Kelly, Kevin Zegers

What was it about?
A nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.

My two cents:
Eventually, I thought it was pretty good and, in my opinion, it is probably one of the best remakes ever made. Indeed, there was a pretty good cast (it was above all a nice and welcome surprise to see Sarah Polley in a commercial feature like this one), it was visually quite impressive and the whole thing was simply really entertaining. Indeed, the whole thing was just very well done, with some good action scenes and Sarah Polley is definitely one of the most underrated actresses around and she displayed her acting skills once again with this flick. On the downside, Znyder has dropped the whole reflection on consumerism which made the original so stricking and thus the weakest point with this movie is that the story was not original and rather predictable. Anyway, for Zack Snyder, it was still a really solid directing debut and the start of a rather prolific career.

My rating: 07/10

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