The Snyder Cut: A Play in Seven Acts

Part 1: Something Lighter

I am almost disappointed by how tasteful the Snyder Cut of Justice League was. If you asked me to imagine what four hours of Zack Snyder superhero filmmaking would look like, with Snyder being given final cut, it would not have been this. I was bracing for something brutal and purposefully awful, the Lars von Trier of superhero movies. I turned on the radio bracing for 6ix9ine and instead heard Chicago.

Here we have Zack Snyder, the guy who brought us Sucker Punch, "Granny’s Peach Tea", and 9/11 times 1,000 melting down Metropolis. None of that awfulness is here. Instead, Zack Snyder made a restrained, actually simple Justice League movie. I am not repulsed on a moral or aesthetic level. Instead, Justice League is perfectly competent.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League, "A Zack Snyder Film", opens with a short message telling us “This film is presented in a 4:3 format to preserve the integrity of Zack Snyder’s creative vision.” In 2021, very little is made for 4:3 anymore. Even Jeopardy is presented in widescreen. This is one of those idiosyncratic choices that seem to exist to prove the auteur credentials of what you’re watching. Think of Christopher Nolan deciding that audiences did not need to hear the dialog in Tenet. The 4:3 choice prepares you for something bold, something entirely unique. The visionary vision of "Visionary Director" Zack Snyder was so vision-ful that we had to sacrifice huge chunks of our TV set to see it.

Then that vision turned out to be remarkably ordinary. The Snyder Cut is a four-hour movie that feels like six hours, but should be half that. But beside that complaint, there is a perfectly normal action blockbuster in here. With a bit of trimming and a 16:9 frame this would not feel very auteur at all. The most Snyder-y of Snyder scene are hidden at tend end. It amounts to a post-credits scene set before the credits. Other than that Justice League feels like... the Justice League, as you imagined them. Superheros you recognize team up to fight a big dumbass alien guy. 

This is a huge win for HBO Max. But is it a huge win for film as an individual's art form?

Blue Fire - Maybe Don't Be 3D Hollow Knight

Blue Fire is very far from a major release. It has been out since February 4th and has not gotten a ton of press. Like seemingly millions of games that come out every year, Blue Fire is a small indie B-game on the Switch. I only happened to come across it randomly watching Switch game trailers, which is usually how I find the weirdest games I have the most trouble talking about. The other day I bought some fucked-up PS1 nightmare for $4 that probably has cursed me to die horribly in a week. I don't think I'll review that one.

There's so much competition in the indie scene today, Blue Fire is lucky to stand out at all. The game is basically 3D Hollow Knight. That's an easy concept to sell, so I think this game has been more successful than most. (Total guess, nobody has access to sales data.) I found a pretty active discord around the game, so somebody is playing it. The developers were able to sell a few hundred plushes of game’s main character. However, Blue Fire is not a game that make will make many Top 10 Lists when the year ends. It has better hopes of appearing in those annual "10 Indie Games You May Have Missed" pieces.

I struggle with Blue Fire for a couple reasons. First of all, this game is just good enough that it should get a bit more exposure. Yet, Blue Fire is also not some obscure masterpiece that you’re missing out on if you only play the big hits. It is a game with potential but also with serious flaws. That leads me to the other problem. When I say Blue Fire needs more exposure, does it need that exposure from me? This might be the only time you will ever hear about this game, and it is coming from somebody who only kind of liked it. Well, I did love something about Blue Fire, just not the main selling point.

Blue Fire is a pretty okay 3D translation of Hollow Knight.That's all good enough, I guess. Instead, Blue Fire is actually one of the greatest 3D platformers I have ever played. That part just happens to be hiding inside a less-than-incredible outer shell. If you want a deeply challenging and rewarding game, its here in Blue Fire. Just not in the main campaign.