Snyder started off pretty strong, but as he became more serious about the films he directed, the quality began to drop significantly. His attempts to turn fun over-the-top pulp into plot/character-driven narratives are simply painful to watch.
Movies
Zack Snyder's latest is an attempt to recreate the Star Wars magic. Don't go in expecting a real sci-fi epic, this is a fantasy space opera pur sang. It's not my favored genre, but I'll take anything sci-fi-related I can get these days. Sadly, Snyder's attempt is quite lame and shallow and has a tough time setting itself apart. A small farmer's village gets into trouble when an army faction of their rulers visits them. They demand food, but the farmers just want to be left alone. The situation gets out of hand and the next day, a bunch of dead soldiers forces the villagers to join the rebels, should they have any hope of survival. When a film like this starts in a Middle Ages-style farmers' village, a local inn, and flute music included, you know it's going to take a lot of effort to recover from that. The world-building is pretty disappointing, the plot is dull and the characters are bland. Even the bad guys aren't all that cool. It's an expensive spectacle, that's the only thing this film has going for it.Read all
Somebody needs to sit Snyder down and tell him he isn't a great filmmaker. He should be fully capable to make an entertaining, 90-minute zombie flick, but Army of the Dead turned out to be a sluggish, 150-minute bore fest that drowns in cheese, horrible dialogues and lame kills. A Japanese businessman hires Scott Ward to retrieve the money underneath his casino from Las Vegas, a city taken over by violent, intelligent zombies. Ward assembles a crew and enters the city, but the situation is a lot trickier than foreseen, and it doesn't take long before people start dying. Bautista is a solid cast, the rest of the actors are a lot flakier. Especially since there's quite a bit of drama to plow through, which none of them are equipped to do. There isn't enough zombie action, the kills feel rushed, the lore is a cheesy take on other post-apocalyptic films. And then there's that insane runtime. Snyder really needs to go back to his roots.Read all
Snyder got a second chance at Justice League. Not a sequel, but a much longer cut and way more directorial input. The result is a slightly better film, though that's not saying much, remembering what a fluke the original was. That said, people who have seen the original and don't care too much about all this superhero nonsense don't need to make a big effort, as Snyder's cut is still well below average. Earth is in danger. Again! Some or other villain is planning to wipe up out in order to rule the galaxy, so a bunch of superheroes come together to protect our planet. They realize they have no chance of winning without Superman present, so their first job is reanimating the good man. Snyder is Snyder. When all the stars align, that's a good thing, but for a film like Justice League, his super serious and over-the-top style doesn't really work. The soundtrack is hilarious, the performances are dreadful, the plot overflowing with cheese and misplaced sentiment. At least the visual bravura is back in full force, but he really shot himself in the foot with that 4:3 business. An utterly stupid and misguided film, but not quite as dumb as the original.Read all
A feeble attempt to recreate the success of the Avengers. The super heroes are laughable, the tone is incredibly inconsistent, the bad guy is one of the worst yet. It's all so dull, almost cynical in its execution. Worst of all is the fact that Snyder seems to have lost all of his signature trademarks. I guess DC finally broke him. This is garbage cinema.
