ALL ZACK SNYDER FILMS FROM WORST TO BEST
No one in the contemporary cinematic landscape is as discussed - and questionable - as Zack Snyder. Each of his films and each of his public releases start endless discussions on the web, with real factions lined up ready to fight each other comment after comment. Like it or not, the only thing that cannot be taken away from Snyder is that he is an author. And this does not mean expressing any qualitative judgment but is simply an objective observation.
Snyder has his own vision - both of the world of narration and of cinematographic language - which he has carried forward, film after film, throughout his career. A journey that, on the occasion of the release of the second part of Rebel Moon, we want to tackle starting from his worst work and arriving at his best.
Rebel Moon<13 > - Part 1&2
We start from Zack Snyder's latest effort but, unlike the distribution choice made, we keep Parts 1 and 2 of Rebel Moon together. The project, which arrived between 2023 and 2024, was supposed to represent a new approach to the great blockbuster after its arrival on Netflix and the first work of adjustment (Army of the Dead) born from the union between the author and the giant of streaming. A distantly mature Snyder, far from the difficult period, which he didn't have to take into account any intellectual property, free to create and with an excellent budget at his disposal. The final result, however, is the perfect example of what some spectators have always held against him: a good hand for action scenes, a taste for the single shot but on the other hand a surprising narrative inability. And above all in this case an exasperated but empty quotation in a project that seems to have been born in the wrong era.
Sucker Punch
It's easy to draw a common thread capable of uniting Rebel Moon and Sucker Punch. The 2011 film arrives at a fairly similar stage in his career as the Netflix project. Snyder at that time had 4 feature films under his belt. They are all, between remakes and adaptations, taken from existing intellectual properties. They have already created a rift in the public but on the other hand they are quite successful. Here then is that Snyder has the opportunity to stage a personal project, planned for several years. Sucker Punch is born but even in this case the reception is disastrous. Those waiting for him at the gate had found the perfect target for his accusations. A film that managed to create individual images that were impressive for the level of detail and details in the scene. But even in this case it was totally inconsistent on a narrative level, derivative beyond belief.
Army of the Dead
<0 >Let's take another leap forward in this strange journey of ours within Zack Snyder's career. We are at the dawn of his collaboration with Netlfix, a few months after the release of the infamous Zack Snyder's Justice League. The project inevitably brings to mind the debut of the American director, who returns to the realm of zombie movies after almost 20 years. Here too, however, the classic problems that occur when he manages a project in its entirety arise. Of course, gender helps. Snyder gets it right when it comes to managing mass scenes and zombies lend themselves to it, as does a "limited" and more linear context. Yet it falls into some exaggerations that drag some passages into ridicule, as well as into the classic excesses of pathos totally out of context.
The kingdom of Ga'Hoole - The legend of the Guardians
The Kingdom of Ga'Hoole is perhaps the least explainable film of Snyder's career. The classic title that catches the eye and raises doubts about whether or not you are on the right web page. It's simply difficult to remember it or, at least, remember to associate it with Snyder's career. Yet the film isn't that bad. Of course, it struggles to express true narrative potential and to marry its mood with that of the target audience (which sufficiently explains the lackluster result at the box office). Yet it maintains great dignity on a visual level, with the director managing to give vent to his undeniable technical and visual ability. It has aged not too badly, some moments remain of excellent workmanship.
Batman V Superman
And here we are at a real and its own stone of discord. First of all some context. It's 2014, Marvel is racing madly through Phase Two, scoring one success after another. Two years earlier, led by Joss Whedon, it had succeeded in the impossible, that is, not only to bring the Avengers to the screen with dignity and quality but also to use that assembly as a huge upside bet. At DC, the success of Nolan's Batman had paradoxically prevented them from sowing what was necessary to create a universe and they had found themselves chasing and in the meantime the relaunch of Superman had been entrusted to Zack Snyder for whom a sequel was awaited. The idea that came up was to skip the stages, transform the sequel into a clash between the man of steel and the caped crusader, complete with an introduction to a truly expanded and shared universe. The result is an impressive jumble of stuff. Snyder tries to infuse every single frame with epicness, with some undoubtedly successful and memorable passages. But overall the chaos, the inexplicable passages and the lapses in style come out on top.
Man of Steel
Another step back, let's go back to the progenitor of Batman V Superman. Snyder is chosen for the aforementioned relaunch, under the "supervision" of Nolan. The main problem of the film is Goyer's script which has passages bordering on the parodic, in which the death of Jonathan Kent stands out without a shadow of a doubt, as well as a general atmosphere - which the director overplays - which seems years away light than that suited to the Kryptonian. Yet in this case Snyder's hand comes to the rescue as he uses the ending as a true disaster movie to give vent to his ability. The clash between Superman and Zod still remains today memorable for ambition and scope, even above most of the large-scale clashes ever staged at Marvel. Of course, it also carries within it the moral problem of the destruction of Metropolis. But on a visual level you certainly can't say anything to him.
Dawn of the Dead
We get to the debut film by the American director who, after a fair apprenticeship in the field of commercials and music videos, arrives in the world of cinema. The project was soon announced, once signed by Universal he was entrusted with the remake of Dawn Of The Dead (Zombie in Italy), Romero's historic 1978 film. The script is by James Gunn, curiously the same one who 20 years later will come to lead the DC universe to eliminate the Snyder Verse. And it is no coincidence that one of Snyder's best films comes from the hand of one of the most talented screenwriters of this generation. The director, probably still shy, leans on the script without missing a beat, concentrating on the action scenes and immediately showing off his good hand. Even here in some passages the narrative cohesion is lost. Yet the individual segments still work perfectly today.
300
The next project immediately brings Snyder to a subject which would then characterize the majority of his production over the years. Or rather the adaptation of a comic. Not of a random author, but of that Frank Miller who he will cite on several occasions, in particular The Return of the Dark Knight as the main source of inspiration in the Batman V Superman period. In 300 Snyder is committed to following the original material as much as possible, starting to exasperate the slow motion - which will become a trademark - almost as if to bring his moving images back to the static nature of the table. A film that is completely a product of his time and above all capable of intercepting - and in part forming - a taste that was developing precisely at the beginning of 2000. Of course, the exasperation is at its highest level, as is Snyder's insistence on painting his protagonists oiled up and muscular. But it is undeniable that 300 is well imprinted in the collective memory of a generation.
Zack Snyder's Justice League
How perhaps you will notice in this ranking there is no trace of Justice League. A project that is the result of no one but wicked choices from both a human and professional point of view. Instead there is Zack Snyder's interminable, lopsided and inexplicable version. A real case-study regarding the contemporary world of great Western film productions. Let's be clear, there is practically nothing positive in the dynamics that led to the release of this Director's Cut. Just as it is difficult to give an objective judgment on the film. Yet it is a work - especially in the black and white version - so exasperated (and exasperating), so extreme in its authorship that it cannot leave one indifferent. You can certainly hate it, just as you can underline the eternal problems of Zack Snyder as the author. But one cannot in any way remain indifferent to certain images and stylistic choices taken to total excess. Especially in the face of a constant flattening that has affected major Hollywood productions.
Watchmen
We come to Watchmen, the title that probably more than any other is capable of bringing together the factions created around the American director. Of course, there is no shortage of criticism here too. In particular those related to the excessive tracing of the plates taken from Moore-Gibbson's masterpiece. But Snyder, unlike practically everything else in his career, manages to never get lost in any passage of the narrative. He slavishly follows the path already traced, only to change at the end in a passage that is still controversial today but which at least has its full coherence. Yes, there are exaggerations and less-than-subtle choices (like putting Hallelujah during a sex scene). At the same time he gives some dream sequences, does an excellent job in the atmospheres, perfectly marrying his constant desire to oppress the spectators with the mood of the original work. And what's more, by digging up its video clip soul - it offers opening credits that still get everyone talking today for their perfection.
by Giacomo Lenzi of ScreenWorld. it for Filmamo