Justice League JL Runtime Thread. Yay? Or Nay?

[Tra-El]

@tra-el and BH/HHH have you never seen a movie though where you felt unsatisfied because you just could feel that stuff was rushed through?

Hmmm, I honestly can't really recall. Usually when I'm left wanting more it's not because of something feeling too short per-say, but being so satisfied that I wanted the story to continue in a sequel of some sort. As long as I like a film, the thought of something being rushed never really cross's my mind. When I sit down to watch a film, I know I'm committing one, two or possibly three hours of my free time to get lost in suspension. A drag of a movie is much more noticeable to me if there ever was one where I can literally feel my body getting a little ancy and uncomfortable, which most of the time, takes me out of the film for a brief period of time before having to be pulled back in. I don't want that to happen with Justice League. I honestly feel a 2 hour runtime would be plenty to accomplish what they need to accomplish but if it were up to me, givin' my hype and enjoyment for these films, I would certainly not complain if this thing was at the 2 hrs; 30/45 minute mark.

 

[mclay18]

I would be perfectly happy if it's an enjoyable 2-hour flick (120 minutes plus 8-10 minutes of credits). Most of the characters have been pre-established and you only need a background for Cyborg, Flash, and Aquaman. There can still be a few character moments (like that beautiful Smallville scene in the third trailer) interspersed throughout.

Hell, Warners did a better Kong movie in 118 minutes than Peter Jackson did with his three hour remake. And the original film was a lean 100 minutes.

 

[Gu3ree]

I read it's going to be 5 hours and 7 minutes long!

 

[vantheman77]

Nay if it's under 2 hours.

 

[markjoedelonge]

I think the reasons why BvS (UC) and AOU felt bloated was because the Directors had to include in material in there there were meant to setup their respective universes for their upcoming films rather than focusing entirely on the story that they were trying to tell.

I think the first Avengers film is better example of what a film of this scale should be running time wise, where it leaves a lot of room for the characters to develop and grow on audiences, especially when half of the main cast are being introduced for the first time.

Yup. This is why I was expecting a runtime close to the first Avengers film, which felt very satisfying in terms of.....well, everything. Except for some questionable cinematography.

 

[jmc]

My suspicion is this. I don't believe this film was ever intended to be this short, I don't think it's Snyder's style to do a comic adaptation this short because I think he, like many fans, wants to spend as much time with the characters as possible, even if it's detrimental to the story. I ultimately feel the original article saying the first cut of JL being unwatchable is very much believable, that the original cut spent too much time on nonessential story and long drawn out characters arcs. It's not an unlikely situation given the directors history. My gut tells me when they trimmed it down they weren't left with much of a story, hence Whedon coming on board to try and fill in the gaps and make something work, which lead to the extensive reshoots. Judging from the alleged plot leak the end result is something very streamlined and basic that wouldn't need much more than 2 hours to get through. I don't think this was done for financial reasons like BvS was, I think it's likely WB really just needed something easily digestible for general audiences.

 

[Greenlite]

My suspicion is this. I don't believe this film was ever intended to be this short, I don't think it's Snyder's style to do a comic adaptation this short because I think he, like many fans, wants to spend as much time with the characters as possible, even if it's detrimental to the story. I ultimately feel the original article saying the first cut of JL being unwatchable is very much believable, that the original cut spent too much time on nonessential story and long drawn out characters arcs. It's not an unlikely situation given the directors history. My gut tells me when they trimmed it down they weren't left with much of a story, hence Whedon coming on board to try and fill in the gaps and make something work, which lead to the extensive reshoots. Judging from the alleged plot leak the end result is something very streamlined and basic that wouldn't need much more than 2 hours to get through. I don't think this was done for financial reasons like BvS was, I think it's likely WB really just needed something easily digestible for general audiences.

you don't think WB made it this short to squeeze extra screenings per day to bump the box office?

 

[OdinSon]

My suspicion is this. I don't believe this film was ever intended to be this short, I don't think it's Snyder's style to do a comic adaptation this short because I think he, like many fans, wants to spend as much time with the characters as possible, even if it's detrimental to the story. I ultimately feel the original article saying the first cut of JL being unwatchable is very much believable, that the original cut spent too much time on nonessential story and long drawn out characters arcs. It's not an unlikely situation given the directors history. My gut tells me when they trimmed it down they weren't left with much of a story, hence Whedon coming on board to try and fill in the gaps and make something work, which lead to the extensive reshoots. Judging from the alleged plot leak the end result is something very streamlined and basic that wouldn't need much more than 2 hours to get through. I don't think this was done for financial reasons like BvS was, I think it's likely WB really just needed something easily digestible for general audiences.

I think you are right. Some folks on this forum are claiming that 4 out of 7 movies by Snyder are under 2 hours. But they forget that Snyder has only done 2 team movies(Watchmen,BVS) and both were 3 hours long . I suspect he was originally going for at lest 2.5 hours long movie.

 

[jmc]

you don't think WB made it this short to squeeze extra screenings per day to bump the box office?

An extra 20-25 mins isn't going to decrease the number of screenings all that much. Nothing to do with box office IMO. I think the finished length is the result of a much longer movie that didn't work very well and has been trimmed and reworked in an attempt to salvage it. In other words, WB just needed something to work, whatever its length may be.

 

[Gu3ree]

I sincerely hope you're wrong jmc about the first cut of Justice League being unwatchable, even though that does scare me. Even if Joss Whedon was hired to finish the project and add 10 minutes of material or less, then it wouldn't really save this film very much, from its already supposed, big mess.

Having said that, BvS was so dragged. It felt like practically 80% of the film was about setting up the characters. That consisted mostly of the over-established hatred Bruce Wayne had for Superman.

 

[OdinSon]

I sincerely hope you're wrong jmc about the first cut of Justice League being unwatchable, even though that does scare me. Even if Joss Whedon was hired to finish the project and add 10 minutes of material or less, then it wouldn't really save this film very much, from its already supposed, big mess.

I seriously doubt that the extensive reshoots that went on for three months will only constitute 10 minutes of the movie. At this point, I think at least 30% of movie will be Whedons.

 

[Vlyse]

you don't think WB made it this short to squeeze extra screenings per day to bump the box office?

Another impact the runtime would have on boxoffice are DCEU skeptics who didnt like previous films and didnt plan on seeing this one but might now go see it "since its so short anyway."

 

[Gu3ree]

I seriously doubt that the extensive reshoots that went on for three months will only constitute 10 minutes of the movie. At this point, I think at least 30% of movie will be Whedons.

I don't for sure, but wasn't it reported later in regards to the reshoots that it wasn't necessarily three months-straight, but simply taking place between July and September. Many people were wondering why the reshoots would be that long, but then it was said due to the scheduling conflicts with the cast, that was the reason the reshoots took so long. Obviously Henry was shooting MI6, and other actors were shooting other films as well.

 

[jmc]

I sincerely hope you're wrong jmc about the first cut of Justice League being unwatchable, even though that does scare me. Even if Joss Whedon was hired to finish the project and add 10 minutes of material or less, then it wouldn't really save this film very much, from its already supposed, big mess.

Having said that, BvS was so dragged. It felt like practically 80% of the film was about setting up the characters. That consisted mostly of the over-established hatred Bruce Wayne had for Superman.

Just speculating, I could be 100% wrong.

 

[kguillou]

I'm admittedly biased, buy I wondrr what exactly would constitute as "unwatchable." Too much character buildup? I cant see that as a negative.

I have a question for those of you who've read the leaks and I just want a broad vague answer, you guys are saying thay the plot seems very basic and the runtime more than justify's it, but what about Superman? Does it seem like it services him adequately becausr thats another reason why I feel the film NEEDS a long runtime to properly bring this character back without him being some third act mcguffin.

 

[Consona]

I want a 3 hour version, obviously.

 

[Gu3ree]

We've only judging by the trailers, so we can't know for sure, but looking at MOS, which squeezed in too much content in 2 hours and 20 minutes, and in BvS, the pacing was just sloooooooooow. With the ultimate edition, I was hoping they'd give us more Superman, rather than more Jena Malone, Lex, Jimmy Olsen, the lady from Africa,

JL looks like it will have humor and jokes, character development, and maybe not enough Superman. But I hope that's not the case.

I'm wondering about the underground scene where the league is fighting the parademons. In the first SDCC sneak peak footage, it looked like a mediocre story and simple as opposed to something epic. Don't get me wrong though, I was impressed by the 2017 SDCC trailer. It looked better.

 

[nyyarod]

As long as it's an enjoyable enough movie then whatever. I just want to actually like it.

 

[markjoedelonge]

My suspicion is this. I don't believe this film was ever intended to be this short, I don't think it's Snyder's style to do a comic adaptation this short because I think he, like many fans, wants to spend as much time with the characters as possible, even if it's detrimental to the story. I ultimately feel the original article saying the first cut of JL being unwatchable is very much believable, that the original cut spent too much time on nonessential story and long drawn out characters arcs. It's not an unlikely situation given the directors history. My gut tells me when they trimmed it down they weren't left with much of a story, hence Whedon coming on board to try and fill in the gaps and make something work, which lead to the extensive reshoots. Judging from the alleged plot leak the end result is something very streamlined and basic that wouldn't need much more than 2 hours to get through. I don't think this was done for financial reasons like BvS was, I think it's likely WB really just needed something easily digestible for general audiences.

Yeah I think so too. I think they've just cut out the plot points that are not related to the main story thread of Steppenwolf attacking Earth, reducing the runtime to its current length. I just hope that Whedon is approving of any edits/cuts made to the film. If it has his approval, I'm good.

 

[Longshot777]

Well the worst thing that can happen is when this 2 hour movie will drag and feel like 3 hours.

 

[GreenKToo]

I'm admittedly biased, buy I wondrr what exactly would constitute as "unwatchable." Too much character buildup? I cant see that as a negative.

I have a question for those of you who've read the leaks and I just want a broad vague answer, you guys are saying thay the plot seems very basic and the runtime more than justify's it, but what about Superman? Does it seem like it services him adequately becausr thats another reason why I feel the film NEEDS a long runtime to properly bring this character back without him being some third act mcguffin.

I read them all, and it feels fine to me. It doesn't seem to have a LOTR type of feel where it tells you what each character has did for the last several years, but it feels ok. I'm sure several character moments were left out of the description in favor of the main plot points and scenes tho so i'm not worried.

IF it's all true, then I like the superman moments.

Again, IF the leaks are true, the trailers are huge misdirections.
It seems to me that the film pretty much jumps right into the thick of things and makes you hang on.

That said, I'm still not sold it's true. I've heard pretty convincing descriptions of films over the years and they turned out to be false.

 

[markjoedelonge]

I read them all, and it feels fine to me. It doesn't seem to have a LOTR type of feel where it tells you what each character has did for the last several years, but it feels ok. I'm sure several character moments were left out of the description in favor of the main plot points and scenes tho so i'm not worried.

IF it's all true, then I like the superman moments.

Again, IF the leaks are true, the trailers are huge misdirections.
It seems to me that the film pretty much jumps right into the thick of things and makes you hang on.

That said, I'm still not sold it's true. I've heard pretty convincing descriptions of films over the years and they turned out to be false.

Sorry, but would you mind explaining that line? That sounds pretty damn good if true.

 

[GreenKToo]

Sorry, but would you mind explaining that line? That sounds pretty damn good if true.

Spoiler

it supposedly shows superman in the opening scene being interviewed by some kids, maybe that's not action, but for me, it would be an awesome moment. It's said to be a flashback

take with a huge pile of salt.

 

[markjoedelonge]

Spoiler

it supposedly shows superman in the opening scene being interviewed by some kids, maybe that's not action, but for me, it would be an awesome moment. It's said to be a flashback

take with a huge pile of salt.

Ahh thanks!

 

[kguillou]

I read them all, and it feels fine to me. It doesn't seem to have a LOTR type of feel where it tells you what each character has did for the last several years, but it feels ok. I'm sure several character moments were left out of the description in favor of the main plot points and scenes tho so i'm not worried.

IF it's all true, then I like the superman moments.

Again, IF the leaks are true, the trailers are huge misdirections.
It seems to me that the film pretty much jumps right into the thick of things and makes you hang on.

That said, I'm still not sold it's true. I've heard pretty convincing descriptions of films over the years and they turned out to be false.

So, IF true, you feel Superman gets well served in the movie?