Zack Snyder's Justice Lube Part 4: Mourning and Music
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Scene 2: Martha (14:28-15:30)
No matter how cool the DC universe may be to Zack Snyder and his fans, there is always the inconvenience of ordinary people. What do we do with these non-supers, these remainders who stubbornly persist in being characters? I dunno, let’s have them stand around in a graveyard at night.
That’s where we find Martha Kent. In Batman v Superman, she existed to be kidnapped and terrorized in order to push Superman into a cage match with Batman. Her name becomes the catalyst for their friendship.
In Justice League, though, there’s no Superman, so there’s no real reason for Martha Kent. Now useless except as a sponge for excess sentimentality, she stands over her son’s grave at night, her pickup truck’s headlights illuminating the scene. She doesn’t even turn off the car; she’s not here to stay.
A U-Haul wagon is hitched to her truck. A dog named Dusty (not Krypto? Oh well) waits for her. We will never see Dusty again. On her way out of town, she passes by her home, now for sale by the bank. Goodbye Martha. That was a good 90 seconds. We’ll see you again in a few hours.
Compare and contrast: This scene does not exist in JWJL, but a few shots appear in the opening credits.
Scene 3: tarmac (15:30-16:25)
Bruce Wayne lands in a helicopter and recaps his conversation with Aquaman. He walks from the helicopter to a plane. The scene ends before he boards the plane. Aside from the introduction of Alfred, there is no reason for this scene to exist. Alfred mentions that Wayne is “nought for two” when it comes to recruiting people for his team. Fans can safely assume that the first prospective recruit was Wonder Woman, but there is no way of knowing that if you’re coming into this movie fresh. A useless stub of a scene that accomplishes nothing. It’s probably the best argument so far against the existence of ZSJL in its current form.
Compare and contrast: This scene does not appear in JWJL, but there’s a scene that clearly takes place after Bruce and Alfred have boarded the plane. Wayne mentions that he put a tracker in Aquaman’s coat, “but he left without it. It may in fact not have been his coat”. He’s also shaving, which is a nice bit of visual shorthand for “getting back in the game”. They pack in an infodump on Barry Allen, Victor Stone and drop Diana’s name. It’s mostly exposition. Best described as serviceable.
Scene 4: Lois (16:25-18:00)
I wonder what Zack Snyder thinks of baristas. Specifically, effete coffee-slinging men with man buns, struggle beards and soft T-shirts. Do these foam finaglers even lift bro? The one who serves two lattes to Lois Lane in this scene isn’t singled out for mockery, but he falls so far outside of Snyder’s usual character gallery that I can’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for the guy. He probably dies off screen later. We barely knew you, barista guy.
At any rate, Lois gets her two coffees and exits. As she leaves an anonymous hand steadies the door behind her. The camera briefly shows the name of the establishment on the window: Fred & Ginger Coffee. It turns out that this is a real coffee shop located at 38 High Street, Kings Langley in the United Kingdom. Lois Lane is a long way from Metropolis.
Also of note: a Daily Planet headline that says “Security Bank of Manhattan Seeks New Architect”. The camera lingers long enough that it is clearly supposed to have some significance. My guess is that it has nothing to do with the DC universe (“Manhattan” is a bit of a giveaway) and is probably a wink to The Fountainhead, which Snyder reportedly wants to adapt as a feature film.
The second coffee is for a policeman named Jerry whose job is to guard the Superman memorial. Jerry is played by Mark McClure, who also played Jimmy Olsen in the first four Superman movies and 1984’s Supergirl. “You don’t miss a day, do you?” Jerry quips. “Like it here,” Lois responds.
As she approaches the memorial in extremely slow motion, the mournful tune that has been dogging her for the last thirty seconds catches up to her and overwhelms the scene. It’s Nick Cave’s “Distant Sky,” a beautiful piece that Snyder somehow ruins by matching it to this scene. This is Zack Snyder’s real talent: taking great songs and making them embarrassing with his signature artless deployment.
Compare and contrast: This scene doesn’t exist in JWJL, but footage of Lois at the memorial appears in the opening credits. Mark McClure is recast as a prison guard in one of the Barry Allen scenes.
