Zack Snyder is currently hard at work on his next movie, Rebel Moon. The director retooled his unproduced Star Wars movie into a sprawling original sci-fi epic for Netflix. A star-studded cast including Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, and Anthony Hopkins has been assembled for what promises to be one of Snyder’s most thrilling and ambitious films yet.
Netflix has yet to confirm a release date for Rebel Moon. In the meantime, Snyder fans have plenty of movies that can be enjoyed over and over again. Some of his films, like 300, Watchmen, and his surprisingly satisfying remake of Dawn of the Dead, warrant more rewatches than others, like Sucker Punch and the overlong Batman v Superman.
9 Sucker Punch (2011)
Released in 2011, Sucker Punch is one of Snyder’s most universally panned movies. It’s his least rewatchable movie because it barely holds up to a single viewing. The script starts off with an interesting premise about using fantasy worlds to escape from a harrowing reality, but it doesn’t have a compelling story to tie it all together.
Cinematographer Larry Fong brought stunning visuals to the proceedings. Sucker Punch dips its toes in various exciting genre sandboxes, but the characters are too thinly drawn to carry the movie.
8 Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga’Hoole (2010)
Snyder’s first animated movie tells a sweet story about good-natured owls banding together to escape from evil owls. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole is surprisingly dark for a family film.
Unfortunately, gorgeous, atmospheric animation and the game efforts of A-list voice actors like Helen Mirren and Sam Neill don’t have interesting characters or an engaging narrative to back them up.
7 Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016)
Snyder’s second entry in the DC Extended Universe, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, is a lot of different movies rolled into one: a Man of Steel sequel, a Batman reboot, a Civil War-style superhero dust-up, a prelude to Justice League, and an adaptation of The Death of Superman.
It’s let down by more than a few weak spots, like the infamous “Save Martha!” scene and Jesse Eisenberg’s bafflingly eccentric turn as Lex Luthor, which evokes the Joker more than Supes’ arch-nemesis. Still, from Ben Affleck’s debut as Batman (complete with delightfully brutal fight scenes) to Gal Gadot’s debut as Wonder Woman, there are some saving graces in BvS that warrant a couple of rewatches.
6 Army Of The Dead (2021)
Netflix saved one of Snyder’s passion projects, Army of the Dead, from the fire and brimstone of development hell. Army of the Dead has a great high-concept premise – it’s an action-packed Vegas heist thriller set in the midst of a zombie apocalypse – but its bloated runtime stretches that premise far too thin.
There’s plenty of blood-soaked undead action and Snyder put together a terrific ensemble cast including Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, and a green-screened-in Tig Notaro replacing Chris D’Elia. But the movie is way too long at two-and-a-half hours; its genre-bending premise is more suited to a lean 90-minute runtime like Escape from New York.
5 Man Of Steel (2013)
Superman got the Christopher Nolan treatment in Snyder’s reboot, Man of Steel, a gritty, semi-realistic retelling of the last son of Krypton’s origin story. Man of Steel was controversial for its portrayal of a brooding Clark Kent who mopes around, unsure of whether or not he wants to help people in need (not to mention its portrayal of a Superman who kills).
Like most superhero origin movies, Man of Steel takes a while to get to the action. But when it does, there are some great sequences, like Supes’ breathtaking first flight. Disappointingly, the movie culminates in a loud, messy final battle that totals Metropolis and undermines all the subversive storytelling that came before.
4 Watchmen (2009)
Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel Watchmen was famously considered to be “unfilmable” for years before Snyder adapted it for the big screen. Snyder’s perfectly cast movie brings the iconic characters to life, but it misses the point of the comic.
The comic satirizes superhero worship with superheroes who shouldn’t be idolized, but those characters are shamelessly glorified by Snyder’s sumptuous cinematography and slow-motion action sequences. Still, at least Snyder didn’t shy away from the darkness of the source material. Some of the violence is difficult to watch, so some viewers are less inclined to revisit this one, but it’s full of striking imagery.
3 Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
The fabled “Snyder cut,” finally released in 2021 under the title Zack Snyder’s Justice League, is surprisingly rewatchable for a four-hour movie. It’s a vast improvement over the theatrical cut, with a nice balance of humor and drama.
The theatrical version turned all the characters into Marvel-style quipsters, but the Snyder cut has much more distinctive characterization for each of these iconic heroes. Snyder’s version has more focus on Cyborg’s emotional arc as he reckons with becoming a machine and trying to forgive his father.
2 Dawn Of The Dead (2004)
It’s usually considered heresy to remake a timeless horror masterpiece by a legendary filmmaker like John Carpenter or Wes Craven or George A. Romero. But Snyder’s reimagining of Romero’s terrifying satire of consumerism, Dawn of the Dead, is a rare exception.
Snyder’s revamp maintains the shopping mall setting, but changes pretty much everything else. The satire isn’t as sharp as the Romero original, but the thrills are more intense.
1 300 (2007)
Snyder’s ultraviolent historical epic 300 is endlessly rewatchable. A fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae, 300 is basically a feature-length action sequence. This movie established Snyder’s penchant for slow-motion bloodshed.
The visual style of 300 is truly unique. Snyder practically used the original comic book as a storyboard. He applied a superimposition chroma key technique to recreate the moody visuals of the source material.
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