Just finished it and I can't lie I thought it was awesome. It honestly didn't even feel over-long, although the first 3 parts basically fit in a load of content that could have been expanded into entire movies in themselves (e.g. there's practically an entire Cyborg origin movie scattered throughout the runtime).
But the one major thing that it has done - and it actually makes me feel sort of mad about WHedon's changes in this sense thinking back on it - is that it
respects the others and isn't just a Superman fan-fest. Whedon turned Flash into a joke - he has moments of comic relief here but is NOT an incompetent rookie. Whedon (criminally) depowered WW and she absolutely kicks butt in this film, back to the power level she should be at in this timeframe (i.e. as strong as she was in BvS). Cyborg's abilities get a much bigger showcase, too. Basically the entire final sequence is epic and shows all of them as competent and powerful, and Supes is NOT used as a deus-ex-machina to swoop in. AND YET at the same time, Steppenwolf is a much more intimidating and convincing (and generally well fleshed out) villain, with clear goals and motivations.
More specifically but a bit spoilers;
Spoiler:
WW's intro action sequence is awesome, and she goes toe-to-toe quite competently with Steppenwolf MULTIPLE TIMES throughout the film, and WW and Aquaman together are basically shown as being a pretty even match for Steppenwolf (and could probably beat him, in other circumstances). I can't figure out why Whedon wouldn't want to showcase this version of WW.
Same goes for The Flash - the bumbling, incompetent Flash is - it seems - basically Whedon's creation? His powers were dampened significantly in the theatrical film and in the final battle he's relegated to "helping some civilians in a car". He plays a massive, pivotal role here! It's also made quite clear that he's significantly faster than Superman... even in that first Superman sequence (which is again just overall so much better... and it was one of my favourite scenes from the original) it's shown that Supes can't actually keep up with him, he can see him and swing at him but it's "sluggish" with Flash still able to easily dodge the blows, he just makes the error of trying to shove Superman back and ****s himself up because obviously it's like hitting a wall. Also in the finale he runs at, and eventually exceeding, light speed so... yeah... Whedon did him wrowng too. I feel like Joss Whedon actively fangirls Superman and it really shows in his cut, and is a massive detriment to the entire film. This feels like an actual team of superheroes where everyone has a part to play, and that's how Justice League should be, not a B-team of incompetents who need Superman to save the day.
But yeah in general... the changes in the final act really are staggering. Completely different movie. And some of the stuff that was left out - the whole Batmobile sequence!
amazing, HOW could you leave that on the cutting room floor? I can only imagine it was unfinished and was one of the sequences that they finished up for this. Also there are NO civilians to be saved and it doesn't need them, so no silly scenes with Flash pushing a car along while Supes carries an entire building
.
But yeah tl;dr this is definite catharsis for any DC fan who doesn't just stan Superman, because it actually respects and elevates the other heroes and not just one.
If I had one minus it would probably be that there is some very occasional cheesy dialogue that feels a little out of place. But the general pacing is so good, and the action is so on-point, it's easily overlooked.
I also am unsure that the "epilogue" stuff was needed now that the DCEU has spun off in other directions, it feels like it was purely setting up stuff that is now not going to happen, and could just have been left off completely?
Spoiler:
It was basically setting up Injustice, even hinting at it being an alternate timeline which Injustice is in comic form, and while it could in theory be epic it's not realistically happening is it so why go there
.