Zachary Edward Snyder is one of the most famous action directors who is currently working. He started his career making music videos and commercials. During his 21-year-long feature film career, he has made many hits and worked on major comic book properties. Snyder has developed a divisive reputation, with a devoted fanbase that sees him as a visionary, whilst his detractors see him as someone who makes nothing but shallow, style-over-substance films. Regardless, he’s a distinctive filmmaker with visual flair. His films range in quality, so let’s rank them all.
11. Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver
The film with the unfortunate distinction of starting this list is Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver. The Scargiver is Snyder’s most recent film at the time of writing. The Scargiver was intended to be the second part of a six-movie saga, but it has been effectively cancelled. The Scargiver was meant to be the action-heavy conclusion to the first act of the Rebel Moon saga, and set up a bigger story that will probably never happen.
The Scargiver was an anaemic film that stretched plausibility, even for a sci-fi fantasy epic. It was a space opera version of Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven, where a group of warriors has to prepare a village for an assault by a more powerful force. In The Scargiver, the disparity between the factions was too great to be believable since a ragtag group of villagers armed mostly with farming tools was able to fight off an advanced army with laser cannons, tanks, and aircraft. Nor was it helped that the characters were so thinly written that the film depended on archetypes and recognisable actors. It was a weightless film.
10. Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire
Just ahead of Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver is its predecessor, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire. The first part was all set up, where it showed the Imperium demanding that a village give them their grain harvest. However, an ex-Imperium officer had been secretly living in the village and set out to help by recruiting warriors from across the galaxy to defend the village.
A Child of Fire was pitched as Star Wars meets Seven Samurai, and it felt like a mash-up of the two. The problem was that A Child of Fire had no sense of originality, as it had the same story as Seven Samurai and lifted scenes from A New Hope. Added to the film was the attempt to have a dark-and-gritty tone and aesthetic, like when the Jedi Knight stand in and fought a spider monster. The film had an eye on setting up an expanded universe, as shown with a spin-off comic book. It was a case that Snyder, his team, and Netflix were running before they walked.
9. Army of the Dead
Army of the Dead was the first film Snyder made for Netflix and saw the filmmaker return to the zombie subgenre. Like Rebel Moon, Army of the Dead was meant to be the start of a multimedia franchise. It did lead to a spin-off prequel, Army of Thieves.
Army of the Dead was a heist film that featured zombies since a crew of thieves was hired to rob a vault in the middle of a zombie-infested Las Vegas. It sounded like a fun premise, and the film had a strong cast with Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, before she was in Amazon Prime’s Fallout, and Matthias Schweighöfer in a scene-stealing role.
Snyder’s sense of indulgence hampered Army of the Dead. It was 148 minutes long when it should have been much shorter, was overloaded with story and world-building ideas, and Snyder bizarrely decided to become his own cinematographer. Army of the Dead lacked focus and was a massive step down from his first zombie film.
8. Sucker Punch
Sucker Punch is Snyder’s lowest-ranked theatrical film. It was only able to muster a 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Sucker Punch was sandwiched between two of Snyder’s biggest comic book movies and his first original film. Sucker Punch had all of Snyder’s visual flourishes as a filmmaker, and from an action standpoint, it was well executed. What hampered the film was the premise, since it was about a group of women who were trapped in a mental hospital, and they visualise their missions when obtaining objects for the escape as elaborate fantasy sequences. It meant the action scenes against steampunk zombies and atomic age robots felt weightless and more like a collection of music videos.
Sucker Punch was a film that wanted to have its cake and eat it. It was a feminist-themed action film that was also fetishistic. The women were dressed in sexual outfits, especially Emily Browning, who wore a Japanese schoolgirl outfit.
A more positive aspect of the film was the covers of Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” and The Smiths’ “Asleep.”
7. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was the second film in the DCEU and was Warner Bros.’ attempt to catch up with Marvel and the MCU. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice received mostly negative reviews from critics, but it has vocal, diehard defenders online. It came out at a time when the online fanboyism was rampant and Snyder’s defenders were at their loudest.
The Man of Steel sequel was an overstuffed film that was made to set up a big comic book saga, and merged multiple comic storylines, from The Dark Knight Returns to The Death of Superman. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice suffered from this jam-packed approach since it was an unfocused, convoluted film.
Snyder was also responsible for Batman v Superman’s issues. He set out to make a darker film, literally and figuratively. His version of Batman acted more like a raging psychopath who had no issue killing people; he even branded criminals who ended up being killed in prison, and Snyder killed off Jimmy Olsen just to show how dark and serious his comic book film was. Batman v Superman had the worst version of Lex Luthor put to screen.
There were some ventures in Batman vs. Superman, but this was due to individual scenes and moments. The film had an incredible opening by showing the Battle of Metropolis from Bruce Wayne’s point of view, and the warehouse fight was one of the best Batman action scenes. The Knightmare Future scene was a solid action scene that showed what Snyder is capable of.
6. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole is the film I generally forget Snyder directed. This is quite remarkable since Legend of the Guardians is an animated film about Nazi owls. It’s the only animated film in Snyder’s filmography.
Snyder worked with the visual effects and animation studio Animal Logic, best known for the Happy Feet movies. Legend of the Guardians went for a photo-realistic animation style, resulting in a film that was a visual treat. Legend of the Guardians was based on the children’s books by Kathryn Lasky.
This animated film was a darker offering than many of its contemporaries. It was closer to films like Watership Down or The Secret of N.I.M.H. since they were animal stories with dark themes and a mythology. The Legend of the Guardians explored themes of child abduction and slavery, child soldiers, brainwashing, and racial ideology. It was made for older children.
5. Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Zack Snyder was treated poorly by Warner Bros. during the production of Justice League. The executives used a personal tragedy as an excuse to remove Snyder and replace him with Joss Whedon, and try to radically change Justice League. However, Snyder and his fanbase campaigned for the Snyder Cut to be released, and it was released in 2021 as a promotional effort for HBO Max.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League was a massive improvement over the theatrical version, and a radically different film. It was his second-best DCEU film, made by Snyder. One of the most notable changes was how Cyborg was portrayed. He was given more screentime, and he acted as the heart of the team. Tonally, Zack Snyder’s Justice League was a tonally and visually more cohesive film. It was setting up a bigger saga against Darkseid, but that’s a story that will never be completed. At least audiences got a taste of a more interesting story.
This version of Justice League was four hours, and that long run time was felt. The singing scene in the fishing village was a drag. The film brought back Jared Leto to play the Joker for an epilogue. Viewers thought they had seen the back of him.
4. Dawn of the Dead
Snyder’s debut film was a remake of the George A. Romero classic Dawn of the Dead. At the time, it would have been seen as a cynical move since it was a remake made by a first-time filmmaker during an era where there was an influx of horror remakes (i.e., The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes). It ended up being one of the best horror remakes.
Dawn of the Dead is one of my prime examples of how a remake should be done. It had the same premise as the original film, where a group of survivors hide in a shopping mall during the zombie apocalypse, but it has its own story and style. The remake stands on its own, and I enjoy both versions of Dawn of the Dead. Dawn of the Dead was partly influenced by 28 Days Later since it used fast zombies.
Snyder showed his talent early in the film by showing Sarah Polley’s character surviving the chaos of the zombie outbreak. There was a great opening credits sequence that showed the international dimension of the zombie outbreak whilst Johnny Cash’s “The Man Comes Around” plays in the background. Snyder does have a talent for credit sequences.
Dawn of the Dead had a great cast of actors, mostly known for independent work. Polley was an indie actress who moved into filmmaking, a pre-Modern Family Ty Burrell, and Jake Weber. The most famous actors at the time were the always awesome Ving Rhames and Mekhi Phifer, after his role in 8 Mile.
Along with 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead helped revive the zombie genre, which boomed in the 2010s.
Finally, a fun fact. The remake was written by James Gunn, and both Snyder and Gunn ended up directing Superman movies. Despite fanboy arguments about who made the better Superman movie, Snyder and Gunn are friends in real life.
3. Man of Steel
Earning the bronze medal in Snyder’s filmography is Man of Steel. This will probably be the most controversial placement considering how divisive Man of Steel is, and Snyderverse fanboys would argue his follow-up films were better. I will make a very controversial statement: Man of Steel is my go-to Superman film.
Man of Steel was a reboot of the Superman property and the starting block for the DCEU. It was made in the wake of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, and Man of Steel was made to replicate that success. Man of Steel went for a gritty and realistic approach, and like Batman Begins, it was an origin story told in a non-linear fashion.
Man of Steel was made as a sci-fi epic as it mashed up ideas from the first two Superman films and did it through a 2010s lens. Anything involving the Kryptonians was fascinating, and Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon were fantastic picks to play Jor-El and General Zod. From an action standpoint, Man of Steel was excellent, from the action on Krypton, to the Battle of Smallville to the Battle of Metropolis. Snyder opted for a handheld style of filmmaking, which made Man of Steel stand out among the filmmaker’s credits.
As well as the action, Man of Steel had a sense of introspection since Clark Kent was searching for purpose, considering his Earthly upbringing and extraterrestrial parentage. Due to the realistic approach, Man of Steel had moments of revisionism, such as the origins of the Fortress of Solitude, and Lois Lane’s using her journalistic skills to discover Superman’s true identity.
2. 300
300 was Snyder’s sophomore effort as a director and the film that cemented his style as a director. 300 was based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller; it was a comic book retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans fought off one million Persians. In reality, there were around 7,000 Greek soldiers, and the Persian army’s numbers ranged from 120,000 to 300,000.
300 came out after the success of another Frank Miller adaptation: Sin City. 300 used similar filming techniques as the neo-noir film, whilst Snyder brought his flair for action. What made 300 special was the action. It offered something that hadn’t been seen before due to speed ramping and stylised violence. When the battle started, 300 was a relentless, action-packed film. It was a film that appealed to the young male demographic at the time because of its macho energy, and it can be enjoyed in a group while having some drinks. 300 has jokingly been called one of the most homoerotic films ever made.
300 had a great cast. Gerard Butler gave a performance filled with gusto and got to say some fantastic one-liners, a pre-Game of Thrones Lena Headey as his queen, Lord of the Rings’ David Wenham acted as the narrator, and the film gave Michael Fassbender one of his earliest film roles. Tyler Bates provided one of his best film scores for 300: it’s great gym music.
The film has been criticised for its historical inaccuracy, but I am more lenient since I see it as a comic book film first. The visuals were more comic book-influenced, and the graphic novel was inspired by ancient Greek propaganda.
300 was an influential film since there were many films in the early 2010s, and there were historical and fantasy films that replicated its success. Examples being the Clash of the Titans remake, Ironclad, Centurion, and Immortals. Some were better than others.
1. Watchmen
Watchmen was made at the pinnacle of Snyder’s filmmaking career. After the success of Dawn of the Dead (2004) and 300, Warner Bros. hired Snyder to adapt Alan Moore’s Watchmen. Watchmen has been considered one of the greatest and most influential graphic novels ever written. It was a dark and complex deconstruction of superheroes and the worlds they live in. It was a project that bested Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky, and Peter Greengrass.
Snyder was a mostly faithful adaptation of the graphic novel, especially the Ultimate Cut that runs for three-and-a-half hours. He even worked with Dave Gibbons, the artist of the graphic novel. What was created was a comic book that has aged perfectly due to the growth of the superhero genre in the 2010s. It’s a visually striking film that brought the comic book panels to life, as well as used Snyder’s distinctive speed-ramping. The opening credits were one of the best put to film since it showed how the alternative history of the world, whilst Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” played.
It was a dark superhero film that showed costumed heroes had a negative impact on the world, and Doctor Manhattan changed the balance of power during the Cold War. But it was a world that was heading towards war. The biggest change was the ending, but it worked in the context of the film. The outcome was the same.
Watchmen had some fantastic casting with Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan perfectly capturing their roles.
