Justice League movie review
[Warning: This review contains plot details from the film that could be considered spoilers.]
The latest installment in the franchise building epic from DC Comics is a fun ride, but is not without a set of flaws.
The movie is a Frankenstein mishmash of two contrasting visions: Zack Snyder's dark and gritty vision and the cheerful, lighthearted and colorful style of Joss Wheddon. It 's very speculative to try and discern which one was shot by who, but you can tell that the funny jokes and light moments came from Wheddon's vision, while the cinematic spectacle came from Snyder, but was carefully chopped together to try and make a cohesive, paced story.
Unfortunately, Justice League pays the price for Dc's lack of patience for not having established solo movies for the 3 characters it tries to introduce, and the feature suffers tremendously for it, since we are treated to a series of scenes about origins and scenarios that do very little to advance the main plot:
Ezra Miller's Flash is the most delightful part of the movie, playing the role of "cowardly lion" at the beginning, but finding his footing later on. Ray Fisher's Cyborg plays a brooding half human, half IOS machine who is also trying to find the extent of his powers and purpose in the whole thing. Lastly, Jason Momoa's Aquaman is the character whose backstory you will know the least. We don't know if he is an ecologist? a Prince? a bro? (not to worry kids! personality TBD on 2018's Aquaman, so stay tuned!!) In this movie, Momoa got paid to play himself, and since he is such a likable person, we are cool with his version of Aquaman.
These 3 characters play major roles in the movie, but unlike Gal Gadot in Batman V Superman where you could afford to just tease us with her, you really cannot get away with that same formula here with almost no character arc in them. They just seem like interchangeable pieces to make the poster bigger and sell more toys.
And then comes the villain: Steppenwolf voiced by Ciaran Hinds (YAS! Mance Rayder from Game of Thrones sans the cool accent) is completely wasted as an empty, one dimensional McGuffin whose only role is to unite the league and to serve as a punching bag for our heroes. But to be honest, due to the length of the movie, this is as much as you can get. A Parademon wielding, mother box seeking cliche and super predictable villain whose only goal is to destroy the world. (yay!)
Gal Gadot is great as usual in her Wonder Woman role, being probably the only light (along with Ezra Miller) in the flick, this time playing a motherly/mentor role to Cyborg and later on -thanks to some buttons pushed by Batman- a leader role. However, without Patty Jenkins' vision we are left to awkward camera angles and subtle butt shots. Still, Gal is a delight to watch, being the brightest spot in the whole DC Universe and this movie does no harm to her character. If anything, it expands it a bit more.
Ben Affleck continues to improve as Batman, though not as epic as Burton's or realistic and scary as Nolan's he makes the role it's his own, playing a Dark Knight riddled with guilt over Superman's death, but lightened thanks to the carefully placed jokes here and there that can sometimes be too excessive for a character like Batman. Still, a lot of room to improve. (If he stays as Batman that is)
Finally, Henry Cavill's return as Superman (yeah...it was obvious) is a soft reset for the hero. We are treated to a joyful, smiling, and warm (though not at first) son of Krypton that was never established as such in the previous 2 movies, but eh, I'll take my wins wherever I can find them. And yes, the CGI erased mustache is WAY too obvious and you are treated to it at the immediate beginning of the movie. Still, you can see the dude is happy to be alive, and this time he is enjoying his life, for the very few moments we get to see him.
The Score by Danny Elfman is epic, but the much publicized Batman and Superman fanfares are barely heard. You can only hear them if you are really looking for them. (First one in the first Bat-Signal scene and the second one on the batmobile run) The John Williams score for Supes is barely heard.
In the end, Justice League suffers for the amount of information that it tries to cram in it's barely 2 hour feature time. A formulaic and predictable plot that is miles better than Batman V Superman, not as magistral as Wonder Woman, but still an enjoyable comic book superhero adventure meant to sell a lot of action figures. An amalgam of opposite visions that surprisingly manages to do what it was meant to: Start the second phase of the DC solo movies. I would hope that this time, Warner manages to take their time, and build the DC Universe we all want to see. The next one will be better....that is all we can hope for.
Stay after the credits roll. There are 2 good scenes that must not be missed.
Justice League is in theaters now and is rated PG-13
Chris "Hunter" D.
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