Justice League

There's a lot to say for this one and, unsurprisingly, it's not really about the movie itself. 

We're talking of course about Justice League. The culmination of the roller-coaster-of-struggle that is the DCEU. 

Comparisons to Avengers will be plenty and I'll stop you right there by telling you that BOTH Avengers films are better than this, with the original being leagues better. 

At this stage in the game though I feel like it's almost pointless to compare Marvel and DC to each other for a few reasons, the first of which being: I WANT THEM BOTH TO SUCCEED. I want there to be a world where I'm surprised/impressed with each superhero film I go to, rather than walking in with trepidation. 

Additionally, the two, while very similar, are also very different. Wonder Woman soared earlier this year and it's clear that she's now (or should be) the leader of this team. Marvel on the other hand has yet to introduce a single female main character, despite their plethora of badass women. 

There's certainly no fanboy love here -- keep in mind I never even read comics -- but it's hard to deny that Marvel isn't the gold standard of cinematic universes right now and, quite honestly, if we roll back the clock to 2008 with Nolan's Knight, it was the other way around. So it ebbs and it flows. But Justice League, while being surprisingly generic on it's own does give me something. 

And it's something that Wonder Woman gave me too.

Hope.

I know Gal. I wish it could
have been as good as Wonder Woman too...

There's a laundry list of what's disappointing or shockingly below average in Justice League and I'll get to those, but one thing that it does really well is make this team feel a bit like a family. That's instantly surprising in the fact that we barely know any of them, and it's clear that Warner Brothers has realized their mistake and, save for a few scenes that should have weight but dont, created a "jumping off" point for their universe that we were all thinking should have been better laid out. Justice League will leave you intrigued to learn more about Cyborg, Aquaman, and definitely the Flash while pining to see another Wonder Woman adventure soon. Interestingly enough its Batman and Superman who feel least interesting here and, given all the rumors of Affleck wanting out, I kind of couldn't care less even though I really like his Batman. It's the character moments in this one that make it worth seeing (and it is worth seeing for the interesting case study that it is) because they're usually fun and finally inject a bit of humor into this universe. It's certainly not a straight up comedy like Ragnarok recently was but it does help to make things feel less heavy and doom + gloom. There's some fun play between characters and it's clear that the casting of each were good choices. Gadot continues to be a beacon as Wonder Woman, Ezra Miller is a fun-and-very-similar-to-the-CW-version Flash (not a bad thing), Ray Fisher is mysterious enough as Cyborg, Jason Mamoa seems like a splendid fit as Aquaman, and Affleck, against his wishes, continues to be a good Wayne/Batman. There are several memorable scenes throughout which is good because the rest of the film is...

Odd being so familiar with the CW show and seeing this version. Miller did great though

Forgettable. Shockingly. Forgettable. Any scene with the CGI villain, Steppenwolf or his minion army is just vapid air. Calories entering your mind without it even knowing. They are every scene in every superhero film and any other scene in the movie without our heroes is painstakingly similar. It's in these incredibly generic, boring scenes that I was most disheartened because this is the first time the Justice League is forming together. THE FIRST TIME! That's a Big deal, with a capital B. And it sincerely doesn't feel like it was treated as such. There's very little grandeur or emotional heft. We're left with a "villain of the week" badguy who's trying to take over the world and we don't care. Maybe it's because we've become complacent with so many superhero films taking the same route? But I'd like to think even then there are ways to make Justice League more special than the significant portion of this film that is not. For me, it was an odd film to watch because almost every scene where the team was together, I enjoyed, but then the film would transition away and I was shocked with how hollow it felt and how I felt watching it. 

On top of that mess, there's other things that aren't great either. Wonder Woman's initial action scene is the only one that stands out aside from some of the very fun Flash stuff. The rest of it is, yet again: punch, punch, slam, angry face, punch, slam, rinse, repeat. Learning almost nothing from the abysmal atrocity of Suicide Squad, there's no combination of powers here (ok, maybe one) and there are very few times where the heroes are fighting at the same time. It surprises me that this is so challenging because all it would take is getting one nerd (I will gladly volunteer) in the room to plan out a tracking action shot of combined powers and you have a winning moment. But maybe that would be too much CGI for them to handle because, despite $300 million being spent on this film, the CGI is rather garbage by today's standards. 2010? Would have been ok/top of the pack. 2017? It's cartoony and noticeably bad. Hear the news about Cavill's mustache? Yeah -- they even had a hard time removing that and making it look natural.

No denying that this is a cool moment

There's a lot to rag on with Justice League, but I also can't deny that I wasn't entertained for most of its short(ish) runtime and there luckily aren't any "Martha" moments to be found. #Blessed. You'll walk away shocked that something that should have been momentous wasn't nearly, but likely optimistic, some of which carries over from Wonder Woman, for the course correction that the DCEU seems to be taking. Almost unfathomably, Justice League won't be the movie fans are rewatching in a decade's time, but it indicates that Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg, and The Batman very well could be. 

CONS

• Almost every scene without the team is painfully generic. This villain and plot is as forgettable as they come
• Mock Zack Snyder all you want but there was a little too much taken out of this film as it pertains to things he does well. I missed his signature visual style and some of the heavier tone was handled better in BvS despite that film's shortcomings
• Granted there were reshoots, but not quite sure what WB paid for. I'd almost qualify the CGI as "bad" for this one aside from the fact that our heroes always look fantastic. That is...if they're not trying to digitally remove a mustache...
• Some moments that were meant to have poignancy do not because of either A) we barely know the character or B) it's a leftover from the mostly-failed emotional heft that BvS tried to create
• More uninspired action
• Tries a little too hard for the laugh sometimes
• For this being the culmination of all these heroes it feels like small stakes and less momentous than it should

PROS

• Has some strong character moments that I really enjoyed. When this group is together, they click well
• Everyone feels unique and the casting is spot on for each
• You'll want to see more of Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman, not to mention the original three
• Inserts some much-needed humor into this universe. Flash in particular is a blast
• Wonder Woman's initial fight scene and Flash's scenes are good fun
• No painfully awful moments which sounds like a backhanded compliment but isn't
• Entertaining, despite it's downfalls. Let's let this be the final course correction and all move on. I'd love nothing more than for the DCEU to rival the MCU in its own unique way

Rath's Review Score | 7.5/10