Review: Justice League
I’ll give you a heads up now. There will be some spoilers in this review, but I will try to keep it to a minimum. If you’d like my rating of the movie without all the intricacies you can scroll down to the final paragraph.
Justice League has finally happened, but the reception is once again split down the middle. DC and Warner Brothers are having a rough streak at keeping the audiences happy overall. I could get into why, but perhaps that’s another article. Here’s what I can say…
This movie will make longtime fans of the characters happy. For those who look at plot and effects, well that may be a different story. Here’s a brief character breakdown:
Batman: Affleck looks tired in the role. Perhaps part of what the negativity is comes from him. I still think he’s a great batman and Bruce Wayne, but there’s no passion in the actor’s eyes. That being said, Batman was very enjoyable and seems to have been set up to eventually phase into either an Alfred like role for the team or being replaced by perhaps Dick Grayson at some point under the cowl.
Wonder Woman: Gal Gadot rocks the role again, and she really is the glue to this whole team. I feel they could have used her more in the film, but there’s only so much you can do with this many characters in a two hour movie.
The Flash: I was very skeptical about the casting of Ezra Miller in this part. He doesn’t look like the Barry Allen that fans have come to know, and the one on TV has been prominent in everyone’s minds. From the second he took to the screen however, I was pleasantly surprised. I hate his suit with a passion. For a character that can run at super speeds, you’d think it’d be more aerodynamic and uniform. This looks like a machine more than something a hero would wear. Other than that, I think he is portrayed quite well in the movie as an up and coming hero.
Cyborg: If it weren’t for the horrible CGI on him, I really think he’d have been great. Unfortunately because he is hard to look at at times, and there is not much about him learning each of his upgrades, it’s difficult to enjoy the time he’s on screen.
Aquaman: This is another casting that I thought was strange, but am completely on board with now. He is easily one of the best things about the movie. Like Wonder Woman, he has limited screen time, but I think he was presented well as far as quickly learning back story. He brings quite a bit of humor and badassery to the plot. I also like how they mention it isn’t the fish he talks to, but the water itself. This actually makes a lot more sense.
Superman: Finally, we get a Superman that is closer to what he is in the comics. He has a brighter costume, and less brooding persona. That may not be the case when he is first brought back from the dead, but what we do get is a very cool few scenes. The moment when he is brought back and faces the League is my favorite part of the whole movie. I could watch it over and over and never get bored. It made the comic book geek in me happy that Joss Whedon took over to give it what fans have wanted. If I had to offer one complaint it would be that I really hoped we’d have seen him in his black and silver suit with a slight mullet. In all reality hair does continue to grow after death for a bit, so him being clean cut made no sense.
Steppenwolf: I was surprised to hear he was going to be the main villain, but excited as well. He was one of my favorite villains when I was a kid, and seeing a proper interpretation of him got me stoked. While the Parademons really worked, however, he wasn’t as memorable. The back story we got felt like it was missing quite a bit, but that could have been forgiven if we’d had something visually fun to look at. The biggest problem I had with the movie was him. The CGI was absolutely horrible. When you are given movies like Star Wars and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, and you have these visually stunning fake people, why would computer graphics that look like they belong in the early 2000s be involved. All I could see while watching him was the way Hulk looked way back when Eric Bana played him. It was very very hard to watch him speak or see any close up of his face.
The small roles and cameos of a Green Lantern from ages ago, plus Zeus, Lois, Commisioner Gordon, Marc McClure’s appearance, and the post credits with Lex Luthor and Deathstroke were all welcome additions to enhance the story.
A side note… Whoever markets the toylines for these movies should be shot. All my son wants for Christmas is a Steppenwolf action figure to face off against his League. In order to get one, I’d have to buy all the heroes he currently owns. Needless to say I’m not doing that and ebay will hold the answers for me as I get an older version of the character with no stupid CGI barf face.
All the problems with CGI aside, I really found the movie to be a fun time. Would I say see it in the theater? No. I’d say wait to rent it, but don’t miss out. People who enjoyed Batman vs Superman should enjoy what it has evolved into here. People who hated Batman vs Superman should feel happy that it’s evolved into something better. It is not better than Wonder Woman, but I’ll place it above BvS, Man Of Steel, and that God awful Suicide Squad movie. I give it 3 out of 5 sCrypt ratings. It would have had another star from me if the effects were done right, and another if they’d managed the story better, but I don’t think it deserves some of the hate it is getting. If this is what the DC extended universe is going to start to shape up to be with its characters, then I’m all for it. What did you think of Justice League?
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