Justice League (2017): Review

Considering all the post production drama surrounding Justice League and all the weight it was supposed to carry story wise its a wonder I was ever stupid enough to get my hopes up about this one. DC really put themselves in an impossible situation, then I'm sure Warner Brothers was meddling far too much after the disappointing results of Batman V Superman. I actually come from the camp that things the Ultimate Cut of BVS was actually pretty watchable, but Suicide Squad may have been the most disappointing blockbuster ever for me. Now its got some company in Justice League. After becoming a critical flop I decided not to bother watching this one in the theater, but then I stupidly paid 25 bucks for a digital copy that was released early.

Following Superman's sacrifice Bruce Wayne becomes aware of a new enemy that is threatening to invade our world. With help of his new ally Diana Prince he begins to search for other beings with special abilities that can help him stop the invasion.

Justice League feels just as rushed as the DCEU has felt to this point. They didn't attempt to start their universe until 2013 with Man of Steel after Marvel had already released the first Avengers. Instead of developing each of the members of the Justice League in their own movie DC decided to only build up the trinity that is Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Then introduce the audience to Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg all in one movie.

I'm sure that after Wonder Woman fans were starting to regain some faith in the DCEU, but this entry returns the universe to the same issues. Justice League gets off to a very poor start with some really terrible editing and extremely rushed character development. Of all the new characters that are essentially making their debut in this movie Ezra Miller's Flash is certainly the highlight. I always considered Miller to be a good choice and his energy really brought my attention. He's also one of the only sources of humor in the movie that honestly work. There are trashy one-liners galore. I don't think there is anything wrong with Jason Mamoa as Aquaman or Ray Fisher as Cyborg, but they didn't get to make the same impact, but they never really got the chance to.

What appear to heavy reshoots looks to have adjusted Wonder Woman's role in the film and that definitely a good thing because once again Gal Gadot is a highlight. She continues to bring a nice charm and anytime she smiles in the movie I found myself smiling too. I was surprised to see that after shining in BVS that Ben Affleck seems to have very little to do as Batman. His role has to be limited by battling Steppenwolf because he's the only member of the team without powers.

Its probably not fair, but its very hard not to compare this movie to The Avengers. Even more so when you realize that the movie shared directors (for the reshoots at least). Joss Whedon's task looked to bring bringing a bit of a Marvel style to DC. It does look like the more impressive moments in the movie appeared in some of the early trailers before Whedon was ever involved. I feel like I could forgive most of the flaw Justice League has if it could've just given me some cool moments and there really aren't any. All fans of these characters want to witness the thrill of this group coming together and then working together. Zack Snyder's action (which is really his trademark) isn't really that impressive this time around, which feels even more disappointing when you take into account how many characters he has at his disposal. The film botches so many moments that should be chill inducing. Superman returning to the fold (which we all knew was going to happen) was so lame and there are really no moments showcasing how well the team works together.

CGI was also a major problem. If you've read the reports about Henry Cavill's mustache you'll notice that most of the time he's on screen you'll notice a lot of CGI meaning that almost all of his role was reshot as a part of the reshoots. The very dull villain Steppenwolf was all CGI and the whole finale is already starting to look dated if it was ever relevant. Then the movie ends as quickly as it begins. The movies overstuffed, all while racing to an uninteresting finish line. I don't think there is anything more to say about Justice League other than it failed.

Justice League gets 38 out of 100.