JUSTICE LEAGUE (2017) - A wonderful mess

Justice League is a 2017 superhero movie directed by Zack Snyder with some contributions from Joss Whedon (director of both Avengers movies), starring Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Henry Cavill, and Ciarán Hinds. The film is a sequel to the highly controversial Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and sees Batman and Wonder Woman gather a team of superhumans including the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg in order to prevent an alien invasion led by Steppenwolf.

If there was one movie I really wanted to be good, this was the one. The DC movie franchise has been incredibly rocky, with its first truly good movie being this year's Wonder Woman. This movie had to be the one to really shape the future of the DCEU. Whether or not the movie succeeded in this, however, is up to you, and it ends up not being terrible, not being good, and not being mixed, but just... there. It's incredibly safe, incredibly formulaic, and has no sense of real identity.

The Story

This movie was bound to have lots of problems. Director Zack Snyder had to step down after a family tragedy and was replaced by Joss Whedon--the director of the movies that DC is trying its best NOT to be--, there was a studio mandate to keep the movie under two hours long, and it had to introduce several main characters. Ultimately, it's rather impressive that the movie wasn't as big of a mess as it could've been.

The first act of the movie is pretty slow and boring since we're being introduced to all the characters who should've had their own movies. It's not quite as bad with Aquaman, but Flash and especially Cyborg REALLY would've benefited from having their own movies. The rest of the movie is pretty fine, but there is a rather abrupt ending and the movie really suffers from some truly bad pacing issues. It's hard to explain to anyone who hasn't seen it but the movie feels much more like 30 scenes stitched together rather than one complete movie--likely due to the extensive reshoots that Joss Whedon did.

The story of the movie itself is also rather plain. It's a very basic heroes-vs-alien invaders movie, with really nothing else going on under the surface, which works fine for people who like superhero movies but will do absolutely nothing for those who want some meat with their bones. This makes the movie end up feeling like the Sparknotes version of what could have been.

The Characters

Batman and Wonder Woman are both great in this movie, and are the clear standouts. Ben Affleck unfortunately looks like he's already gone one foot out the DC door, but he does seem to have fun in some of the more comical scenes.

Flash is the comic relief of the gang, and it really is a hit-or-miss. Some scenes were pretty funny, especially when he goes meta and fanboys at the fact that he's on a team with superheroes and in the Batcave. But unfortunately, a lot of times I found myself annoyed with him as well. And because he's the only funny guy of the team, it really sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm also not a fan of his blue lightning. Sure, it's scientifically correct, but you can't argue that yellow lightning works wonders with his red suit

Aquaman is really boring, surprisingly so because his actor is pretty great overall. The movie really does nothing to show him be cool and by the end of the movie, I don't know any more about him than I did at the beginning. Cyborg is similar, and he really doesn't do anything in the movie other than be depressed about his physical state or scan things.

But by far the greatest achievement is Superman. Finally, we've gotten the happy Superman we've always wanted. He's no longer moping, he's no longer depressed, he no longer hates being a hero--he just IS a hero. And the costume! Oh, what a costume it is! There was a clear and conscious choice to ramp up the saturation on Superman's costume as far as possible and I gotta say it was well worth it.

There's a fantastic line where Batman admits to Wonder Woman that Superman would've been able to gather the Justice League much better than he could have. It's a small line that really reflects how those characters should've been from the very beginning.

Cinematography, Choreography, and Music

Director Zack Snyder is known for making visually distinct movies, so it's a wonder that this movie looks pretty bland by comparison. Cinematography in this movie isn't necessarily bad, it's just completely unnoticeable as if Snyder had taken a complete back seat. Choreography is also pretty bland, and unlike the Avengers who all have their own fighting style, the Justice League members are all powerhouses, so choreography can't do anything to make the action scenes exciting.

Music is pretty good, with legend Danny Elfman doing a mostly okay job. I really loved him incorporating Superman and Batman's classic themes into the soundtrack, but overall there really isn't anything outstanding.

Also, the CGI in this movie is BAD. Surprisingly bad. Cyborg and Steppenwolf have bad CGI, but by far the worst is Henry Cavill's face. Not going to lie, I really thought they recasted Henry Cavill at first because the CGI is just utter garbage.

Final Verdict

If you like superhero movies, you'll probably like this one too. If you're not a fan, don't bother. Justice League has a lot of cool things and a lot of bad things, and I can only say it's overall net positive. Action scenes are pretty bland and only Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are interesting as characters. The story is very, very plain and vanilla, and feels like a rushed mess. You could easily skip this movie, at least until the three-hour extended cut gets released on Blu-Ray.

Grade: D+