The Injustice of Justice League

After walking out of the theater and taking some time to fully process the movie I felt very conflicted. I really wanted to love this movie, I really did, but I didn't. This is a strange movie in that I simultaneously had really high expectations as well as really low ones. The track record or recent DCEU have not been great. Man of Steel was questionable, although I personally enjoyed it, Batman V Superman was controversial, though I love it, Suicide Squad was utter garbage, and Wonder Woman was an excellent film. I had hoped that Justice League would be the movie that would be what I have always dreamed about. I knew my personal fantasy Justice League movie would most likely be made, but I wish that it would be a film I love.

I am disappointed to say that it was not that at all. The movie was underwhelming. Most problems I have had with the DCEU are clearly evident in this film. The pacing of this film was fast paced without any of the excitement. The transitioning from scene to scene, especially in the beginning where all our heroes are being introduced, was rocky. The plot of this film was very easy to follow but at the same time generic and uninteresting.

The story is that Steppenwolf, the big bad, is trying to find his way back home and he needs the three mother boxes on earth to help him bring Apokolips to earth. The villain's motivation is bland, which in return make him a dull character. In a flashback scene we see Steppenwolf and his army of parademons attempting to invade Earth to take the mother armies when he is defeated by an army of Amazons, Atlanteans, and humanity, with the help of the Green Lantern Corps and The old Gods. This scene, while fun, shows that Steppenwolf is not a foe we should fear. We know he has been defeated before and is no real threat. He was just used as the punching bag for Superman in the final battle. Overall, Steppenwolf was a lackluster villain, ranking up there with Malekith the Accursed and Enchantress, as the worst antagonists in superhero films.

The main superheros, on the other hand, were a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed some performances, but others were questionable. In Batman's opening scene we see an awesome battle between Batman and an invading parademon, but other than that there wasn't much to Batman. Batman in this movie seemed like the odd one out. The shift of his character from BVS to Justice League is awkward. In BVS he was able to hold his own against Superman (a distracted Superman, but Superman nonetheless) and was able to defeat him. But here he is getting his butt kicked every chance he gets. This Batman was not, “the world's greatest detective,” that we have in the comics. Although Ben Affleck plays an excellent Bruce Wayne/Batman, there was something missing in this portrayal.

Wonder Woman, once again, played by Gal Gadot is marvelous in this role. She has got to be the one glimmer of hope the DCEU has. DC’s newest addition, Aquaman, was an interesting character for the little time he had to shine. I dug Aquaman’s character and am anticipating his new film set to release in 2018.

The Flash is a character I've seen praised by fans, but I personally was not a huge fan of this character. Ezra Miller has this charm to him that makes it difficult for you to not enjoy his performance. In the end, the Flash was used primarily for comedic relief and most his jokes were hit or miss.

Cyborg is a character I found interesting, but it seemed as if he got ignored for the rest, like Batman. His character arc is the least developed. They spent little time introducing him to us, resulting in his motivations remaining unclear. Many of Cyborg’s scenes were cut from the movies as evidenced by the trailers, and who knows how many more were cut. Ray Fisher did the best he could with what he was given, but was robbed of the screen time he needed to be fully fleshed out as a character.

Now let's talk about the big elephant in the room. Superman who, “died,” in Batman V Superman was in this film. Everyone and their mother knew that Superman would be in the movie, but not to what extent. I thought Superman was the best part of the film and everything after he was revived was spectacular.

On a down note, the way he was resuscitated was the opposite. In this comic book based universe the writers could have come up with so many interesting and clever ways to bring back the Man of Steel, but instead they come up with the stupidest and most boring way to revive him. The way the bring him back is by digging him out of his grave in the middle of the night, take him to the crashed Kryptonian ship was saw in BVS and MOS, and use one of the mother boxes to bring him back to life. Not only is it uninspiring, but it ruins the continuity of these films. At the end of BVS, we get a hint that Superman is still alive, after we see the grains of dirt rising from his casket in a cliffhanger ending. They should have just piggybacked off that and brought Superman back from the dead near the end as the returning saviour instead of going into a complicated revival story.

Reviving Superman causes an argument between Batman and Wonder Woman on whether it's a good idea. Batman is arguing that Superman is absolutely necessary to save the world, but Wonder Woman thinks the consequences will be much higher. The argument was great and showed us a power struggle between the two leaders of the Justice League. After the revival, the movie starts to pick up.

The best scene in the entire movie is arguably when a distraught Superman takes on the Justice League. The fight is fun and gives us a merciless Superman like we've never seen him before. This scene and most everything after saved the movie for me. Afterwards, the League prepares to face off against Steppenwolf without Superman in a Russian city, while Superman handles his return home.

The League experience difficulty fighting off Steppenwolf on their own. He is too powerful and his parademons are a huge pest. It seems they are doomed until Superman come to the rescue, and Superman essentially beats Steppenwolf on his own.

The movie ends on a hopeful note for the world and the future of the Justice League. The mid-credits scene and the end of the movie are particularly entertaining and fun. In one we see The Flash and Superman preparing to race to see which is faster. In the final scene, we see Lex Luthor, who has been broken out of prison, talk with Deathstroke about forming a, “League of their own.”

Overall, this movie was nothing more than a popcorn film with no real substance. The cinematography was off at times as we can see the differences between the two different directors clearly. The switch of directors also affected the tone of the film. The CGI for a movie worth over 300 million was terrible as made evident in the horrible CGI for Supermans face. Justice League is a movie that could've been amazing but ended up disappointing me. It was not terrible but nothing to write home about.

Overall, I rate this movie 6/10 CGI Superman faces.