Justice League

I find it cool that this film was released 16 years to the day after the TV animated series premiered. In the past, I have made no secret of my misgivings of the DC Extended Universe. One of my misgivings is that the franchise is moving too fast to catch up to Marvel Cinematic Universe. I was afraid that no intro films for Aquaman, Cyborg or the Flash was a sign that "Justice League" would be another let down. It is true that the MCU is able to introduce new superheroes effectively before they get their own standalone films but I was still apprehensive. After seeing "Justice League", I sighed in relief. I think the majority of critics have a point in the negative criticism but they should be focusing on the positives in this case. It is obvious that the film underwent a big change during production creating a discrepancy of styles but I believe that was because of Joss Whedon taking the reins from Zack Snyder late in production. I ultimately believe Whedon's involvement saved the movie. In many ways, the film's story was a metaphor of its own production.

As part of a free economy, the entertainment industry is all about competition. We have seen Bugs versus Mickey, Trekkies versus Jedi and Pixar versus DreamWorks. DC and Marvel have been competing in the comic book stores for decades and now that competition spills onto the live action big screen. DC may have gotten onto the pages first but the MCU came before the DCEU. As a result, the DCEU have made some aforementioned mistakes. With "Justice League" you can still see some of those mistakes but by the end of the movie, you forget about them. Many comic book films fail because of the excess of good story/cinematic elements. For example, there was too much foreshadowing in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" but "Justice League" had just the right amount. The small references to Darksied and the Green Lantern Corps as well as the end credit scenes did not distract us from the overall story. The supporting characters in the movie did not feel forced upon the audience as they all contributed to the story. Previous DCEU films went with a darker approach to replicate the success of "The Dark Knight". I will repeat what I have written in past blogs that The Dark Knight trilogy's realism made it a hit, not its darkness. "Justice League" is the first DCEU film to contain some genuine lightheartedness in its script and visuals (I attribute that to Whedon). I saw no problems with the costumes and the source material was respected. In fact, I saw more respect for the source material than in "Man of Steel". There appears to be no executive interference but rather an executive shakeup that seems to indicate good things for the DCEU on the horizon after what I saw in "Justice League". There was strong narrative progression because unlike "Wonder Woman", the best scene of the show was the climax. Also, there are lines and subplots that reprised in this film from past movies in the DCEU for dramatic and comedic purposes. That worked quite well. In short, there wasn't a surplus of any one cinematic element. There was a good balance of subplots, jokes, one-liners, CGI shots and exposition. The product placement did present a distraction at one point in the show but I mostly forgot about that by the end of the film thankfully.

The casting was handled quite well. The characters appear to have been crafted along a spectrum that ranges from serious to humorous. At one end of the specturm is Wonder Woman and at the other end is the Flash. You can place all the members of the Justice League along that spectrum and you will find that equilibrium exists. Because I didn't really get into the "Teen Titans" until after I saw this movie, Cyborg was quite new for me as a character. Despite that, he works well on screen because he has inner conflict and memorable moments. This is Ray Fisher's first Hollywood film by the way if you don't count his cameo in "Batman v Superman". Ezra Miller had a much better character to play in this movie than in "Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them" and it resulted in a much better performance. Both Cyborg and the Flash have a great scene together in the graveyard. I also got a kick out of the moment when Aquaman becomes Awkwardman. The biggest flaw in this film is the villain, Steppenwolf. He is quite a minor character in the comics and he doesn't have as much of a following that you sometimes need when making such a big movie. The motion capture for his performance in "Justice League" also has problems. Thankfully, this is a very rare exception where a villain is only as good as the heroes. His opening scene isn't all that entertaining but he became more entertaining as the Justice League takes shape against him. His fate at the end of the movie is very fitting. For those disappointed with Steppenwolf, they should remember that there are many other DC villains better than him and the end credit scene will attest to this. I just hope we get to see a live action Legion of Doom. Oscar winner J. K. Simmons has been in a comic book franchise before but his character in "Justice League" is more of a straight man this time. I liked seeing Billy Crudup in this show but I haven't spotted the Marc McClure cameo yet.

A Justice League movie has been in the works at Warner Brothers for a decade before it finally was made and released. The Dark Knight Trilogy and production problems delayed things until "Man of Steel" proved to be the launching point of a film universe that would include a Justice League film. The writing credits feature two very talented filmmakers. Chris Terrio was a co-writer for "Batman v Superman" and won an Oscar for writing Ben Affleck's "Argo". Joss Whedon was also given credit for the screenplay and he, along with Jon Favreau and the Russo brothers, made the MCU what it is. At first, Whedon was hired to write scenes for reshoots of "Justice League". Then, after the Synder family tragedy, Whedon oversaw post-production and directed the reshoots that he wrote. These reshoots were apparently very extensive and expensive. One problem during these reshoots was that Henry Cavill was not allowed to shave his mustache that he grew for "Mission: Impossible-Fallout" and it had to be removed digitally. If Tom Cruise had not been hurt making that film and if Zack Synder had been able to complete "Justice League", fans wouldn't have had a small glitch to make a big deal out of. Musical composer Danny Elfman is a huge reason why I warmed up to this film. He has written the musical score for so many comic book films previous to this one and when Hans Zimmer "retired" from this genre, Elfman was given the job. He makes three musical references to past DC live action films and I loved that. He used the "Wonder Woman" theme and a huge smile spread across my face when I heard Elfman's own musical theme from 1989. He even created two versions of another classic DC movie musical cue and one version was twisted quite well for story purposes.

Just as J. J. Abrams' "Star Trek" looked to "Star Wars" for inspiration, the DCEU also looked to its competition for help. Those disappointed by this film, including most critics, admit that inconsistency was the culprit. They are correct but I would like to think it was the conflict of the styles that was the problem and not the styles themselves. I usually know the reaction of critics before I go into a film but the reviews for "Justice League" were coming in so late that I decided to not look them up until after I saw the movie. I wonder if that had an effect on my opinion. I was still on the fence during the middle of the movie but the second half was favorable. Maybe this transition of styles within the film symbolizes a new direction for the DCEU. After all, there was a change of those who oversee this film universe after the failings of "Batman v Superman". "Justice League" is not perfect but in my book, it is just a little better than "Man of Steel" and that makes it my favourite DCEU film to date. I believe that Whedon's style helped me overlook the failings of this movie. In conclusion, I am still waiting for that "League of their own" and I am not talking about baseball.

4 Stars out of 5