Let’s begin this review with a question: Why are the
executives at Warner Bros so intent on forcing a team up movie such as Justice League without fully developing
each member of the team with their own individual films? I’ll tell you why, it’s
because they want to properly see themselves as Marvel’s rivals in the
industry. There’s one problem with this, the way the DCEU is headed at the
moment is not giving Marvel anything to worry about. Justice League is a messy, incoherent at times and full on
bore-fest, plain and simple. It does not give ample time to our new heroes’
individual backgrounds, nor does the story generate any real threat in possibly
the most vanilla villain ever. Before I get started on breaking this movie
down, please know that I honestly believe that Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice is better than Justice League. Do what you will with
that information. Also, there will be comparisons to Marvel and their films and
that’s not because I’m a fan-boy, it’s because cinematic universes about
superheroes are going to get compared. It’s the way the world works: Birds fly,
grass grows, the sun shines and the DCEU needs to sort itself out.
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| "Quick! Everyone look brooding for this group shot!" |
Months after the death of Superman, the world is darker than
ever. Queue the sudden appearance of Steppenwolf, a bad dude who wants to do
bad stuff for the sake of these actions being bad. He wants to destroy Earth,
as villains are one to do, so Batman and Wonder Woman must bring The Flash,
Cyborg and Aquaman together so that they might stop Steppenwolf’s evil plan. That’s
it, that’s the story. I wish I was kidding but this is the genuine plot of this
film, without giving away spoilers of course.
This is where I struggle, because I find the only good
things to say about this film come in the characters themselves and how the
actors bring them across. Gal Gadot is the standout with her character bringing
strength, compassion and leadership to the team whilst every other member
either brings in an Ex Machina to the so-called plot or has the odd funny line.
Spoilers, these aren’t always funny. So, putting Wonder Woman aside, who else
did I like in Justice League? J.K Simmons was pretty cool I suppose. If only
he were as ruthless as Fletcher from Whiplash,
then we wouldn’t even need a Justice League, he’d just say “Not my tempo” to
Steppenwolf and, out of fear of having a cymbal thrown at his head, would leave
Earth to never again return. Back to a serious note, you can see how these
heroes might make a good team. By having good chemistry on screen, there is
potential for growth but let’s just all collectively remind Warner Bros to
bring out movies for each individual hero before making another team up film.
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| "I'm serious guys, we really need to look menacing in these group shots." |
Following my last point about individual films, HOW ON EARTH
ARE WE EXPECTED TO LIKE THE FLASH, CYBORG AND AQUAMAN IF WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT
THEM? We are told The Flash/Barry Allen has a Dad in prison for a crime he,
possibly, did not commit. Cyborg/Victor Stone struggles with his new-found
powers and rather than giving him a real origin story, which might have been a
part of the film at one point if the trailers are anything to go by, it is
glossed over how quickly he seems to pick up new abilities. Aquaman/Arthur
Curry has supposedly never been to Atlantis and why is this not addressed is
beyond me. The pattern you’re seeing here is by not having proper origin story
films, we are left without the capacity to bond with these characters, be it
with their motivations or emotions. Furthermore, do these characters have any
weaknesses? Cyborg is a walking Swiss Army Knife as he solves any problem the
plot requires, as noted above, and by even taking a hit from Steppenwolf’s axe,
he can just immediately repair himself. Flash Aquaman also take multiple hits
without picking up a scratch! If there are no weaknesses to exploit, then that
takes any form danger and tosses it out the window, leaving the audience
certain the heroes will succeed. The
only character I felt things for was Wonder Woman as we’ve had her standalone
film! Justice League loves to remind
us of that because it constantly has Bruce talking to Diana about Steve Trevor,
and Diana talking to the team about his fate and how she then turned her back
on the world… I just want to watch Wonder
Woman again, at least that film had a plot and loveable characters.
You might have noticed I haven’t spoken about the two,
arguably the biggest, members of this league that serves justice with these two
characters being Batman/Bruce Wayne and Superman/Clark Kent. It’s no spoiler
that Superman comes back to life in this film. If you’ve seen any of the
trailers, any of the press releases or clips from him on the red carpet then
you cannot be surprised when he is resurrected by the members of the league
after discovering that Steppenwolf is just too powerful for them to handle. I
have to ask however; did he only discover that he was able to laugh and smile
once he had died? He comes back, and after a brief period of readjustment in
the land of the living, he just reassumes his old life as Clark? The Daily Planet
published a piece on his death! You can’t then just rock up and say, “Oh hi I’m
actually not as dead as you previously thought.” Then you have Ben Affleck’s
Batman. Remember when Affleck was winning Academy Awards? I do, those were good
times but they are long past. Affleck seems to have lost all enthusiasm in the
role leading to a performance which left me asking, “Why does Batman have a death
wish in this film?” Oh wait, he’s hating the negative criticism to these films that’s
why.
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| Who's the real "primitive being" here I hear you ask? |
Finally, let’s discuss the abomination that is the character
of Steppenwolf. I previously noted him as a “vanilla villain” and this is due
to the fact that he is one bland flavour: bad. Ciarán Hinds might provide a
sinister voice for the character, but other than that there is nothing positive
about his character. The only backstory we get is a small piece of exposition
which is more focused on the small Easter eggs inside this sequence than it is
on the motives of Steppenwolf. I’d also be remised if I didn’t talk about VERY
poor CGI for his character. If you are going to make a character that is
comprised of animation, please make it convincing. If this is the best Warner
Bros and Snyder can do, I am not looking forward to Darkseid. Speaking of that
certain ruler of Apokolips, this presents another flaw in the story telling on
not only Justice League, but the DCEU
as a whole. Why spend a credible amount of time, and quite possibly the most poignant
part of BvS, setting up the invasion of Darkseid if you aren’t them going to
tease him further for future films? This just helps support the fact that these
films are being made as they go rather than planning how these films may impact
future projects.
I am posting my thoughts on Justice League after its weekend at the box office and I have to
say I am not surprised with how it faired in America. Pulling in $95 million
for opening weekend with its budget being $300 million, I struggle to see how
it is going to make money. That does not make happy however, don’t get me or my
words wrong! I do not like this film, or the majority of the films in the DCEU,
but I really want these films to succeed because I grew up watching the Justice
League cartoons more than I did with Marvel. One of my first games on the PS3
was Batman: Arkham Asylum. I enjoyed Man of Steel because of its humanisation
of Clark. I liked the dark tone of Batman
vs Superman but what I don’t like is this meddling from higher ups forcing
creative minds to rush projects through the door. Kevin Feige and all those who
have worked at Marvel to create a coherent timeline for the MCU have taken
their time and not rushed instalments in their cinematic universe. Therefore, I’ll
finish and say that if this doesn’t spell the end for DCEU, I don’t know what
will. I take no pleasure in saying this, but Justice League is a bad film. You’ll wonder the whole time why you
aren’t watching Avengers Assemble instead.
3.5/10
