With the onslaught of superhero films over the past twenty years, DC has tried to stay relevant through any way possible. While they arguably created the genre with films like Tim Burton’s “Batman,” “Superman the Movie,” and perfected it with “The Dark Knight,” their own Cinematic Universe has been lacking severely.
Now, after countless reshoots and behind the scenes changes, the big screen team up of the legendary “Justice League” is here. Can they save DC’s reputation?
The film’s opening is immediately promising, giving the audience something to think about as the opening titles proceed, with a truly badass title reveal. However, directly after this thought probing scene there is a moment with Batman that just feels awkward. It immediately highlights one of the film’s primary issues; its tone.
Clearly learning from the abomination that was “Batman v. Superman,” DC has tried to lighten the mood without completely extinguishing their trademark operatic darkness style of heroism. It works mostly, but some scenes and lines feel completely out of place, as if they were added in just to exist, instead of adding something to the film.
This then leads into the film’s pacing issues. While it moves along briskly, there are some scenes that just exist. They serve no purpose in the broader sense of the story, and some scenes even feature blatant continuity issues that makes the audience scratch their heads.
Each hero is well acted; Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman continues to be the moral compass of the group, and Ben Affleck also manages to be surprisingly good as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The new trio of heroes: Cyborg, Aquaman and Flash are all hit or miss. Each is performed well, but apart from Cyborg, they’re turned into rote, one-line spewing machines.
Aquaman goes from being the heir to the throne of Atlantis to being a dude-bro college frat guy, spouting lines like “My MAN!” at every chance. The Flash suffers a similar fate, as while his character gets some good time for backstory, he exists mainly to tell jokes and act as a speedy Deus Ex Machina.
Cyborg is the only one who really works, and work he does! His backstory is interesting, as is his personality. His performance from Ray Fisher is easily the best in the film, and he also delivers one of the film’s best fan service moments.
The film’s villain is bad. Steppenwolf is an intriguing villain, but he’s largely useless. He appears very briefly in the film, outside of the third act final battle, and he’s basically forgotten about during the second act. His CGI is also remarkably noticeable, which is made infuriating by the fact that he could have easily been played by a live action actor with prosthetics makeup.
“Justice League” also manages to flat out waste some of its supporting cast as well. Amy Adams returns as Lois Lane, but is barely used. J.K. Simmons makes his debut as the much talked about Commissioner Jim Gordon, but doesn’t do anything. Henry Cavill returns as Superman, and finally makes his characterization work. He is Superman, but he isn’t in the film enough to make an impression.
Despite all of this; the rocky pacing, the characterizations, the conflicting tones, and the general drabness of the universe’s visuals, there is something undeniably fun about this film. It has a spirit that was missing from “Man of Steel” and “Batman v. Superman.”
“Justice League” also manages to take each of its criticisms and make them work sometimes. For every bro-dude line that Aquaman has that flops, there’s one that works. For every cringy joke that Flash says, there is a moment with him that works. The same goes for the movie’s tone and visuals. There are moments that indeed work, despite being among moments that don’t.
DC’s big budget “Justice League” has moments that are bad. The pacing is uneven, the villain is useless, and the film suffers from an identity crisis. However, the performances, chemistry between the team, the film’s attitude, and the general sense of enjoyment that it has manages to equal out its levels of badness. This is an improvement over past efforts, and there is fun to be had here. It’s definitely not a good or bad film, but it is an enjoyable one. 2.5/5
