So far the DC movie universe has been shaky. I still haven't seen Man of Steel, Batman V Superman was bad in my opinion, and Suicide Squad was super bad in my opinion. I did however like Wonder Woman a lot, and I like the cast a lot. There was also a lot of behind the scenes drama with Ben Affleck potentially leaving, followed by Zack Snyder needing to leave the project due to very unfortunate circumstances. So overall I was going into this film skeptical but hopeful.
In this movie a new villain Steppenwolf is trying to destroy the Earth. Bruce Wayne/ Batman is then tasked with assembling a team of superheroes to try to defeat this evil force, and the large swarm of weird bug things that fight alongside it.
One thing I can say for certain about this movie is that I love this cast. DC has assembled a cast of talented actors that I adore, and somehow made me see the characters rather than the actors. There was not a moment I saw Ben Affleck, or Jason Momoa, or Ezra Miller, etc, I only saw their characters. There was a big character issue though, and it is the lack of development in everyone that hasn't had a stand alone film. While I loved all the new editions whether it's the Flash, Aquaman, or Cyborg, they all had a backstory that was missing and it both took away from their characters and caused the film to rush in as much information about them as they could. While not to the same degree, the same issue resides with Batman. I think giving each character their time to shine before assembling them to save the whole world right away. But despite that lack of development was rough each actor did a great job. I especially loved Ezra Miller as he gave the film a level of fun that Batman vs Superman was missing. While in more cameo-esque roles, I also enjoyed the additions of J.K. Simmons as Commission Gordon and Billy Crudup as Henry Allen. The only character I had a big issue with was the villain Steppenwolf, voiced by Ciaran Hinds. His character is just a big CGI person that looks like its from a video game. He is a brutally disposable villain but lends enough of a challenge for the Justice League to keep the film entertaining.
Writing is where this movie faces a lot of flaws. While the overall story line is fine, there is some garbage dialogue. Some of the writing is great and builds the characters well, such as a lot of Ezra Miller's dialogue, but there is also a lot that is just brutally cringey. As I said before, the script also has issues in its development of characters. The film also faces some pacing issues, though not as bad as they could be. I heard the film seemed rushed to some people which made me worried, especially considering that the film is only two hours long, and while some parts are overly quick I found the pace not too bad. While the writing is somewhat rough, its made up for in the action. I usual don't love action sequences that are just a clusterfuck of CGI, but for the most part I found it well done, and the film backed away from the uber choppy editing a lot of action movies suffer from. The only time the CGI bothered me was with Steppenwolf, because he honestly looked like he was from a video game. Oh, and Henry Cavill's animated lip. The score of this movie is very good. Danny Elfman composes a score that keeps the adrenaline pumping, and also has callbacks to superhero themes we love. The movie is also well shot, finding a good balance between light and the darkness we saw in Batman V Superman. I know an issue a lot of people have going into this film is the worry that replacing Zack Snyder with Joss Whedon for reshoots could give this movie a weird tone, it is hard to tell that two directors were involved. The only issue I have with the director switch is that Joss Whedon's stamp is a little to strong, making some parts for funny than they should be.
In the end, I think this film fixes flaws from Batman vs Superman, and a some of its key issues come from a drastic reactionary approach after the failure of that film, for example its sometimes too bright tone and shorter run time. This movie also would have benefited from having some more origin movies leading up to it. That being said, I can't even come close to denying the fun I had seeing this team come together. This movie is very well cast, and the bond the characters have had me hooked the whole time. I have a lot of problems with the film, but I personally think the positives outweigh the negatives enough for me to give Justice League a positive score. This movie is lots of fun and I can't wait to see what's next for this franchise.
Rating: 3.1/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
In this movie a new villain Steppenwolf is trying to destroy the Earth. Bruce Wayne/ Batman is then tasked with assembling a team of superheroes to try to defeat this evil force, and the large swarm of weird bug things that fight alongside it.
One thing I can say for certain about this movie is that I love this cast. DC has assembled a cast of talented actors that I adore, and somehow made me see the characters rather than the actors. There was not a moment I saw Ben Affleck, or Jason Momoa, or Ezra Miller, etc, I only saw their characters. There was a big character issue though, and it is the lack of development in everyone that hasn't had a stand alone film. While I loved all the new editions whether it's the Flash, Aquaman, or Cyborg, they all had a backstory that was missing and it both took away from their characters and caused the film to rush in as much information about them as they could. While not to the same degree, the same issue resides with Batman. I think giving each character their time to shine before assembling them to save the whole world right away. But despite that lack of development was rough each actor did a great job. I especially loved Ezra Miller as he gave the film a level of fun that Batman vs Superman was missing. While in more cameo-esque roles, I also enjoyed the additions of J.K. Simmons as Commission Gordon and Billy Crudup as Henry Allen. The only character I had a big issue with was the villain Steppenwolf, voiced by Ciaran Hinds. His character is just a big CGI person that looks like its from a video game. He is a brutally disposable villain but lends enough of a challenge for the Justice League to keep the film entertaining.
Writing is where this movie faces a lot of flaws. While the overall story line is fine, there is some garbage dialogue. Some of the writing is great and builds the characters well, such as a lot of Ezra Miller's dialogue, but there is also a lot that is just brutally cringey. As I said before, the script also has issues in its development of characters. The film also faces some pacing issues, though not as bad as they could be. I heard the film seemed rushed to some people which made me worried, especially considering that the film is only two hours long, and while some parts are overly quick I found the pace not too bad. While the writing is somewhat rough, its made up for in the action. I usual don't love action sequences that are just a clusterfuck of CGI, but for the most part I found it well done, and the film backed away from the uber choppy editing a lot of action movies suffer from. The only time the CGI bothered me was with Steppenwolf, because he honestly looked like he was from a video game. Oh, and Henry Cavill's animated lip. The score of this movie is very good. Danny Elfman composes a score that keeps the adrenaline pumping, and also has callbacks to superhero themes we love. The movie is also well shot, finding a good balance between light and the darkness we saw in Batman V Superman. I know an issue a lot of people have going into this film is the worry that replacing Zack Snyder with Joss Whedon for reshoots could give this movie a weird tone, it is hard to tell that two directors were involved. The only issue I have with the director switch is that Joss Whedon's stamp is a little to strong, making some parts for funny than they should be.
In the end, I think this film fixes flaws from Batman vs Superman, and a some of its key issues come from a drastic reactionary approach after the failure of that film, for example its sometimes too bright tone and shorter run time. This movie also would have benefited from having some more origin movies leading up to it. That being said, I can't even come close to denying the fun I had seeing this team come together. This movie is very well cast, and the bond the characters have had me hooked the whole time. I have a lot of problems with the film, but I personally think the positives outweigh the negatives enough for me to give Justice League a positive score. This movie is lots of fun and I can't wait to see what's next for this franchise.
Rating: 3.1/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
Comments
Post a Comment