Review Justice League
20:40Let's face it, the DCEU has had some iffy moments so far. Some great things have been in their movies but the overall movies have b...
Let's face it, the DCEU has had some iffy moments so far. Some great things have been in their movies but the overall movies have been disjointed, unsatisfying or leave the audiences wishing for more of the things that worked and less of the things that didn't. Wonder Woman turned the tide and now Justice league has shown that there is no future there.
Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes-Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller)-it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.
If Wonder Woman provided a glimmer of hope that DC Comics movies might start looking, moving and sounding differently than before, Justice League plops us right back into Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice territory, albeit with a little more wit and humanity.
Suffering a troubled production that saw original director Zack Snyder depart the project late in the piece due to a family tragedy and replaced by Avenger's mastermind Joss Whedon, Justice League has had a far from smooth run to cinemas, that includes the fact we've never truly been properly introduced to its new main players, Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg, with DC keen to get this ensemble together as quickly as possible.
Considering all of this, Justice League is not what I'd call a "bad" movie, in the sense that I'd warn everyone against seeing it, but this often jumbled and sometimes just not that interesting blockbuster is still far from the all-around winner DC would've been hoping for with Snyder and Whedon's film lacking both a genuinely good story arc (new villain Steppenwolf is just generic baddie 101 or even worse) and any true memorable set-pieces or set-ups. Some of the action\fight scenes look completely not dynamic. They are boring and you don't empathize with the protagonist.
Affleck spreads a pall of dullness over the film. He doesn’t have the implacable, steely ferocity and conviction that Christian Bale had; he seems to have a faint sheen of sweat as if the Batcave thermostat is up too high, and his attempts at droll humor and older-generation wisdom make his Batman look stately and marginal. Henry Cavill is still a poor choice for Superman, I don't know if he over or under acts, but his performance doesn't feel like Kal-El is trying to blend into society, while Gal Gadot is once again great as Wonder Woman. Of the new cast, Miller is a fine addition as the awkward Allen, Jason Momoa gives fans hope that his standalone Aquaman will be a lot of fun, while it's surprising just how affecting Ray Fisher is as Cyborg even if his character doesn't seem cut out to get his own standalone feature.
Not the film of the year but an improvement from BvS but not enough to be attached to the characters.