Movie Review | Justice League (Spoiler Alert)
As a disclaimer, we are approaching this on the side of a fan and not of a geek. There are spoiler alerts here - so don't read further. Watch the film first.
Now that we got that out of the way, now on to the review. They said DCU films are darker compared to the MCU however this time, I had mixed feelings about this. First off, the film was megged by two directors. Zack Snyder started to shoot the film only to give way to Joss Whedon. So if you find the film confusing blame it on the two directors. Joss had to re write and re shoot some of the scenes done by Zack so as to create a film to his vision. Joss by the way was the director for two Avengers films Marvel side so it was an exciting thing to see what he made this film different.
Justice League is darker yes, as most of the film was in darkness LOL maybe this is what Joss wanted it. Now the timeline is after the Batman V Superman so there should be a consistency there but I find nothing of sort. Except for the death of Superman, I don't think there are other things linking this movie to the BVS. BVS introduced Wonder Woman into the picture, In Wonder Woman, I don't remember any superhero which was introduced. Here in JL, we see an introduction of Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg. One thing that entered my mind was, is it only Batman that introduces new superheroes? This is a JL movie right? Why do I feel its a Batman movie?
I still feel that Ben Affleck is the wrong actor for the role of Batman but somehow with Wonder Woman in the film, they have a sexual chemistry that I felt would help along the way. So I will keep Ben Affleck in the role for a longer period of time. I just hope he improves his acting.
Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman is still great. I can't say bad about her portrayal of the amazonian princess. Keep her!!!!!! She's great in this film. So great that I thought this was Wonder Woman film, except the Flash keeps reminding me its not.
Now, I usually watch DCU online and not go into the theaters even if the tickets are free. This time I went and first day at that. Why now? It's because of Aquaman and the Flash (I'll discuss cyborg in a while).
Jason Momoa as Aquaman is super great work in casting. I couldn't understand him in Game of Thrones but somehow I can relate to his character here in JL. He was casted as a heavy drinking, care free citizen (king?) of Atlantis. Typical bad boy that turned good at the end. Something familiar right? But here it was forgiveable and watchable. He had good lines here in JL for which we feel was still fall short. We feel that his 2018 solo film will feature more of his banters and one liners for which I know this writer will line up on first day.
Ezra Miller as the Flash was also great. DCU wanted him to be the comic in JL so forgive me if I compare him to the new Tom Holland's Spiderman. They both have the innocence in their lines and their awkwardness is what makes their character stand out. I felt that Ezra stole most parts of the film. By the way, you can't help compare him to Quicksilver (in X Men: Days of Futures Past not in Avengers: Age of Ultron). Watch the movie JL and you will see it. I don't need tell you which part.
As I have seen a lot of trailers of JL, they almost told the whole story in Youtube. WARNING SPOILER ALERT.
What surprised me during the watch was the resurrection of Superman. There were a lot of rumors prior and this film answered it. If you have read the comic comeback of Superman, then you are in for a surprise how he came back. Watch the film, I won't add to the spoiler alert. Although Brandon Routh for me is a better superman, Henry Cavill here didn't disappoint.
In a back story portion on Steppenwolf, you will see the Green Lantern Corps thrown into the mix. Will this a precursor that another GL movie is in the works? How will they reboot the disastrous Ryan Reynold's adaptation? Oh well, that's another story altogether. GL Corps, great band of superheroes we like to see more in the future.
Cyborg honestly I wasn't able to catch up in the comics or animated series ever so his character comes to a surprise for me. I never knew that he would be that powerful, full of unlimited untapped power. Not your usual limited cyborg. Casting Ray Fisher for the role is a toss up for me. His face was mostly covered with CGI that I can't feel his presence and his lines doesn't compensate either. I hope they can create better lines or scenes for him. His character is a powerful one and it's a pity if its lost to poor acting or poor script.
Overall, I couldn't say watch it because its great, but it's not a waste of your money either. For me the story line is so simple yet so complex. Simple in the sense that its about an alien invasion that needs the JL to stop it. What makes it complex is the fact that the movie is relying heavily on the comics version. If you are just an ordinary fan and not a comic geek, you will have a hard time understanding some of the scenes. Some portions I had an inkling of when I was outside the movie theater, a friend of mine was explaining some of it. So if you are not a geek, find one. You'll appreciate the film more.
I have read and watched some of the reviews of JL and I found out that there were a lot of sub plots and deleted scenes. Maybe this is another reason for my confusion about the film. I hope to watch the director's cut once the Blu Ray version is out.
This is a watchable film and don't believe that this thing is darker than MCU. With lots of kids in the theaters I don't think it would be that dark of a story. Simple film, not bad, not great, but as an introduction film for Cyborg, the Flash and Aquaman, its a semi-origin film. Let's hope they can improve on the story line and links between the films so that we can have a great DCU era.
