BurtonReviews Justice League: The Justice We Deserve?

(Image sourced from https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/23/12263366/justice-league-photo-dc-comic-con-2016)

After a more than rocky start to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), 2017 has been shaping up to be the cinematic universe’s best yet. Rising from the critical ashes left in the aftermath of Batman Vs Superman (BvS) and Suicide Squad, this year’s empowering Wonder Woman received glowing reviews for the first super-heroine to get her own movie. Hoping to continue this hot-streak, DC is uniting their most iconic, speediest, and deep-voiced heroes to create a movie that fans have been begging to get for years. Don’t screw it up DC.

But what foe warrants the uniting of the fearsome Batman of Gotham, the Amazonian demi-god Wonder Woman, the fastest man alive the Flash, the king of the sea Aquaman, and the half-man half-robot Cyborg? A humongous alien calling himself a “New God,” that’s what.

(Video sourced from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cxixDgHUYw)

And when they do clash, hot-damn is it epic. The DCEU has proven this time and time again, and it is eye-poppingly apparent here too, Zach Snyder and co know how to make a superhero-dragon ball esque battle royal for us to drool over. Add onto the already frantic and heart raising action this universe displays the added pleasure of seeing the titans of the DC universe teaming up on the big screen for the first time, and you have an apocalyptically good time on your hands.

And that is really what this movie excels at, it’s fun. Is the plot all that deep, hell no, the narrative rarely rises above: ‘stop bad-guy from getting object, punch bad-guy in face, look cool doing it’. But when the character interactions, that many fans have waited their whole life-times to see realised in live action on the big screen, are this good and interesting to see develop, a paddling pool-deep plot can be excused, mostly.

But the biggest reason that the character interactions are this good, is the surprisingly good acting put behind it by this all-star cast. While there were some duds in the team, the majority fit their roles perfectly and added something new and fresh to these long standing characters.

(Image sourced from https://batmanmoumen.deviantart.com/art/Justice-League-By-Lee-Bermejo-Wallpaper-High-Res-712060591)

Gal Gadot, as always, is the perfect Wonder Woman. Here Gadot is allowed to explore a more experienced Diana who is slowly getting used to saving the world again. Watching her tackle the inner-insecurities of not wanting to lose anyone like she did Steve Trevor was compelling to watch, and seeing her effortlessly switch from hesitant leader to full-on godly badass is always entertaining as hell.

Newcomer Cyborg, Ray Fisher, is not only a dynamic addition to the team, but is also by far one of the coolest members. Having maybe the darkest super-hero origin out of the league, Cyborg’s journey from feeling like an outcast to being able to stand tall in his new metallic-skin is captivating to watch. Put on top of that his awesome ability to fly and make his arm into a cannon, plus super hackery and a brotherly vibe with the Flash, Ray Fisher’s turn as the digital-hero was one of the shining stars of the movie.

Jason Momoa as the world’s least liked superhero: Aquaman, did the one thing that was needed to earn this character’s place in the movie, and that was make the guy likeable. Not wanting to stop there, Justice League also somehow made the fish-whisperer damn cool too. From his frat-boy hype chants in battle, to seeds of an interesting and heated relationship with his kingdom of Atlantis, you probably don’t want to make Aquaman the butt of your jokes anymore.

And without any spoilers, the movie’s use of Superman, Henry Cavill, was while confusing at first, a spectacular aspect of the movie. Superman is finally allowed to smile and it’s as if the man of steel walked straight out of a comic book to show us why the first superhero is still the best.

(Image sourced from http://thehypedgeek.com/zack-snyders-justice-league-unwatchable/)

Sadly though not every character was a homerun.

As said before, the plot never really rises above the shallow concept of good thing vs evil thing, and this shallow approach can also be said for the antagonist Steppenwolf. More of a living hammer for the team to bash against than a fully realised character, his motivations are given a glimpse of screen time, and when the reason for why a character is doing something is a side note, you know you have a problem. It was cool to see him get punched though.

Another flat note of the movie was DC favourite Batman, Ben Affleck. After the backlash of how dark and brooding Batfleck was in BvS, it feels like the universe took the criticism to heart abit too much. Cracking jokes and smiling more than Aquaman does, this iteration of the dark knight doesn’t really feel like Batman anymore. Combine that with him being pretty useless when it comes to the epic battles and you have a character that doesn’t really work and was just added in because it’s the Justice League, and Batman is always in the Justice League.

This is painful to say, but Ezra Miller’s Flash is another broken cog. Relegated to the over-used punchline of every scene he is in; his off-beat weird facial expressions and not-so-funny jokes get tiresome by the mid-way point, and down-right annoying by the movie’s finish line.

(Image sourced from https://movieweb.com/justice-league-movie-epic-early-reactions-test-screening/)

Overall

Justice League isn’t a mind-blowing, life-altering experience, but it isn’t the abomination that many people called Suicide Squad either. It is a fun as hell, frantic and entertaining trip through spectacular earth-shattering battles with some of your favourite superheroes who, for the most part, have been brought to life in an equally spectacular way.

Justice League = 7/10

Why not check out my YouTube channel, BurtonReviews, where I upload awesome gaming montages put to badass songs or scores every Sunday. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbUfnyezvQsVsDgN3TGRh1Q