Justice League

Justice League: Fun

PG-13

 2017 ‧ Fantasy/Science fiction film ‧ 2 hours

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Trailer

What Is The Story?

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists newfound ally Diana Prince to face an even greater threat. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to recruit a team to stand against this newly awakened enemy. Despite the formation of an unprecedented league of heroes -- Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash -- it may be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions. (IMDB)

Did I like it?

Justice League is a fun movie with problems I can't believe went unseen, but lets talk about that later. Did I enjoy JL? I did. This was a film I went into with zero care especially with the amount of crap thrown at me. Whether it be online ads or TV spots I was already hungover by the time JL was hitting screens. So when I sat down and drank my coffee I really had a fun time watching. This wasn't do to the genetic storyline but it was watching these characters and as well having them interacting with each other.

Without the strong characters this film is light on its feet. With the mess that was Suicide Squad and Dawn Of Justice, the key take away was the dark tone. With Wonder Woman that tone changed. What we got was a happier, brighter and more colorful film. This was needed and I believe was part of the success that Wonder Woman had. With JL I am happy to see the dark visuals get toned down. Now it wasn't Wonder Woman levels and in the film it even fights with itself, but still it was nice to see a more colorful look. Don't believe me? Take a look at the comparisons with the first trailer and the newest one. Same exact shots but with a brighter and clear look. The addition of Danny Elfman scoring went a lot further in helping this tone problem WB has.

That 2hr running time should be the new standard. This sets up boundaries for filmmakers like Snyder. Stick with the 2hrs everyone! 

We finally get the classic Superman we have been waiting for. Talking like Superman and acting like Superman.

The Flash is great thou he needs to be turned down a few. Having the Flash at 11 the entire time is a bit draining.

Wonder Woman is still great.

Aquaman was good. Wish we had more but I'm looking more forward to his standalone movie.

Cyborg was better then I was expecting.

Batman was Batman. Wish we had his standalone already. Not sure what is going on behind the scenes but I feel we are missing out on The Batman film not yet shooting.

What Was Bad?

A lot. Story, dialogue, CG, sound mixing and more. Again I am surprised to see some of this in a tentpole film. I had to shake my head a few times do to the sheer craziness of allowing this into the final edit. I understand the issue this film had during production. But I wont allow that to hinder my final view on the film. I would love to talk about the super mustache but I won't because the amount of work that goes into a movie production is incredible. What happened was terrible and I can look past that. Probably should of just added a beard on him to cover it up. The fact that any movie is completed is an achieve on itself.

But some stuff is just surprising. 

The first few minutes should grab your attention but here I was shocked right away. The kids on their phone recording Superman was terrible. Great idea but terrible execution. The video should of been filmed by real kids. I would of loved to see I child film this with other children around in the frame. It felt so fake and that's another issue with this film, cheap execution. The onscreen camera buttons just did not need to be there. This was the first thing we as the audience see and it wasn't done right. 

Then we jump into Batman on the roof capturing a criminal. This entire scene felt out of place on top of that it felt shot like a TV movie, cheap. And out of all the scenes that need to be dark this was lit way too much. Then the stupidest thing I've seen in ages happens. Batman talks to Alfred using his real name right next to the criminal. Are you kidding me? This is a one on one conversation. There is no need for real names. You could use a codeword but again this is two people talking, no confusion on who is talking to who.

Now the criminal knows Batman talks to a man named Alfred, I'm sure he won't go home and google Gotham and Alfred together. Christ. The way these DC films treat Batman's secret identity is appalling.  

Now with the villain I would not go as far as what others are saying. He is definitely not the worst ever. I don't believe that. What I can't believe is why make him a full CG character? Why hire the great Ciarán Hinds and only use his voice. What the hell are you thinking? Throw him in the make up chair and allow him to use his sinister facial expressions to bring that character to life. But hey no one really wants Steppinwolf as the main baddie in a JL film anyways. What if Doomsday was approaching Earth to take it over. First half hr is Doomsday taking over and enslaving humans. Flash goes back into time and sets up the team with a plan to bring back Superman. Bring him back is the only chance they have. Superman comes back as evil and the JL film is about fighting Superman and setting up the arrival of Doomsday in part 2.

That would be in my opinion a better storyline. Perhaps having Batman v. Superman in this universe kills that. Another reason they shouldn't have made that film. Starting to think WB didn't plan any of this out.

My Favorite Parts?

The league fighting Superman. There is a great shot that almost makes the entire movie. More of this WB.

Elfman using Superman's classic theme which got my heart racing. Again more of this WB.

Elfman bringing his Batman 89 theme back brought tears to my eyes. This was the moment the film became more for me. I felt honored to hear that again in a theater. This is Batman's theme just like Star Wars and Bond have theirs. But if you weren't paying attention you might of missed it. It pops up a couple time but the poor sound mixing drowns that out for the general audience. I don't know who is at fault here, someone needs to be brought back. That was almost disrespectful. Felt like the movie was embarrassed of the theme.  

That's the recurring theme with WB and their DC films. They seem to be embarrassed of their property. We have been witnessing this for awhile now. Allow your property to be itself. You saw that happened with Wonder Woman. Your on the right track but I feel like your out of chances. Right now your on track to lose money. It's a shame because this is a ton better then Dawn of Justice. 

Wrap Up

Snyder and Terrio need to go. I do believe Joss Whedon brought this film up to fun for me. If he wasn't apart of it this would of been a remake of Dawn of Justice. Give Whedon the control or hell Patty Jenkins she already showed us she knows the property better. The numbers are there and the people have spoken. It can not continue this way.

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Can There Be Justice for the Justice League?

So what really went wrong for "Justice League" in it's underwhelming opening weekend? Was it the fact that DC decided to make their own version of "The Avengers" without strong stand-alone films? Was it the condensed sub-2 hour runtime? Was it the fact that the film had two completely different tones and styles? Was it Superman's amazing mouth CGI? Was it the fact that Batman was almost as lifeless as Charles Manson? Was it the fact that Cyborg as a head on some questionable CG body? So many questions; so little time.

In case you haven't heard, the Internet hasn't been too kind to DC's latest outing where you get to see their greatest heroes all join forces to defeat a bad guy who isn't Darkseid. Sure, there are tons of problems with "Justice League." Overall, it's a rushed mess with trite dialogue, awkward performances, a main villain that makes Malekith from "Thor: The Dark World" look good, and it just feels rushed. But that's what the DCU has felt from the start; a rushed attempt to catch up to the MCU.

But here's the thing; is "Justice League" all that bad? Of course if you ask the Internet in it's infinite wisdom is bad and they just can't get past how bad the CG was on Henry Cavill's magic mustache removal. Yes, it's not good, it's almost criminal that in a 300+ Million Dollar tentpole blockbuster that someone would sign off on that actually being passable in this day and age. Of course I'm not an artist of any kind and I have no idea how had it is to digitally remove a mustache, but for the past 27 years we've been able to make dinosaurs come back to life, create liquid metal terminators, de-age actors, bring them back to life, but somehow, facial hair removal eludes us. Go figure.

To to uninformed, here's the gist of "Justice League."

*Some Spoilers to Follow*

The world is still in mourning over the loss of Superman, and a new threat has arrived; Parademons and their leader, Steppenwolf who is after three Mother Boxes, which are essentially terra-forming alien technology kind of similar to the World Engine in "Man of Steel." If all three Mother Boxes are found and combined they will essentially bring about the end of Earth as we know it.

So it's up to Batman to form a team to save the world, but it's going to take a lot more than a really fast guy, a head on a robot's body, a powerful Amazonian, a drunk lifeguard, and a guy dressed in black rubber to save the world, they need Superman back. The only problem is that he's buried in Smallville, Kansas. Good thing there is still a good amount of Kryptonian technology sitting around Metropolis.

If you're a fan of the "Justice League" or "Justice League Unlimited" cartoon series, you'll likely be a big fan of this version of "Justice League." But in a world that's been created to be dark, humorless, and void of a general sense of right and wrong, it's odd that we have so many moments that are supposed to be funny and genuine. Why am I supposed to care if these characters like each other? I barely know them, and they barely know each other. It's hard to buy into that as a viewer since there is very little frame of reference and not much history. But, you're expected to buy into it.

However, one of the biggest issues overall with "Justice League" is the tonal difference between what we see directed by Zack Snyder and what's directed by Joss Whedon after he took over for Snyder. Whedon does his best to create an Avengers-like vibe, and you could argue that some scenes are directly cribbed from his superhero Magnum Opus. I've never been a Snyder fan aside from just one of his films, but at least his style has been consistent with "Man of Steel" and "Batman v Superman" and just knowing that you're watching the work of two different directors within the same film is quite infuriating for me. Whedon should have at least tried to keep the same tonal approach as Snyder instead of trying to reinvent a MCU film in DC's backyard. But hey, that's just like, my opinion man.

Surprisingly, Batman is actually one of the worst things about "Justice League" with Steppenwolf coming in a close 2nd thanks to more shoddy CG. I gave Ben Affleck the benefit of the doubt in "BvS" it's his first time out and he's doing the best he can, but this time around, he's kind of just going through the motions and I don't know how you make Bruce Wayne/Batman uninteresting, but Affleck did it, and it might be the reason why he's potentially on the way out of the DCU.

I know i've spent a lot of time harding on things I don't really like with "Justice League" but looking back at my experience, despite my eye rolls and scoffs, this might be DC's most complete film to date. It hits all the right tropes, doesn't diminish what was created in "Wonder Woman," introduces The Flash who isn't half-bad, and actually makes Superman/Clark Kent more like the Superman/Clark Kent that people might recognize.

So despite a slow start, can "Justice League" bounce back after a poor start? At the box office, probably not, but on the bright side, the US Box Office is about as useless as a screen door on a submarine, it's all about the Foreign Box Office. But could a Snyder cut, or can a 2nd viewing show a film that is actually better than it really is? Perhaps, but please fix Superman's lip...he deserves better.

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