Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Director: Zack Snyder, Joss Whedon
Starring: Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Henry Cavill, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, J.K.Simmons
Duration: 1h 50mins
It’s been a long, hard road to find “justice”. Director Zack Snyder , who helmed the latest iterations “Man of Steel”and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” stepped away for personal reasons during post-production. “The Avengers” director Joss Whedon came in to finish the film, including reshoots, which were famously foiled by Superman Henry Cavill’s “Mission: Impossible” mandated moustache. But after all of that, finally, DC’s superheroes are assembled on screen at last. It’s just a shame that the resulting film is a chaotic, baffling mess.
Reviewing Justice League is like an exercise of finding “sympathy” marks to help get a humanitarian grade. Despite a good ensemble cast riding on the tails of the powerful box office performance of Wonder Woman, Justice League was painfully bland, lacking a compelling story and a satisfying narrative. Especially so, when it is imperative in these superhero stories to have a convincing baddie to face off with. Here, Steppenwolf was a cold CGI character with empty threats and zero personality.
The banter between the characters was also much hyped and sought after. So when finally our heroes are allowed to interact and show their personalities in this team (sort of) dynamic it’s what we hoped it would be: Fun. But Alas!
Batman (superpower: rich; give me a break) is the obnoxious leader of the team, recruiting his pal Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, as well as newer friends Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman — a long-haired macho bro (Sons of Anarchy vibe) who swills whiskey and swims about in his “aqua denim” jeans, Barry Allen, aka The Flash — a neurotic, over-chatty, socially awkward and blazing fast teen — and Victor Stone, aka Cyborg — a brooding former soccer star brought back from the dead by his own (scientist) father who turns him into a robotic “man-machine”.
Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) is now 3 for 3 because every time she is shown in the movie she lights up the screen. Her arc from hero to leader may not be the best use of the character but it surely feels organic. But, Superman (Henry Cavil) who has had a rocky road to get here is actually the worst thing that could happen! Rising up from the grave, he hurls Batty (Affleck) and utters the exact same line he once faced before. “Do you bleed?” Seriously, dude?
However, there is a sense of much needed wittiness present in the film which cannot be denied and when the film clicks into place it somehow works. The new actors at the table, Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo of Game of Thrones fame) & Ezra Miller do their best to infuse their characters with sass and wit that helps to bring some sense of wonder & hope to the film. The bits of hilarity are throwaway lines, truth lasso gags, & verbal diarrhoea provided by The Flash or Aquaman sparingly.
So what’s it going to take to get Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and the zombie corpse of Superman (Henry Cavill) together at last? Well, it’s the end of the world (which has already been damned by now). What could possibly be more motivating than this?
The story is an old beloved superhero chestnut: a space monster needs a voodoo in order to end the world. If he gets all three “mother boxes” (think disco lights flickering from a box), it’ll be bad. Which is why it’s so frustrating when the Justice League just leaves the very last one just sitting on top of a Gotham police cruiser while they try and calm down the ‘Franken-Superman’ they’ve reanimated.
My Verdict
My Rating
1
Obviously, the space monster gets it.
