Well, 'Justice League' Could Have Been Worse

Justice League isn’t just another movie.  It’s a momentous event.  For the first time ever, DC Comics’ premier superhero team is realized in a live-action theatrical film!

The plot: with Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman (Henry Cavill) dead (see Batmanv Superman: Dawn of Justice), Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman (Ben Afleck) and Diana Prince a.k.a. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) have to recruit the metahumans in the dossier that they recovered from Lex Luthor (again, see Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) – Barry Allen a.k.a. Flash (Ezra Miller), Arthur Curry a.k.a. Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and Victor Stone a.k.a. Cyborg (Ray Fisher) – in order to form a team that will stand against the world-threatening Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) and his army of Parademons.

Unfortunately, after hitting paydirt with Wonder Woman, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is once again back to getting critically panned in Justice League.  But just like with Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, I say that Justice League isn’t as bad as what its negative Rotten Tomatoes score (39%, as of writing) is implying.  Yes, it’s not epic.  It has problems.  But it’s NOT awful.  In fact, this is easily second to Wonder Woman in the DCEU movie rankings.

I enjoyed this film overall.  Well, it could be primarily due to subconsciously having an expectation that was lower-as-usual because Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Suicide Squad were serving as benchmarks, as well as to the inherent thrill found in the fact that this is the effin’ Justice League on the big screen.  But it’s also more than that.  This film is far from perfect, but it gets a couple of things right.

First of all, for all its rumored production woes – from Henry Cavill’s mustache issue to Joss Whedon stepping in after Zack Snyder’s daughter died – the film is more coherent than it has business of being.  Of course, it noticeably has unevenness and it doesn’t always flow smoothly.  But it isn’t the trainwreck that it could have been considering the fact that its first cut was reported to be supposedly “unwatchable.”  It’s less all over the place than Batman v Superman, and has more focused storytelling.

The superheroes are individually likable.  Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and Ben Afleck’s Batman are as terrific as before.  Henry Cavill’s Superman has his best showing in the DCEU.  Ezra Miller’s DCEU Flash is clearly inferior to Grant Gustin’s DCW Flash, but he functions fine as the primary comic relief.  Jason Momoa’s Aquaman is hilariously sexy and a bona fide badass.  And Cyborg is wrapped in intrigue.  However, on the other hand, they also feel somewhat thin as characters, primarily because most of them haven’t had the chance of getting fleshed out in their solo films yet.

Like Wonder Woman, Justice League is fun and light-hearted.  It’s not all brooding and cynical.  And, most importantly, it isn’t “murdery.”  By that, I mean it doesn’t feel like the superheroes are keen to cause as much deaths and collateral damage as possible, as what was the case in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman.

Seriously, Justice League is probably the least Zack Snyder-y film of all time.  Now, according to Warner Bros., Joss Whedon’s involvement in the film is minimal.  But I doubt that.  The only possible explanation why this film is surprisingly more cheery and humorous than usual is because Whedon has had more influence on it than what’s being reported by the studio.  And if it’s true that Snyder’s take was “unwatchable” at some point, then the notion that it’s really Whedon who polished it up is seemingly more plausible.  Nonetheless, this is simply speculation in my part.

Speaking of Whedon, Justice League sucks in comparison to 2012’s The Avengers.  Comparing them can’t be helped because Justice League has been DC’s attempt to mimic Marvel’s Avengers success in the first place.  I enjoyed watching Justice League, but it didn’t incite the same feelings I had from watching The Avengers for the first time.  Back then, I was literally in awe.  I was spellbound.  It was a joyful, moving, exciting experience.  I wanted to watch it over and over again (which I did).

Justice League has three spectacular action sequences (some SPOILERS). First is Steppenwolf’s first appearance in Themyscira, where he battles the Amazons to take their Mother Box.  Second is a brief, LOTR-like flashback scene where Steppenwolf is beaten by an alliance of Amazons, Atlanteans, Men, Green Lanterns, and gods – including who I assume are Zeus and Artemis.  And the third is Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg taking on a disoriented, newly resurrected Superman (SPOILERS ends).

However, when it comes to the Justice League working together as a team, there’s no striking “Battle of New York” moment for them.  The climactic battle is fine, but it’s not very impressive and gratifying.  Each one has his or her cool moments, but as an ensemble, they never had the same kind of dramatic, goosebumps-giving moment that Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye had when they finally stood together as a team for the first time.

Steppenwolf is an unremarkable supervillain.  He brings a legitimate threat, and yet he’s very unintimidating and bland.  It could be argued that a non-A-list villain is required so that there’s more focus on the Justice League establishing itself as a team in an emphatic manner.  But with what I pointed out in the previous paragraph – the absence of an iconic, stirring, “Battle of New York”-scale, fist-pumping, we-are-the-freakin’-Justice-League set piece – that argument is moot.  The film could definitely have benefited from a major Justice League villain like Darkseid.  At the very least, his mere reputation is already enough to inject a sense of intimidation and dread.

It has mostly mediocre aesthetics.  Though the tone is no longer grim, the visuals are still generally so.  Thus, there’s often a discrepancy between the tone and how it looks.  In addition to this, there are parts where the fakeness of CGI is noticeable.

The story is comprehensible, but it’s rough around the edges.  It’s somewhat generic.  It has no mindblowing surprises.  It has a few dull, disposable moments.  Its plot holes are evident.  And sometimes, the way the scenes are put together somewhat feels like one of those Youtube videos that compile video game cut scenes.  Another DCEU “extended cut” home release is likely set to remedy this film’s disjointedness (like with Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad).  In addition, though it’s not pretentious, it feels “forced” at times, especially in the execution of humor.

But for all its pitfalls, I consider Justice League a step to the right direction, albeit a small one.  It isn’t a huge stride like Wonder Woman, but with all the behind-the-scene issues of its production, it could have been a lot worse.  Instead, it manages to be a flawed but fun superhero film that sets up future potentially-great DCEU installments.

However, the DCEU still has a lot to go before it can equal the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Miscellaneous musings (with SPOILERS):

• Gal Gadot’s smile is divine.
• Batman’s iconic theme was used in a short sequence in this film.  Got me giddy.
• Joe Manganiello looks good as Deathstroke.
• When Bruce Wayne was looking for Aquaman, it seemed like he didn’t recognize that the man standing before him is the guy.  It was as if he wasn’t familiar of his appearance when he had already seen a footage of him from Lex Luthor’s metahuman files.
• The mural of Aquaman with all three Mother Boxes in that fishing village doesn’t make sense.   It messes up the timeline. 
• Lois Lane: “You smell good.”  Clark Kent: “Didn’t I smell good before?”  Dumbest dialogue in the movie.
• One of the terrorists with a stupid endgame: “Who are you?”  Wonder Woman: “I’m a believer.”  Can somebody please explain to me what’s that supposed to mean?
• Among all dynamics between the Justice Leaguers, I enjoyed the one between Superman and Flash the most.
• There are shots in the trailers that aren’t in the movie.  The most notable one is the dramatic scene where Alfred addresses someone, probably Superman, off screen, “He said you’d come.  Now let’s hope you’re not too late.”
• I predicted that the “big gun” that Batman had been referring to was going to be Lois.
• How Superman came back to life was underwhelming and a bit hokey.  I was hoping for something more profound and sensible.
• How will Clark Kent explain the fact that he rose from the grave?  Will he now reveal his dual identity to the world?