Justice League severely disappoints in a dry, lackluster spectacle of bad CGI, hollow main characters, and a yawn-inducing villain.
After the success of Warner Bros. and DC's Wonder Woman, there was hope that the superhero-filled Justice League, directed by Zack Snyder, would follow suit. Instead, it ended up tripping over its own cape and pulled DC from its brief moment in the sun. Justice League is a mix of noise, confusion, and bad CGI. Not even the heroes themselves could save this mess of a movie. Honestly, it was doomed to fail from the start. The change in directors mid-shoot due to the sudden departure of director Zack Snyder certainly didn't help -- the rest of the editing and post-production process was supervised by Avengers director Joss Whedon. When more than one director touches a project, then you're likely to find some inconsistencies in tone and pace. And that's exactly what happened. Prior to seeing the movie though, I was excited to finally see these heroes brought together for the first time, but it ended up feeling more like an obligation rather than a natural progression. [gallery size="large" ids="27895,27896,27894,27898,27897"] Why should I, or anyone else for that matter, care about these one-dimensional characters? Sure, we've met Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne/Batman, Gal Gadot's Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, and Henry Cavill's Clark Kent/Superman before in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman, and Man of Steel, but this was the first time meeting the new recruits -- Jason Momoa's Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Ezra Miller's Barry Allen/The Flash, and Ray Fisher's Victor Stone/Cyborg. And there wasn't really cause for us to care about them. Had DC followed the same formula Marvel has implemented with its ever-expanding universe -- introducing new characters with solo films, getting to know the character on a more personal level, and then bringing them all together a la Avengers style -- then it would have made the audience more concerned for the characters' well-being. Plus, it would have been more epic to see these characters we've already met coming together for the first time, and the stakes would've been much higher.
But, that could be attributed to the lackluster villain. Steppenwolf, voiced by Ciarán Hinds, is a CGI demonic character with a hoard of flying pests at his disposal. He's after three Rubik's Cubes (actually called Mother Boxes, but Rubik's Cubes fits better) in order to end all life on earth. Yeah, not very intimidating, right? But then again, it's not like Steppenwolf had a lot blocking his path. At one point, the team leaves the last Rubik's Cube unattended in a parking lot, and he scoops it up in a flash while they're busy doing something else.
The team gets its butt saved by the return of Superman. And yes, I'm even willing to look past that horrendous attempt in removing his mustache in post-production, because his return was epic and the one redeeming factor of the entire film.
I left the theater more mad than anything else. This could have been a movie of epic proportions, and instead we're given a half-assed attempt at a comic book movie.
Seriously, just go see Thor: Ragnarok or Murder on the Orient Express because neither will be a waste of your time.
Did you hate Justice League as much as I did? Are you one of the few who enjoyed it? Let us know in the comments below, and let's get the conversation started.
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