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Justice League
(Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Films)
By Lucas Allen
Last summer, “Wonder Woman” proved there is hope for the DC Extended Universe after many ups and downs behind the scenes. Now comes “Justice League,” once again trying to steal some of the thunder from the highly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe while restoring the good name of Batman and Superman after last year’s too-dark fight night. It’s directed by Zack Snyder, but with reshoots done by the film’s co-writer, Joss Whedon, who has already showed how a team-up can be done right. Whatever happened between production and post-production has to be ignored for the sake of this fair and balanced review.
The death of Superman (Henry Cavill) brings about an unexpected threat to the world. The deadly Steppenwolf (voiced by Ciaran Hinds) is trying to find three magical boxes in order to bring the apocalypse and re-design the Earth. Desperate, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck) and his butler Alfred (Jeremy Irons), decide it’s time to bring more heroes together to save the world. Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) also wants to join in after her mother Queen Hippolyta’s (Connie Nielsen) army was attacked in their world.
Wayne then locates young Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) who became the speedy hero The Flash after being struck by lightning. Prince then finds Victor Stone (Ray Fisher) who became Cyborg from one of the magic boxes obtained by his scientist father (Joe Morton). Eventually, Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Jason Momoa) rises from the depths of Atlantis after his home world is attacked. But as Steppenwolf’s army continues to grow, the newly formed Justice League has to come up with a plan to save the world and it involves resurrecting the Man of Steel.
Those expecting the same overly dark insanity of Snyder’s previous DCEU adventure will breathe a sigh of relief that this movie goes another way by being more colorful and a little more light-hearted. It’s clear the buzz around “Wonder Woman” prompted a much-needed tonal change in the universe and this movie continues that trend pretty well. The movie walks a fine line between comedy and drama, which works much of the time.
One thing the DCEU still excels at is the action and this movie has its fair share of exciting sequences that helps keep the momentum going. The scenes involving the heroes coming together to fight Steppenwolf and his army is surely a sight to behold especially for those complaining about the murky look of the action scenes from the previous films. In fact, they’re all backed up by the pulse-pounding music by Danny Elfman. He brings a combination of original notes with shades of his Batman theme that will appeal to those who enjoy listening to the movies as much as watching them.
However, the movie’s biggest stumble is the villain Steppenwolf, who will surely baffle both comic fans and non-fans. For a universe with its own extensive gallery of great villains, why did they have to go with a generic, poorly written villain who looks like he belongs in a Thor movie? Speaking of which, “Thor: Ragnarok” had a great villain who was wonderfully written with understandable reasons to conquer. Compared to that, Steppenwolf is just a mish-mash of everything wrong with comic book movie villains today.
Despite that, you still get a strong cast of old and new members of the universe. It’s easy to say that Affleck, Cavill and Gadot once again shine in their superhero personas. Of the new members, Momoa is a blast to watch turning Aquaman from hilariously lame to ultimate awesome. The other two need some more tweaking in the acting. Miller’s Flash plays it too geeky and wimpy, while Fisher is a bit wooden as Cyborg. There are also nice appearances by Amy Adams’ Lois Lane and Diane Lane’s Martha Kent, and J.K. Simmons makes a good debut as the new Commissioner Gordon.
If you get past some of its flaws, “Justice League” still pulls through as a genuinely entertaining superhero team-up. It obviously will never top the magic of Marvel’s “The Avengers,” but there’s enough fun here to make the most of its two-hour runtime. Also, if this is the direction DC wants to pursue, then go for it because we’ll be there when the next one comes out.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG-13 (for sequences of sci-fi violence and action)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.5 Stars (Out of Four)
