THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Surprisingly, the first superhero team I ever discovered was not The Avengers nor the X-Men of Marvel Comics, but instead the Justice League of DC Comics. When watching the animated series, they showed to be a close but competitive family which is an interesting dynamic. The chemistry between the characters showed that trust, respect and love comes a long way. I couldn’t believe it when hearing it would be made into a film during 2007, which made me disappointed that development went nowhere afterwards. However, the dream became a reality in 2017.
PLOT
The film takes place after Superman’s sacrifice. Aliens known as ‘parademons’ have invaded Earth, searching for three mysterious cubes. Their leader Steppenwolf, successfully retrieves one from Themyscira. Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) shoots a burning arrow to an ancient temple, hoping for her daughter Diana Prince to help. When she sees it on the news, she is aware that an invasion has begun. She visits Bruce Wayne/Batman and explains the origin of Steppenwolf. Centuries ago, he attempted to use all three 'Moher Boxes' to destroy Earth, reshaping it into his home planet Apokolips. He was however stopped by the Greek Gods, Amazons, Men, Atlanteans and protectors from other worlds. The defeat/retreat drove him mad but when he left the boxes behind, they remained hidden until now. Wayne had recently encountered a parademon prior to this conversation with her. He has been attempting to recruit the meta humans he found from Lex Luthor’s files. After failing to recruit the Atlantean Arthur Curry/Aquaman, he succeeds in recruiting speedster Barry Allen, who gained his abilities after being struck by lightning. Victor Stone had recently been presumed dead after a fatal accident but his father Silas (Joe Morton) resurrected him with the Mother Box. When he makes contact with Diana, he turns down her offer to join them. However, he changes his mind when his father and 8 other civilians are taken hostage by parademons. He joins Diana, Batman and Allen to rescue them at an island near Gotham Harbor. They encounter Steppenwolf and rescue the hostages. But when Victor fires a cannon at the villain, he accidentally hits the tunnel wall, causing a flood. They are saved by Aquaman after he delays the flood. The Atlantean reveals that he changed his mind because the Mother Box was taken from Atlantis. Victor retrieves the third one before Steppenwolf could get to it. When the five heroes go to the Batcave, they discuss of the Box. Stone reveals that his father used it to resurrect him, giving him his cybernetic body. Wayne suggests to use it to resurrect Superman, in order to defeat Steppenwolf. Despite hesitance, Diana agrees to give it a chance. After Allen and Stone dig up Superman's grave, they regroup with the other heroes at the guarded Kryptonian ship, where Luthor created his Doomsday. After his body is placed in the genesis chamber, Allen uses his speed to activate the genesis chamber once touching the Mother Box. Superman does wake up but he slowly remembers his past. He fights the heroes at first, believing them to be a threat. But it ends after Batman summons Lois Lane. When she shows up, he immediately remembers his past as Clark Kent. He leaves with her and visits his childhood home, reuniting with his foster mother, Martha (Diane Lane). Because of the last box being unguarded, Steppenwolf is able to take it. Victor eventually tracks him down to a small town in Russia. When they get there, they fight off as much parademons as possible while Victor attempts to separate the boxes from their unity. Before Steppenwolf gets the upper hand, Superman arrives to help Allen evacuate civilians and separate the boxes. They all defeat Steppenwolf once they destroy his axe. Because of the parademons’ ability to sense fear, they take their leader back to their world unwillingly. The film ends with Allen getting a job in the forensics department, Victor working with his father in STAR Labs, Wayne preparing a new home for the team and Clark returning to his former lifestyle.
THOUGHTS
When seeing this film in 2017, I admit enjoying myself because this is exactly what I wanted, to see these characters together onscreen for the first time. While I was glad to see something I waited so long for, this has sadly not aged well. This is oddly not the film I wanted after all this time. To be honest, the plot feels more jumpy than a jump scare, meaning that it’s really messy. This is not the same vision from Zack Snyder at all compared to Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This movie is fun but I don’t feel any depth at all. The visuals are truly the biggest gripe of the movie besides the story. This design of Steppenwolf does not look intimidating at all, not even the voice work of Ciaran Hinds can save this character’s status. Cyborg’s design is okay and seeing Flash in slow motion is cool but the biggest backfire is Henry Cavill’s face. The actor was unable to shave his mustache due to shooting for another film, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, leading to the decision of computerizing his face during the reshoots. It is highly noticeable many times. From the opening scene where he gets interviewed by kids, to his smile to Lois Lane, it is absolute cringe. You wanna define lazy scores to be ever composed, it’s Danny Elfman’s score to this movie. Reusing your own Batman score is one thing but you’re making job way too easy when reusing John Williams’ Superman score. There was so much shit that bothered me as I rewatched it, so try to catch up. First off I know that slow motion is a common cliche from Snyder’s filmography but because it was mostly reshot by Joss Whedon, why was it necessary to see a criminal kicking a fruit cart? It is so damn pointless to see. I know you’re showing that the world has changed after Superman died, but it’s so overdramatic and that makes it pointless. The montage of grieving over Superman works up until that exact scene. Another problem is how this movie basically relies on fans to fill in the gaps, while the audience that doesn’t read the material clueless. Aquaman gets a pass on glossing over his origin because his movie came out the following year, but Flash and Cyborg get glossed over so bad that it’s hard to appreciate them as much as the rest that are developed. Knowing that, it makes their introductions lazy. The only thing I really complained about when it came to Cyborg is that he discovered pictures of Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince’s secret identities in frames of other known scenes. He finds one picture of where Diana was stopping the terrorist attack. He then finds a pic of Batman fleeing from Doomsday with his Batclaw along with another headshot of him mask less. How the hell are those things on the internet or some kind of database? I doubt that there were cameras for those exact moments. I do think the Green Lanterns are cool characters, unless you’re talking about the 2011 film. But it is pointless introducing them in the flashback of Steppenwolf’s origin. This is proof that this movie was rushing a bigger picture that we never got to even see. And why the fuck did Steppenwolf name drop Darkseid when we’re not even gonna see him? That is the worst tease a movie could ever give since the Easter eggs from 2017’s The Mummy. If I’m gonna pick on anything of the action, I’d have to say Batman is slightly lazy when he uses the guns of the parademons rather than making more advanced tech against them. That Batmobile was clearly not enough and I don’t think I spotted any batarangs in this movie. The stupidest thing I wish didn’t exist is the Russian family in this movie. Whedon is basically recreating the civilian closeups from both Avengers movies he directed and unnecessarily fleshing them out because they don’t drive the story at all. Our heroes mess up big time not watching over the last Box. If they did that, they would’ve at least put up another fight against Steppenwolf. Why did they not retrieve Clark’s picture of Jonathan when it falls into the water? They know they’re bringing him back and it’s not like there might be another copy of it. I know Martha probably has more pictures of her husband but that one in particular must’ve been Clark’s favorite and they could’ve used it before Lois became the last resort. And why did Batman wait until the others got taken down by Superman to help him come to his senses? I’m positive he could’ve jogged over to him around the same time they meet the Kryptonian, at least a minute apart before shit hits the fan. But no, it’s just an excuse for him to bring out Lois. Lois is only here to be the second MacGuffin for this movie. I saw it coming a mile away because they had a scene in Batman v Superman implying that she is the key. I know you want a clever tie in for these movies, but that scene only works the Snyder Cut because that version would have a better tie in. And why was Alfred in the backseat with her before she comes out? I don’t think we needed another scene to imply he was with her. Batman calling him for the ‘big gun’ is good enough. And where the hell did the Mother Boxes go after the separation? Did they go to STAR Labs or Apokolips? If you want to talk about plot holes, this is the biggest one to date. Lastly, I find the post credit scene where the escaped Lex Luthor when pitching Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello) the Legion of Doom misleading because we never saw that ever. The point is Joss Whedon reshot a lot of pointless shit and had no respect to Zack Snyder’s vision. If you somehow ignore all of these problems, than you’ll find yourself having somewhat of a blast with this superhero film. Now I did admit that this movie has a lot of issues, but I did find moments that always bring me back to watching it again. Batman taking down a casual burglar and encountering a parademon simultaneously was cool because they are again showing off his athleticism. The mid credit scene of Superman and Flash racing each other is so awesome because that is a moment ripped from the comics and pays off. The third act battle is honestly fine until Superman predictably arrives. Seeing everyone else fight together is what made it feel fresh. The icing of the cake of memorable scenes we’re gonna get is when the resurrected Superman spots Flash in slow motion. That gives me chills and that is what going to the movies is all about, for a moment like that. I wish I can say I love this cast completely, but I’d be lying. Ben Affleck is good as Batman but not better than what he did in Batman v Superman. He is showing off the guilt he has over how he viewed Superman and that works. What doesn’t work is him being a leader. If you want to motivate your team, don’t tell them you’re not enough. The best moment he gives here is saying he bought a bank just to help Martha get her house back. I can’t say I enjoyed Henry Cavill here like I have before and the obvious reason is his computerized face. If the actor was able to shave his mustache, there wouldn’t be a problem. I do appreciate his small moments where he does his iconic shirt rip and tells Steppenwolf “I believe in truth but I’m also a big fan of justice”. Those moments reminded me why he was Superman in the first place. Gal Gadot was okay here as Wonder Woman. The stuff I give her credit for is her somewhat mentorship to Cyborg. If she didn’t talk to him, than no one would motivate him to stick his neck out. I normally enjoy Amy Adams and Diane Lane but they’re out of their place here and I sadly can’t appreciate them. As for the new characters, I was definitely disappointed with JK Simmons as Jim Gordon. I loved the actor for playing J Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man, but he does not exactly bring the character’s determination here. We see his trust in Batman but that’s it, making him completely pointless. I couldn’t enjoy Amber Heard as Mera because she’s only there to exposit Aquaman’s backstory to hype up his movie. Speaking of Aquaman, Jason Momoa became the man that makes the character a complete badass after years of criticism. We like the guy for looking over that small town because he knows no one else will, which is the same situation for going after Steppenwolf. The guy is battling his own demons which makes him a distant person and this team makes him more open minded than before, making it fair growth. I am always laughing when he shares his feelings after unknowingly sitting on Wonder Woman’s lasso. I thought Ezra Miller was pretty good as the Flash. I honestly believe that they do good in reflecting the angst and inexperience that the young character is going through. And his hate on brunch will always make me giggle. Had the controversy around this actor not ever occurred, I'm positive this iteration of the DC Universe would lasted long after the character's eventual solo film. It is very public that Ray Fisher didn’t have the best experience on set while reshooting the film but for some reason, I still enjoyed what he was able to bring to the character. In my eyes, he succeeds in reflecting that he is confused and angry with what he is transpiring. You see that he blames his father for what he is but you respect him for getting over it when he saves him. The growth is also how he is able to understand the knowledge he discovers and puts it to good use, making him more useful than he ever thought he’d be. When you realize that, you appreciate him as a whole. And lastly I know I’ve picked on Jesse Eisenberg’s first outing of Lex Luthor but I’m not lying when I say liked what he provided in his minimum time. He finally showed off the same suave attitude that the character is all about and that alone impressed me significantly. To wrap up, Justice League is sadly in the middle where it ain’t perfect due to its baggage but you somehow appreciate it for what it is. If you enjoyed the prior DC films that were building this up, good luck getting through this one. For those who still have disappointment over this one, let’s be grateful that the Snyder Cut exists.
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