Thoughts: Justice League limited
DC has a marvelous problem with Marvel: Their rival has set a high bar for the superhero genre the past 10 years. Building up their cinematic universe has put DC on the fast track to build their own legacy. That bring us to this week's premiere of Justice League.
Justice League is the follow up film to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the Wonder Woman solo film. Superman is dead and Batman must unite earth's mightiest heroes to battle a threat to end all life in earth. If this sounds a bit grandeur, that's because it is. DC has gone big in its second superhero team-up by bringing in The Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman to fight the big bad Steppenwolf. If that name doesn't sound familiar, don't worry because you would be hard pressed to find even a hard-core DC fan to name him before the films release.
What this film has going for it is the team itself. Everyone works well with each other and the banter feels fresh. The Flash especially stands out here as his quips with the other members are some of the best scenes in the movie. In a film with lots of conflict, it's the character interactions that make this film standout.
Unfortunately it doesn't quite hit when the punches are being thrown around. The CGI fest is back during the big fight scenes and its very noticeable and jarring. The signature Zack Snyder slow down can't cut it for a third time as the fight choreography feels rehashed and uninspiring. What's supposed to be the cinematic experience ends up being overblown with a simple ending. Spoilers ahead.
The story can be summed up very easily: Save Superman, Save the world. Reviving Superman becomes the main story as our heroes can't win when they fight together against Steppenwolf. He's also the reason they win in the end. The better tag line for the film would have been "You Can't Save The World Alone. Unless You're Superman." This is the problem with Superman that DC has yet to figure out: How do you make the most powerful hero entertaining?
If this film would have come out 5 years ago it would have been the film to see, but now it feels like a rehash of a no-name villain with no clear-cut goals. At least the interaction between characters salvaged what could have been a complete bore.
- Mike