Justice League

DC’s heroes come together for the first time on the big screen.

After the death of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman enlist the help of other gifted individuals such as The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg to stop Steppenwolf, a baddie, bent on destroying earth with several ‘Mother Boxes’. What ensues is a movie that feels like it had much more to fill in the gaps and the lingering feeling of ‘what could have been’.

The first half an hour or so of Justice League meanders and doesn’t quite find its groove. The opening scene with Batman fighting a ‘parademon’ is alright. Wonder Woman’s scene is also, alright and feel like the film simply needed a few cool action scenes. It feels a bit awkward. However, once the team comes together and have their first showdown with Steppenwolf, there’s enough fun to be had – but the kind of fun that is reminiscent of Marvel’s The Avengers. This is no mistake, as Joss Whedon, the director of The Avengers 1 and 2, took over directorial duties when Zack Snyder exited due to the tragic suicide of his daughter. Therefore, you get the Whedon ‘flavour’ through parts of the film (which is not always a bad thing!).

After Man of Steel (a film that, I believe improves upon additional viewings), the depressing Batman vs Superman and the fun Wonder Woman, comes a very much OK superhero movie. The action is fine, but not particularly memorable. Contrary to much criticism about characters like The Flash and Cyborg, I actually didn’t mind them them and their brief backstory. The one I expected to like – who had some of the worst dialogue in the film – was Aquaman. His exchange in Atlantis after Steppenwolf steals their Mother Box was excruciating and the CGI was pretty terrible for such a blockbuster movie. Affleck as Batman and Gadot as Wonder Woman are still good in their roles. Henry Cavill’s Superman is also much more light-hearted this time around – a little more like the Christopher Reeve Superman.

So, is Justice League a massive disappointment? Well, no. It’s just…there. It neither expands the quality of the DC universe, nor does it undermine it. It added more humour to the mix, but I wasn’t impartial to the darker tone set by the previous films, although it makes sense to go ‘lighter’ due to Wonder Woman‘s lighter tone. It felt like it crammed in a lot in 2 hours and could have used at least another 20 minutes to expand the characters a little more.

It’s not a bad movie. It’s just…a movie.