Justice League was directed by Zack Snyder and is the newest film in the unofficially named DC Extended Universe. It follows Batman as he unites the members of the Justice League to fight against the threat of Steppenwolf. If you followed this movie's production, it was no secret that it had a lot of issues behind the screen. It underwent massive re-shoots directed by Joss Whedon after the tragic death of Zack Snyder's daughter pulled him away from the film. Henry Cavill had a CGI upper lip due to Paramount not allowing him to shave due to his role in Mission Impossible 6. Warner Brothers issued a mandatory cut in run time to keep the movie under two hours. Virtually if it could've gone wrong on set, it did. So I tried to keep that in mind going into this film. A lot of issues that happened weren't really the fault of those making this film. It was just really terrible timing. All that being said, it was still a film and one that I wanted to watch carefully and really take note of, since analyzing and critiquing film is one of my favorite things to do. Leaving Justice League, I was really pleasantly surprised. It had it's faults obviously, but it was a good movie to service the fans. Justice League had a gigantic tonal shift from Batman V Superman. It felt cleaner and more innocent, often making me feel like I was watching a comic-strip.
Let's take a look at what worked:
1. Characters- I loved each member of the Justice League. I thought they were all fun and exciting to watch. Ben Affleck once again proved to be a good Batman and Bruce Wayne. I still stand by Henry Cavill as Superman. Jason Momoa has me excited for the prospect of Aquaman. I think the characters on screen were a blast to watch. I am excited for the upcoming solo DC movies. Having seen the success of Wonder Woman, I am exited for the prospect of a good run of solo movies for DC. Even if Affleck no longer continues as Batman.
2. Score and soundtrack- Danny Elfman once again killed it with his score. I loved every second of the score to this film. It fit the movie perfectly. Elfman included some nods to the Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, which was fun for me as a fan of that movie and just movies in general. Elfman's score would've been severely missed if they had gotten any one else to do it. He knew and understood the tone of the film and created a lot of fun scenes because of it. Especially when Aquaman goes to fight Steppenwolf in Atlantis.
3. Fan Service- This movie had a lot of fun nods to the comics. It included fun catchphrases of characters and really captured the comic-book vibe. It had a lot of nods to different comics and created a world where DC fans can have fun and enjoy years of dedication to the stories on screen. It was a triumphant moment when Cyborg said his catchphrase "booyah!" I was impressed by the way the speed force turned out and when we first see Wonder Woman she is standing on top of Lady Justice. It was just pleasing to the fans and myself.
4. Action- I enjoyed the action of Justice League. Toward the beginning it utilized the fast to slow-motion move a little too much for my preference. But during the 3rd act it was more coherent and fit the characters better. It was entertaining watching the heroes fight with one another as well. I loved seeing Aquaman and Wonder Woman team up.
This movie was far from perfect:
1. Pacing- Justice League was the most rushed comic-book movie I have seen. This movie had virtually no setup at all. Every character was just kind of thrust onto screen. Even the exposition scene explaining Steppenwolf just came out of no where and was over too quickly. Most of this was due to Warner Brother's cut of the run time to under two hours, while there were massive re-shoots with two different directors. Justice League could've greatly benefited from an extra 15-20 minutes of run time to further explain the villain and give more motivation to the characters. It all felt just like it was moving way too quick.
2. Villain- Steppenwolf was an extremely weak and bland villain. He had absolutely no depth. I am honestly tired of poor villains in these movies. The greatest villains are the one's that you can understand. Even if you don't agree with the "why" of their actions. Creating a compelling villain is as important as a compelling hero. If you take a look at any animated Disney movie, the reason they are so memorable is because of their great villains. I have a framed drawing of all of the animated Disney villains. I can guarantee you I will never have a framed drawing of Steppenwolf hanging on my wall. Disney had villains name's that you can remember, the audience got to know them and enjoy them. We got to see them be bad guys both in their lairs and then in front of the protagonist. Animated Disney movies spent time with their villains and it paid off with memorable characters that were often almost better than their protagonists. Marvel is guilty of the poor villain trait too, when a movie focuses all its time on the protagonist only and never builds on a villain it never has the climactic moment that's needed. It's hard to root for a hero when they aren't going up against a villain you know.
3. CGI use- This is a problem I am willing to overlook, but it has to mentioned. This movie was extremely reliant on CGI and green screen. Sometimes to a fault. I believe this is because of the production issues this movie was having. If you're someone who doesn't want to be over saturated in CGI then this movie will crush you. I normally am a fan of more practical effects, however, I understand the pickle WB found themselves in with this movie. The re-shoots definitely hurt the movie. There were some obvious CGI lip moments for Henry Cavill as Superman.
Overall, I enjoyed Justice League far more than I expected to. It was a tremendous amount of fun and it was nice change of pace for DC. I was impressed with how well the characters themselves turned out and had a blast with the score of this movie. The action sequences were fun and exciting. I just wish they would've cared to even make Steppenwolf interesting. I also wish WB would've allowed this movie to exist for more than two hours. It would've greatly helped with the set up of this movie. If you're a fan of DC comics, you'll have a good time with this movie. If you're just the average movie goer I can see where you'll struggle to enjoy this movie. I am going to give Justice League a C+.
Pacing. You hit the nail on the head. I wish this movie was 30 minutes longer. My wife and I actually talked about how fast each character arrived, as we left the movie.
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