Director Zack Snyder
Genre Action | Adventure | Fantasy
Cast Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Ezra Miller
Rating PG-13
Release Date November 17th, 2017
“Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.”
From director Zack Snyder, Justice League is the ultimate DC superhero film that joins together the biggest names in the DC universe. Snyder has had an up and down directorial career, directing hits such as 300 and Watchmen, while also churning out his fair share of high budget duds, including Sucker Punch and his latest box office disappointment Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. DC fans have had a difficult ride in the past few years, but Wonder Woman's release raised their spirits significantly. Suicide Squad received a mixed reaction but I personally felt like it was pretty good overall. The impressive cast for Justice League includes Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, and Ezra Miller.
Funny and entertaining overall, Justice League will meet tempered expectations but it is yet another DC movie lacking the edge that has made the Marvel franchise the gold standard. If you enter the theater with moderate expectations, you will walk out feeling like you got your money's worth. If you walk in with high expectations, you will more than likely be disappointed- simple as that. Like many viewers I knew Justice League could be hit or miss and I prepared myself for either outcome. I am pleased to report that I was entertained and felt that the film provided enough eye candy (I am referring to the action sequences not actress Gal Gadot, although on the other hand…) and humor, as well as a great deal of nostalgia for fans of the comics. The stunts and fight scenes were pretty good for the most part and it was fun to be able to get a glimpse at the origin stories. I did see Justice League in a regular theater and unlike Thor: Ragnarok, this is a film that will benefit greatly from a trip to an IMAX 3D theater. The CGI in general is instrumental to the overall effect of the majority of the scenes and will absolutely require high quality audio and video to take full advantage. Wonder Woman and The Flash were my favorite characters throughout the film, and Wonder Woman remains one of the best DC movies in my personal opinion. Justice League has some great laugh out loud moments, as well as its fair share of jokes that have a bit of a rough landing if you know what I mean.
My biggest issue with Justice League refers to the edge I mentioned earlier, which is that feeling a viewer has when a movie finds that extra gear. It just never really reached that point where I found myself in awe with a big smile on my face. I also found some of the CGI to be a bit strange, specifically whatever the heck was going on with the face of one of the actors (I won't be specific in an effort to avoid spoilers). For the majority of the film I honestly thought that they either replaced him with another actor or perhaps just turned him into a CGI character altogether. After talking with an avid DC fan after the film (consider this information to be unconfirmed), he told me that apparently due to contractual obligations involving this actor and another film he was working on, he was required to have a mustache which forced the Justice League crew to use CGI to make the mustache go "bye bye". What those of us with a keen eye for detail end up with is a very odd looking CGI effect in the lower half of this actors face. In my experience adding CGI can get expensive, I wonder how much it costs to get rid of a damn mustache?! Hollywood and their deep pockets. Now as far as Zack Snyder is concerned, I honestly like him as a director because he has made some great films, but part of me feels like he really needs an R rating to work with in order to truly bring his vision to life. An example is the fact that when the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice released on Blu-ray with the added 30 minutes of R-rated footage, fans quickly confirmed that the film as a whole was significantly better with the scenes that were ultimately cut out prior to the theatrical release.
The acting in Justice League is solid but not stellar by any means. My biggest issue remains with Ben Affleck as Batman, which I still have a hard time accepting. Similar to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I felt like Affleck's acting felt forced and unnatural. It seems as though Affleck is Batman solely because he has such a strong influence in Hollywood, but that won't change the fact that he will never reach the bar set by Christian Bale, or even Michael Keaton for that matter. Gal Gadot continues her impressive run as Wonder Woman and pretty much steals the show. I am still amazed by her ability to take control of a film, and even though she is one of a few sharing the lead role this time around she makes her presence felt. And did I mention she is responsible for quite a few double takes thanks to that incredible Amazon warrior outfit of hers? Well that is definitely worth noting. I really liked the casting decision that brought in Ezra Miller as Barry Allen, AKA The Flash. Now I did hear rumblings from people that are fans of the CW series that felt like Grant Gustin, who plays The Flash in the show, should have gotten the nod for the film. Well whether people realize it or not, some actors are film actors and other actors are television actors, and that’s just the way it is. The aforementioned "Big Screen" isn't for everyone, and Ezra Miller took full advantage of the opportunity he was given and quickly became one of the best characters in the film. Miller contributes to the majority of the laughs and I felt like his comedic delivery was natural and he really did a great job of becoming his character. He came across as the "Sheldon" of superheroes (that is a Big Bang Theory reference, obviously). I also really liked Jason Mamoa as Aquaman, and he manages to steal a few scenes for himself as well. Amy Adams plays a small role but I felt like she portrayed her character better this time around compared to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as I felt her performance in that was just okay. Ray Fisher delivered a solid performance as Cyborg/Victor Stone. The rest of the supporting cast earned their paychecks.
Justice League is an entertaining superhero movie and I expect it will do well in the box office if only for the simple fact that it does bring together the core group of the favorite superheroes from the DC universe. Early feedback shows that it actually beat Wonder Woman's Thursday night release numbers which is pretty damn impressive. It could have and probably should have been better, specifically had they decided on a different director and perhaps a different actor to play Batman, but luckily the train stayed on the tracks nonetheless. I think the majority of fans will be pleased with Justice League and thanks to an awesome post-credit cut-scene, they have plenty to look forward to going forward.
