In a time where Marvel
has been looked upon as the greatest franchise of all time by fans and
audiences, nearly every other studio has tried to recreate that magic in some
way with a certain time of characters. Some do it rather well with ideas that
want to be seen like Warner Brother’s Giant Monster movies or Fox’s X-men,
others fail miserably with ideas people don’t want with Universal Dark Universe
and Sony’s attempts with Ghostbusters and Spider Man. Then there’s DC, the
property that is probably the most wanted and desired franchise to see come to
like in a cinematic universe the same way as Marvel. It makes sense considering
the history of many of these icons have with people all over the world, however
the DC Cinematic Universe has been arguably the most criticized, whether it be
the films themselves or people strongly preferring Marvel, DC has been given a
bad reputation. Things have been better now with the release of the fantastic
Wonder Woman and now, while not quite better than that film; things are
continuing to be good with Justice League, a film while heavy in its flaws,
delivers in its satisfaction to fans of DC.
The story of Justice League is Bruce Wayne
becoming a changed man after the death of Superman wants to create a team with Diana
Prince to stop an even bigger evil among them. The plot serves as a basic set
up compared to some of the previous DC films and it works due to the fact that
the film doesn’t try to over convolute itself in terms of plot, it’s
straightforward and simple which is refreshing for those who criticized DC for
being over complicated with its story. It’s a more light-hearted rom compared
to the other DC films, which could lead for it to be overly jokey and just
trying to copy Marvel. While not every single joke works, the tone surprising
works due to the fact that it’s not limited to a joke every five seconds like
some Marvel movies do, instead the films has a good amount of moments where
it’s more dark and serious and the humor really only appears when needed,
mostly when it involves with certain characters. It’s not quite perfect with its
serious and humorous moments, but it balances it out enough to where it doesn’t
feel like overkill. If there are some issues with the story and tone is mainly
because the film does feel a bit rushed. While the audiences’ gets the jest of
the story and it’s easy to follow, there are moments where it feels like
characters could be fleshed out more and feel somewhat lacking in some story
elements. The bigger issue though is more so something in relation to other
comic book movies in the sense that one of the advantages DC has over other
Superhero films is that they really try to make something with a bit of
substance to it and Justice League while has a lot of heart to it, doesn’t feel
like it has the substance akin to the Dark Knight. Even Batman vs. Superman and
Man of Steel while weaker movies, attempted to give something with some
substance and there isn’t that much here, it is more so fluff than anything
else. It doesn’t tarnish the entertainment factor this movie has, but it would
have been more powerful if the film expanded upon more ideas and themes instead
of being a straight up action film, despite how amazing some of these moments
are.
The shiny moment of Justice League as a film
are its characters, in comparison to nearly every other DC film, this movie
gets its characters right. Justice League characters not only have a ton of
personality but there are 100% the characters from the comics brought to life.
Affleck’s Batman has always been one of the high point of the DCEU alongside
Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and here, they are excellent. Gal Gadot’s presence is incredibly large both
as a the kind and always heroic Amazonian princess we knew from her solo film
and Batman being not only more developed and having more of his trademark
elements here compared to the previous DC films but also still having the bold
bruiting presence that the character is known for. Henry Cavill returns as
Superman in this and where many felt his character of Superman was too somber
and cold, his performance in this shines as the true symbol of hope fans
deserved, he may come later into the film, but his sequence is one of the most
fantastic Superman moments ever put onto screen. As for the new cast, the
highlight is easily Ezra Miller as the Flash. Miller’s Flash is where most of
the comedy comes in as it should for a character like Barry Allen. There are
some jokes that don’t work as well, but Miller’s snarky attitude really gives
the character some personality and life to him. Ray Fischer’s Cyborg is another
highlight, being the most serious of the group, especially in comparison to his
Teen Titans counterpart, but his story manages to be quite tragic and he has
the most development with a full arch to him, making him incredibly great to
see. Of the team though, Jason Moamoa’s Aquaman is without a doubt the weakest
link of the team. His character doesn’t have that much to offer asides from
being the dude bro archetype that looks bad-ass, however even he has some good
lines and moments for sure. Even with Aquaman as the weakest team member, he is
excellent in comparison to the lacking villain. Stepphen has very little
motivation and backstory to him and little personality outside of the typical, giant
monster type creature who wants to take over the world. Outside of that
character being a big blemish in Justice League, the whole cast is excellent
and makes this movie a million times better than it was expected to be.
Aesthetically, Justice League serves as an
incredibly appealing film. The color palette is a bit brighter for a film with
a more light hearted tone, but still has some good cinematography to boot,
giving the film a cinematic flare that’s sometimes lacking in Marvel. The film
feels grand and epic at points, especially during the action sequences. Every
single action scene has a lot to them visually with every single character
having at least one moment to shine, the highlight being their comradery and
how they work together in the action sequences, giving fans the exhilarating
feeling of seeing these characters interact on the big screen. If there are any faults with the movie from a
visual perspective is that sometimes the film gets too CGI heavy at points. A
lot of moments of CGI work very well and look appealing, even better than
initially thought like Cyborg’s design, while other times the CGI could use an
extra rendering like some of the effects during the final action sequence. As
for the music, DC tends to have a score that certainly rivals Marvel in terms
of excellent soundtracks, and this time the score is done by veteran composer
Danny Elfman. There are moments of Zimmer’s Man of Steel and Wonder Woman’s
theme, but there isn’t much of it here, which is a bit of a shame considering
how great his score was for Snyder’s DC films. Elfman score is quite
serviceable but does feel a bit weaker in some regards to Zimmer; however his
contribution to the film was worth it for nothing else to hear his amazing
theme for Batman which hasn’t been heard in a film like this for over 20 years.
Not only that, but the original John Williams Superman theme appears and it’d
be hard to be a DC fan and not get some sort of chills down after hearing those
themes again. If there is one last thing to mention about the film is that it
surprisingly doesn’t feel as jarring with two directors attached. Snyder and
Whedon are directors with two distinct styles and while there are moments that
feel more like one director over the other, the film doesn’t feel like one
single moment was taken over by a certain auteur’s style. It’s a DC film first
and foremost and Whedon’s dialogue mixes quite well with Snyder’s direction for
the most part. As a film with numerous reshoots and rewrites, it comes together
much better than a mess, not fully clean but certainly works.
Justice League is a satisfying film,
certainly not the best and could have been improved in various ways, but as
something that could have been disappointing, it serves as an incredibly
enjoyable romp. It has enough character and spectacle to please any fan of
blockbusters but also the heart and soul of the DC Universe that fans have been
waiting for and deserve. By no means a masterpiece but is a film that
definitely will get those excited for future installments, and here’s to more
even better DC films after that.
Excellent review!
ReplyDelete