The DC’s Extended Universe’s answer to the mega-hit that was The Avengers. A dream come true for fans, but does it deliver?
 

Justice League is the culmination of the what the DC Extended Universe has built to since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The film stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Amy Adams and Jeremy Irons. After the fallout from Batman v Superman, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Affleck) – now inspired by the Man of Steel’s selfless act – enlists the help of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gadot) to put together a team to face off against one of the biggest threat the world has yet to face. Now Batman and Wonder Woman, along with the Flash (Miller), Cyborg (Fisher) and Aquaman (Momoa), band together to stop the villainous Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) and his army of parademons from collecting three Mother Boxes and bringing an end to the world.

DC has been building to Justice League since 2013 with Snyder’s reboot of Superman, but does it live up to the hype? There were a few good things throughout the fairly short Justice League. For one, the action is crisp and exciting. While a lot of these action sequences were too muddled with CGI, they were still exciting and riveting. Scenes with the Flash, especially, were great to look at and fun to watch. Also, the chemistry with the League was really well done. Most, if not all, bounced off each other really well and the dialogue between them was for the most part well written. Characters like the Flash, Wonder Woman and Aquaman all had some of the coolest and/or funniest moments of the film, while Batman and Cyborg had the more grounded, yet mildly interesting moments.

However, with the good comes a heaping pile of bad. The biggest downside to Justice League is its execution: it’s sloppy. The film was incredibly inconsistent in tone and felt choppy. The film was technically directed by two people – Joss Whedon took over after Snyder’s unfortunate tragedy involving his family. And it becomes clear in the film when its Snyder and its Whedon. While understandable, it makes the movie feel disjointed and all over the place. Warner Bros. wanted the film to not exceed two hours, but after watching it, the movie needed another good half hour to make the whole experience feel much more coherent. Some scenes felt way too long, while others felt like "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" scenes, but these moments have important plot points that aren't addressed throughout the film. Also, the villain was horrible. Ciarán Hinds can be really good if he wants to be, but it seems like in Justice League, he was just the stereotypical “must-destroy-planet-because-reasons”. He was bland, lifeless, his CGI was very bad, and was just overall boring. Malekith the Accursed from Thor: The Dark World was a better villain than Steppenwolf. But seeing as the next JL film will have Darkseid as the main villain, it seems only fitting. The CGI in the film, for the most part, was fairly poor. On those rare occasions, however, the CGI looks so bad, it seems unfinished. Especially with Cyborg and Steppenwolf, the CG seemed a tad bit unpolished, to the point where it takes you out of the movie. Cyborg in particular looked like the post production crew didn't finish rendering him. The one hour run time was pretty much the nail in the coffin. As previously stated, there are multiple plot points that were teased by the directors, teased by the cast, and teased by trailers. In the film, however, they either breeze past it like it doesn't exist or these plot points aren't even addressed in further detail. It makes the movie feel way too short.

While not without a lot of flaws, Justice League still was fun enough to watch. Good action overall and some great character moments makes Justice League watchable, but it won’t hide the film’s tonal and structural inconsistency, poor CGI, and horribly bland villain. And with a disappointing opening weekend, maybe DC needs to rework their universe before going forward. Here’s to learning from mistakes.