Justice League is the fifth movie in the DC extended universe and the third for Zack Snyder in the franchise; with Man of Steel and Batman v Superman having mixed reception. Being movies that tried too hard to be taken seriously, to plots that felt that convoluted for its nature. This film tries to remedy both problems and becomes a better film than the first attempts but not a whole lot more than it should have been.
The film follows the formation of the Justice League. Batman (Ben Affleck) having to try to form and lead a team of super beings with an upcoming invasion that he couldn’t hope to fight alone. The first half of the film focuses with him trying to find these people and gives these new characters some introductions and development; Wonder Woman(Gal Gadot) being the only other character that has introduced properly in other movies. The new characters Flash(Ezra Miller), Cyborg(Ray Fisher), and Aquaman(Jason Momoa) might struggled to find their audience properly.
The new Flash would obviously be the comic relief from the bunch and be the stand out of the cast. Miller’s portrayal of the Flash differs greatly from that of the CW series; more fast-talking akin to super-speed nature and what I would think I is the better portrayal of the Flash (unless he will keep whining how he is not fast enough in his next movies). Next, Aquaman had the least screentime among the five of the main cast. Momoa’s on-screen presence is as strong as ever, but introducing him with two other new characters would not have been the way to go for a character that is a huge joke on the internet.
Cyborg, on the other hand, is a weird one with only half a face and all other parts of his body being CGI. At slower times of the film, you can feel the low quality nature of it, but at faster paces, it is less noticeable. His transformation into a cyborg has made him disconnected with his world and into a new one. His portrayal feels too friendly for a man who was a football player. He becomes the brooding character of the cast that would something than Batman should be doing. In the topic of Batman, this must be my least favorite one. His tonal shift from the last movie feels too far-off with quips and comments that would be more appropriate for Superman or Cyborg. If you want to see the ideal Batman, just go and watch the animated TV shows.
Plotwise, the movie doesn’t have much to go for. It is average at best, a cliche “let’s save the world” type of deals. The villain Steppenwolf feels threatening with none of them seemingly able to take a chance against, but further than that, there is not much of him; classic lack of development in the villain that a lot of superheroes are guilty of. Its action being lackluster and nothing special. Batman feeling so useless in his circumstance of being a human, and not having a scene is remarkable as the warehouse scene in BvS.
Overall, the film is a fun movie to watch, but maybe not worth my time to re-watch again. It surely is the better of Snyder’s attempts in the DCEU, but not a by large margin. A more straight forward plot than BvS’s convoluted one. A lighter toned film that would serve to give a friendly nature, but sacrificed what made Batman such a loved character nowadays. DCEU still doesn’t have solid ground to continue on. With most of its movies trying too hard to fix its own problems and forgetting what it wants to be in the process.
But if you want more from DC, wait for the two end credit scenes!
Nas Velasco 