Justice Leagues is a film that has been under pressure since it was announced. It is a movie that cannot escape controversy. Depending on the day, Ben Affleck is or isn't staying on as Batman. Zack Snyder has lost all creative control. Jos Whedon was brought in for re shoots. All of this stuff is not fake news. The problem starts with Batman V Superman being so bad and Wonder Woman being so good. Warner/ DC cannot afford another failure. While I cannot say that Justice League is not on the same level as The Avengers, it is a definite step in the right direction.
The world is mourning Superman. Crime and chaos are on the rise. Batman is discovering that something bad is on the horizon and is working on putting a team together to stop it. He gets help from Wonder Woman, who has some inside knowledge of threat, and the two of them set out to recruit Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg. The team has to work together and hope that they can defeat the world conquering Steppenwolf without the help of Superman.
Let's talk about what worked. The team and their chemistry. When the team is together, it is fun to watch! The interactions between the characters is really good. They all have their moments to shine and we get an idea of who they are. Sure we'd like more back story of each of them, but much like Wonder Woman it will come in another movie. We get a glimpse of Atlantis and it comes across better than I thought it would. The pace is good in comparison to Batman V Superman and it does leave you wanting more.
There are some things that do not work. The beginning has it's cool moments, but it is also very choppy. I feel like an extra 20-30 min would really have helped out the story and eliminated this. It also heavily swallowed in C.G.I. The character C.G.I. is OK, especially with Batman. The elimination of the, "super 'stache," is awkward. The film underwent heavy re shoots and it took time. Henry Cavil is filming the latest Mission Impossible and is contractually obligated to keep his mustache. Meaning they had to digitally remove it from the film. It leaves Clark looking a little awkward. Steppenwolf is another C.G.I. throw away villain, but is serviceable for the story. I would rather have seen more practical effects used.
Stay for the two post credit scenes. One of which is golden the other I struggled with. They had opportunities to erase a mistake and they didn't. Justice League isn't perfect. It is not garbage either. It suffers from the fact that it's predecessor was so bad and it is forced to build on those bad decisions. It gets more right than it does wrong. I enjoyed this two hour trip through the DC Universe. If left me wanting more and it's good moments are enough to overcome its mistakes. Fun, but flawed and worth the watch.
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