A Reel Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE

JUSTICE LEAGUE; the 5^th entry in the series of films based on DC Comics’ “world’s finest” heroes, is a production that has seen a lot of turmoil behind the scenes. Original director Zack Snyder departed the project, and was replaced by Joss Whedon who not only finished the film, but re-wrote and re-shot several scenes. None of that really matters as an excuse or a justification for anything, and rather as important background…because the only thing that really counts is what we see on the screen.

After the death of Superman (Henry Cavill), Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck), and Diana/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), recruit super-powered beings such as The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher), to help battle the evil Steppenwolf (voiced by Ciaran Hinds), who has arrived to Earth with his army of parademons to collect the three mystical Mother Boxes, in an attempt to destroy the planet.

JUSTICE LEAGUE does not have much by way of plot; find the boxes, defeat the bad guys, save the world. There’s nothing wrong with a simple plot, and for the most part it works here, so with such a thin narrative, weight must be put on the challenge facing the new team of super-friends. That weight falls on the shoulders of the main villain, Steppenwolf…who is visually presented here as a stiff, CGI creation. Beyond his appearance, he is one-dimensional and dull, and seems to get his ass kicked easily enough by just one hero, which makes the movie’s efforts to assemble the new team somewhat pointless.

Similar to the style of two of the preceding DC films, JUSTICE LEAGUE feels like it was edited by over-caffeinated monkeys. Scenes seem to start in mid-conversation, and ram through everything so quickly we’re out of the scene and into the next one before we can comprehend what was just discussed. There is a goddamn rush to everything and it takes away from the gravity of the situation, making the stakes feel very small, especially with the lack of any sort of build-up towards the final battle. There are also gaps in continuity (pieces of the movie seem to be missing), odd cuts, often feels patchwork, and an excellent opening flashback with Superman is never justified or closed. It’s an editing disaster.

But there is still a ton of fun and enjoyment to be had in JUSTICE LEAGUE. Every one of the heroes is perfectly written with a fair amount of personal narratives to humanize them. Their banter between each other is perfect and brightens up the film. The chemistry between them all leaps off the screen, they all get their moments worthy of applause, and the sense of fun drives the film. The (ahem) return of Superman, is welcome (although the method used to resurrect him is lazy and contradicts an earlier tease of his return), but most importantly, he finally, finally, FINALLY doesn’t act like a miserable mope. This is as close to classic Superman as we’ve ever seen on film and it is glorious. The action scenes are a thrill, and the conflict that arises within the group is very natural.

Visual effects are crap and drag the film down. When the film goes into the green-screen action where characters are in artificial environments fighting CGI blobs, the effects are so poor and cartoon-like that it’s reminiscent of an old Disney movie which cuts from live-action to animation. But the biggest issue involves poor Henry Cavill, who was called back to reshoot scenes after he had grown facial hair for another film role. The CGI used to digitally erase his mustache is so bad it looks like the crew smeared snots on the camera-lens to hide it. It’s shocking how an effect this bad, after 20 years of CG development, can find its way into a major release like this. Danny Elfman’s score is somewhat generic and lacks a central theme to rally around. He occasionally throws in a few of the classic superhero themes we’ve heard in the past, but not nearly enough.

Acting is excellent all around. Ben Affleck has really grown into the role of Bruce Wayne, even after only two films, and his portrayal of a world-weary hero is spot-on. Gal Gadot is magnificent and pretty much owns the movie. Ezra Miller and Jason Momoa are a BLAST, even though Aquaman’s importance in the film is a head-scratcher, as he doesn’t do much with water or the ocean during the final fight. Ray Fisher acts just fine despite being less of a character and more of a plot device. JK Simmons, Jeremy Irons, Amy Adams, and Diane Lane appear as extended cameos, with Adams and Lane getting some hefty, emotional moments which are very well acted. The great talent of Ciaran Hinds is wasted behind the CG mess of Steppenwolf. Henry Cavill is wonderful now that he finally gets to act like a hero.

As stated, there is very little build-up to the final showdown, and that adds to the feeling of a small-stakes adventure. The film very much feels like a TV episode that would be seen during Saturday morning cartoons; tight, fun, no consequences, and even a tune-in-next-time tease for further adventures. JUSTICE LEAGUE is very much split down the middle; the good stuff really works in fantastic ways, and the bad things are cinematic sins and outright awfulness. That sort of imbalance makes it fall just short of a high recommendation for the World’s Finest.

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it