Movie Talk - Justice League

Well, it’s time. The movie that everyone has been wondering about has finally hit theaters. Like other movies, the reaction has been polarizing. I gotta say, I was even shocked. I mean, when I saw Denzel Washington cosplaying as Norbit, my hopes for Roman J. Israel Esq. were dashed, man! I… Hold up. Wasn’t there another recent movie that polarized the populace? Oh yeah… Justice League!

For those who have probably living under a rock, Justice League was released in theaters a couple of weeks ago. Since its release, it’s been… weird. With all of the rumors and behind-the-scenes news, I don’t even knew what we were expecting to get. I saw the movie the weekend it was released. I even made through the whole thing and I prepared for that. I can really use that “my body is ready” meme. I did consider seeing it a second time but I’ll hold off for now. Besides, I haven’t even seen Thor: Fraggle Rock yet! Maybe I could rope someone in to see it again with, but I bet she’ll want to see something else.

Justice League is pretty much about the formation of the team. After Superman’s death, Batman assembles an assortment of heroes to battle a world-ending threat. If you’ve seen my reviews for Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman, you may know the drill. I thought this was a good movie for the most part. All the members of the League rocked in my opinion. The action was nice, most of the effects were good, a lot of the humor worked, and the story was serviceable. It does have its glaring problems, but at the end, I can say I liked this one. So, if you want a more detailed look, scroll on down.

PROS

If there’s one thing that makes this movie work, it’s the League itself. All the members are pretty likable in their roles and they all have a place on the team. Ben Affleck still rocks it as Batman and Gal Gadot still kicks butt as Wonder Woman. Of course, Superman returns after his demise in the previous movie. Without spoiling too much, Henry Cavill was pretty good in the role. We also get a couple of returning faces like Lois Lane and Ma Kent. While they’re only around for a little bit, it was good to see them here.

The new heroes were a treat. While we only get a bit of backstory on the new recruits, they all come off as cool. Ray Fisher surprised me with his version of Vic Stone, aka Cyborg. Ezra Miller was pretty much the humor machine as the Flash. While he was Barry Allen here, he felt like an interesting mixture of Barry, Wally West, and Bart Allen (Impulse). Jason Momoa’s Aquaman was pretty fun even though he felt the most shortchanged of the three guys. Here’s hoping we can get more on him and his world in his movie.

The story was fine for the most part. It’s a team-up movie, so you know it may not be too heavy. Still, it did work for me. I liked how the League interacted with one another. I also liked the humor. Flash probably and Aquaman probably got the best laughs out of me. The action scenes were also quite nice. While the final fight was nice, my favorite one is where the League takes on someone familiar. The ancient battle where the Atlantians, the Amazons, the Greek Gods, and humanity first took on Stepphenwolf was pretty cool too. While some of the effects were pretty unpolished, there were effects that were good.

All of the costumes looked good. Some may complain on how different they are, but I’m not that guy.  I’m still 50/50 on Cyborg’s CGI look even though it did look good at times. I know why it was CGI but it would have been nice to see some practical effects with it. The music was okay, though. Danny Elfman was brought in to replace Junkie XL on the score and it’s fine. It did fit the movie at least. Overall, I did like Justice League and it leaves me wanting more from these characters.

CONS

At least he gets a good entrance.

So, where does this movie falter? Unfortunately, it’s in a few places and it shows. The biggest issue is the rushed pace of it all. You get certain things thrown at you and wonder if anything else was supposed to happen there. From what I’ve heard, the WB wanted this thing to be under 2 hours and things got reshot. While my bladder is a little thankful, that shouldn’t have happened. Things definitely feel missing from the story. Because of that, it feels weird when all is said and done. While I liked the humor, there were a couple of moments where it didn’t hit for me. You also had some weird dialogue and you can definitely tell where Joss Whedon wrote this. 

Because of the short time, some characters feel underwritten. Most of the new guys don’t get a lot added to their supposed arcs. Aquaman was really the one who got short-shifted. Then, there’s Stepphenwolf, the “big” villain. He definitely drew the short stick in terms of time and motivation. We really don’t learn anything about the guy other than he’s evil, horny (the helmet, that is) and made of CGI. He does have a couple of cool moments but that’s it. I’m guessing scenes for him got left on the cutting room floor too.

Then, there are the unpolished special effects. You can tell those guys were in a rush to get some of this done. While there are effects that looked really good, there are some bad spots and it’s noticeable. You might have seen one person floating around the Interwebs who really gets hampered with the effects. Finally, while the music was fine, something felt missing. It was lacking a certain feel that the music in previous movies had. Thinking about it now, it felt lacking when compared to most of Elfman’s previous works.

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In the end, Justice League has its problems, but it is still a nice ride. The characters, most of the story, and the action keep me interested. With all of what we know now, this movie has kind of a “whelming” feel. This side’s peeved, that side’s peeved, and I’m thinking, “It’s just a movie. Calm down!” Maybe an extended edition could fix a lot of the issues I had with the movie, but who knows how this movie would have ultimately been like if Snyder had stayed. It’s not like I didn’t have issues with the previous movies… Oh Well!

Is it a dream? Reality? Maybe you should go and see.

So, that should end this somewhat-themed month. I don’t have anything planned for December yet, but I might look at something related to the Stars. Maybe it’ll be that franchise that has the Enterprise or something. I might even throw the lightsaber in there. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and “May the Power Protect You.”

Yeah, I crossing all sorts of streams today.