It’s been about a week now since the much anticipated Justice League movie was released. I have seen a few other opinions on this film some good, some bad and some in between. So I figured I would offer my spoiler free review for those of you interested in the genre. There seems to be a trending movement to hate on DC films recently that I don’t understand. This film was by no means perfect. It was enjoyable despite it’s shortcomings and I believe a step in the right direction when it comes to the DCEU trying to right the ship so to speak. For those who are not in the know this film is DC’s version of the super team a la Avengers which is Marvels super team. Comic book aficionados are no doubt familiar with these characters, but I felt this was another opportunity for DC to take a page out of Marvels book with respect to how they handled their cinematic universe as all members of the Avengers or at least the most prominent ones had individual films to give each a fleshed out backstory. I say this because this may help the general audience care more about the characters and therefor make the enjoyment of the film better. Most people like to know something about the characters to make sense of why they act the way they do. When that is missing some characters may come off as jerks for no reason,and people may dismiss them or ask why they were even included.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the characters with a couple exceptions were handled excellently which was a good thing and the action was awesome for the most part. Not to keep bringing them up but it just can’t be avoided but because of the involvement of Joss Whedon after Zack Snyder had to leave kind of melded the styles of Marvel and DC in some respects without over doing it. To reiterate they took a page out of Marvels book and added some humor to this film whereas Snyder’s other films often take a darker tone. Most of the quips come from Ezra Miller as Flash and in my opinion is most appropriate as anyone who read some of the comic or watched the animated versions knows that Flash is a quirky and sometimes comical character so it fits. Not every joke hits but at least its not coming from everyone which I am sure would have annoyed DC fans to no end. In most cases here the characters were depicted accurately for the most part and the chemistry between them was good.

 

 

Ray Fishers portrayal of Cyborg was easily the most pleasantly surprising thing in the film for me. I was not familiar with this actor and wasn’t sure what he would bring to the table. He did a great job bringing the character to life. The over done CGI for his look wasn’t his fault but at times it threw me off a bit. I enjoyed the mentality and realness he brought to the role. He was one of the characters where their interesting enough to want to know more about yet we have to wait for the individual film to get that story in cinematic form. The thing is though that if this film doesn’t do well financially it calls into question if we will get the other individual films for Cyborg, Aquaman,  and Shazam to get those fleshed out stories. (Holding out hope for another effort for Green Lantern…John Stewart please!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved the new take on Aquaman but wished there were more for him to do and add in this film. Aside from his look “Yeah!”, “Alright!”, “My man!”, and “I can dig it.” are easily his most memorable lines which in my opinion are wasteful for both the character and the actor. If you’ve seen the trailers then you know these lines. He has some great action scenes which they all do and there is one pretty funny scene which I will not describe so as not to spoil it for those who have not had a chance to go see it but basically that’s him in a nutshell. That may have sufficed if we already had his individual film but whats done is done. This was a missed opportunity. Aquaman was always kind of wack as a character before in my opinion, they livened him up and then did very little with him. Hopefully they remedy that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gal Gadot reprises her role as Wonder Woman and did a great job not much else to say here. She looked great and her action scenes were on point. She is sort of the glue that holds the group together. I am on the fence on Batman this time around as he kind of backtracks here. I am not sure the character would actually do that. It’s kind of a defining thing about the character but that’s been a problem with a lot of comic book movies. Companies seem to have a hard time sticking to accurate depictions as we usually get a version of them just not the exact version we are used to and avid fans will rail against that so why do they do it? Ironically thus far the most accurate comic book hero depictions in my opinion have come from Logan and Deadpool but this was after getting them wrong initially. Batfleck is not bad here I am just not sure Batman’s attitude is accurately portrayed here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a scene when the team is all together (sort of) for the first time and they treat you to an accurate barometer of where everyone falls on the power scale and it is easily one of the best scenes of the movie! Those that saw the film will know what I’m talking about and they get it right there. I enjoyed this film. There are as usual flaws but its a good film. There were plenty of easter eggs and fan service to keep the comic book readers happy, it had some good action and chemistry between the characters but it did suffer from what seems to be a common Achilles heal for most comic book films…the villain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First off when we are introduced to Steppenwolf he looks like a total badass, and readers of the comics or people familiar with who he is supposed to prepare the way for had reason to be excited. I just don’t know why they couldn’t find actor to portray him? See the image above which on the left side we see a comic book version of the character. On the right is a CGI rendition from BVS where the Kryptonian ship is digitally giving a historical account to Lex Luthor, but this could have easily been an actor and not a full CGI character. Who knows that might have lowered the budget and given us a less weird experience. Any way those are my thoughts and when I get to produce my books into film I hope the characters are accurately done in the most practical way to give the audience some immersion. If you haven’t seen the film what are you waiting for and if you have drop a comment below and tell me what you think(spoiler free). Until next time.