BEEN THERE, FOUGHT THAT
‘Justice League’ tries hard to overcome cinematic superhero fatigue
Unless you already buy into the conceit that people with superpowers are more interesting when fighting apocalyptic forces of evil from another dimension, “Justice League” will come across as ridiculous, but at least watchable when things aren’t exploding.
The good news for fans of a Justice League movie that could give Marvel/Disney’s “Avengers” franchise a run for its money is that what finally made it to the screen isn’t as terrible as it could’ve been, given its pedigree as a sequel to “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016).
Once again, director Zack Snyder is at the helm of the DC Extended Universe’s latest installment after last year’s spectacular misfire. This time, Mr. Snyder keeps his trademark nihilism and on-screen body count to a minimum.
I don’t believe any innocent civilians were killed or had buildings dropped on them, though there is a flashback to pitched battles between Atlanteans, Amazons and marauding bug demons that are appropriately explosive. This is progress for a DCEU film.
As expected, “Justice League” is primarily the origin story of how the team of Earth’s mightiest heroes came together in the immediate aftermath of the death of Superman (Henry Cavill) in “BvS.”
Cleverly juxtaposing the death of Superman with the passing of David Bowie and Prince in the headline of one newspaper, Mr. Snyder shows us a world in deep mourning for its cosmic savior.
Never mind that Superman was roundly vilified as a potentially dangerous “alien” by lots of people, including Batman (Ben Affleck), but I guess we’re supposed to take for granted that the public is fickle.
With Superman dead, Bruce Wayne/Batman knows the world isn’t ready for an invasion by alien forces he’s had dreams and premonitions about for months.
Enlisting the aid of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) to recruit other superpowered beings as soldiers in the coming battle, Batman is determined to form a supergroup that could collectively approximate Superman’s power, if not surpass it.
In the film’s most entertaining scene, Bruce Wayne successfully
recruits Barry Allen/the Flash (Ezra Miller), arguably the fastest being on the planet after Superman’s death. Barry Allen is a socially awkward speed ster who “needs friends” and eagerly joins the nascent superhero group even though he’s not much of a fighter.
Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Jason Momoa), the prince of the seas, proves a little more difficult to convince, but once he’s on board, he’s an enthusiastic fighter who takes joy in killing the bug demons. Why he sounds like a Penn State frat boy during Greek pledge week throughout the film is never explained, though.
Victor Stone/Cyborg (Ray Fisher) is the team’s master of technology. He’s potentially the film’s most interesting character given his origin and his daddy issues, but the least fleshed out in a film that suffers from crippling narrative disjointedness.
Of course, once the heroes come together under one roof, they bicker among themselves. Though Batman is nominally the ad hoc team’s leader, it is Wonder Woman who is the most inspirational during their battle with Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) — a being that has been in exile from Earth for several millennia following an unsuccessful war with Atlanteans, Amazons and assorted gods. Steppenwolf’s plan is to hunt down objects known as Mother Boxes and unite them so that he can unleash — what? — something apocalyptic on the Earth, blah-blah-blah. If this sounds a little too much like the plot of the Avengers movies and its spinoffs, that’s probably not a coincidence. Marvel/Disney have cobbled together the most profitable superhero film franchise in history with all of its movies pointing to a final battle with Thanos — Marvel’s ultimate baddie — so DCEU can’t be blamed for trying to mimic what has worked so well for its rival. The problem is that there isn’t anything particularly original or memorable about “Justice League” except for the exchanges characters. scenes between between The the battle main the Justice League and Steppenwolf’s forces are generic computer-generated imagery. The scenes are dark and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish what’s happening in the fog of special effects.
The plot to resurrect Superman by the desperate heroes is so strange and deus ex machina that everyone involved had to be hanging their heads in embarrassment during the sequence.
Screenwriter Josh Whedon, who helmed the two first Avengers movies and set much of the tone for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has a writer’s credit on this film. Unfortunately, Mr. Whedon’s wit doesn’t shine through much except in a post credit sequence featuring Superman and the Flash that would’ve made a far more interesting movie.
Still, audiences will warm to “Justice League,” especially if a director’s cut containing all the scenes that were cut to get the running time to under two hours are restored in the DVD release. It’s not a bad movie, but it is far from super. “Wonder Woman” is still the reigning champ of the DCEU with “Justice League” a distant second. Marvel/Disney have nothing to fear — yet.