Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Spoiler review of Justice League

By Jim Scroggs
JHScroggs on Twitter and Instagram
November 20, 2017

Edited by Katie Westbrooks

The DC Films franchise hasn’t had the best reputation overall, especially with what happened last year with BVS and Suicide Squad. Soon after those films release, there was a tonal shift within DC/WB to get the films on the right track. Wonder Woman surely started that upward momentum amongst the audience and now that the long-awaited Justice League is here, let’s see what happens when the league is finally united.

What I liked



Considering we’ve only seen half of the league’s backstory, they did a good job of diving into (pun intended) Aquaman’s, Cyborg’s and Flash’s origin right off the bat considering this is a 2-hour long movie. There is a great exchange between Victor and Silas that shows the tension in how Victor was really created and it shows how talented they both are as actors. When Diana asked Victor to talk and get to know more about him, he wasn’t up for it at all. Eventually, he did come around when Silas was kidnapped by some Parademons trying to get to a Mother Box.
It was a nice touch to see two characters instead of just the one to be reluctant to join the team. That other character, is Arthur Curry. He’s a loner and doesn’t really know his place in this world. He is even confronted by Mera about this in Atlantis when Steppenwolf gets one of the three Mother Box's in Atlantis. He had a great moment in the Batcave. He started to somewhat wax poetic on some things but come to find out, he was actually sitting on the lasso of truth. So, I’m glad to see that Momoa can play with a sense of humor.
Flash really stole the show for me. Ezra Miller as Barry Allen was a fanboy who really didn’t know how he could use his powers. Once he figured it out, he was just fine in dealing with whatever was thrown at him. He had a great moment when he zipped around the Batcave exploring everything then ended up in the Batmobile – his eyes were so big and dart around with pure joy that he was there.
Wonder Woman was clearly the leader and I wouldn’t have put it any other way. Bruce and Diana had a little disagreement and Bruce decided to use Steve Trevor to put it back in Diana’s face. She immediately responded by shoving him about 3 feet. Diana is clearly the star of this ensemble and that’s saying a lot when you look at the whole roster. 
Batman was a lighter, more hopeful dark knight in this go around but Affleck still portrayed him like the Bruce Wayne we know and love. He took a backseat to Wonder Woman and even Superman at one point – I’m glad that he seems to be playing well with others as Commissioner Gordon would say. He really seemed to finally be open to being a part of a team. In a montage of all our hero's at the end, he joins Diana and Alfred in Wayne Manor and they discuss a large table with 6 chairs. Diana adds that there could be room for more so I really hope they pay off Green Lantern or even a Martian Manhunter joining the team. 
Superman’s return was a tad surprising – I’ll get into that later. When he was brought back to life, they used a Mother Box and a spark from Flash to kick start his heart, in a way. I was worried that he would come back angry, much like the tone of BVS or MOS, but he was confused about being alive – I would compare it to someone waking you when you are asleep. Nobody is happy if someone wakes them up so that’s the closest thing I can describe it as. The rest of the team tried to contain Superman and even Aquaman pointed out early that he wasn’t OK. Flash tried to get behind him but Superman noticed and started to turn his head as fast as Flash was running. Miller’s reaction was so perfect in that situation which made me like him that much more.
The amount of comical moments was less than I was anticipating. Including Superman carrying an entire building as a response to Flash helping a family in a truck, Cyborg and Flash had a funny moment with a fist bump that paid off later in the movie, and when Superman saw Batman for the first time. Superman referenced “Do you bleed,” and knocked Batman to the ground followed by Batman on the ground in pain saying “Yeah, something is definitely bleeding.”


The mid and end credit scenes were really good. The mid credit was pure fan service with Flash and Superman in a rural area talking about who’s faster. Some light chit chat follows then Barry lights a firecracker with his fingers and they start running. This is a nod to Superman 199 with the cover of Flash and Superman racing with the other members of the team cheering them on. I’m glad that a little piece of comics history was thrown in there. The post credit scene was something I wasn’t expecting, I’d heard that the Lex Luthor scenes were going to be left out so I didn’t think anything about him being in it. However, we finally got to see inside Arkham Asylum and someone with a bald head in a cell. Turns out, it wasn’t Lex  – he’s on a yacht somewhere waiting on someone. There’s a silhouette of someone with handles with tassels and I knew immediately that was Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke. He boards the yacht, instantly tells Lex that he better not be wasting his time and removes the mask to reveal a white haired Joe Manganiello. He looks perfect as Slade so I really hope this leads into The Batman (rumored title, of course). Lex monologues about God’s return and suggests that they should start a league of their own. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get the Legion of Doom as the villain but this is something that DC/WB can hang over Marvel Studios –  film with a team of heroes versus a team of villains. I really hope that we get the Legion of Doom or maybe The Injustice League.

I was OK with it

I would put these next points in an in between category. I don’t hate how Superman came back to the team but I wish there had been a little more fanfare to it. When Steppenwolf seems to have the team on the ropes, all we hear is Superman’s voice to get his attention. Maybe if he used a heat vision quick strike to stop Steppenwolf from attacking, see him levitate down and then start his lines, it might have been more effective.

The editing seemed tight but not as tight and somewhat disjointed as Suicide Squad. There really wasn’t much time to let things breathe and when it did, it was a bit of a surprise since it wasn’t a regular thing in this movie.

In the battle sequence between Steppenwolf and the combined forces of Amazon's, Atlanteans, and other forces in the universe (one of those other forces were the Lanterns), I’m glad that I got to see that part of the DC lore into this film but I wanted to see more. Maybe they aren't ready to tell that tale of John Stewart and Hal Jordan but I really hope we hear “In brightest day, In blackest night,” real soon.

Not so much




Many jokes were made about how Henry Cavill’s re shoot's taking place with a mustache since he was also shooting the latest Mission:Impossible film but I thought that since there were very talented VFX artists in Hollywood, this could be pulled off. (I actually saw a screenshot on Twitter of his face 5 minutes before the trailers started so I kind of blame myself for that) Sadly, it wasn’t pulled off very well. The very first scene are kids shooting cellphone video of Superman helping at an accident scene and it’s clear that was a re shoot. I’ve never seen the uncanny valley on half a human's face but I can now cross that off the list. I’ll make the same criticism with this film as I did with Thor:Ragnarok – the CGI backgrounds weren’t the best all the time but that’s forgivable in my opinion with how heavy CG’d this movie is at times. Maybe the effects artists ran out of time or maybe the budget didn’t allow them to go further. Who knows? But I hope this doesn’t become a trend or consistent in the future, regardless of movie. Little side note: In order to bring Clark back from the dead, they took him to the same place that Doomsday was born and you can tell it’s a “dummy” of Cavill. I wish they had actually used him for that scene.

This has nothing to do with the movie in itself but rather the marketing for the film. I really, and I do mean really, wish that Warner Brothers or whoever is cutting the trailers for this universe will stop putting out 3 or 4 fairly long trailers. Almost every part that I laughed at or enjoyed seeing in the movie, I saw it in a trailer that was a large portion of an entire scene. For instance, 70-80 percent of the scene or sequence with Bruce and Barry when they meet was in one of the trailers. That shouldn’t happen at all when you are trying to promote a film and I don’t want to see fairly large sequences in trailers.


Final Verdict

            I’m glad we got the tonal change with this movie instead of continuing with the tone that Man of Steel, BVS and Suicide Squad set. This movie isn’t perfect by any means but I think this is a good start to what could come from here on out (with or without Ben Affleck). It’s fun, it’s got heart, and shows the value of teamwork. I know that sounds like the synopsis of a Justice League cartoon but in a way, it felt like an episode of Justice League Unlimited put on the big screen. I know the reviews and box office dollars aren’t saying much but I really think this movie should be given a chance and the same goes with the future of the DC Films universe. I would put it at number two in the DC Films slate above Man of Steel and below Wonder Woman.


Justice League is in theaters now

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