Review of Justice League (2017) by Random V — 19 Nov 2017

Great visuals, classic superhero icons, and appropriate tonal shifts carry this movie to its inevitable conclusion.

Speaking frankly [possibly SPOILING some of the fun], the best parts of the movie are: the opening with Batman hunting criminals on Gotham's rooftops, then encountering an alien(!) in his city; the reintroduction of Superman; The Flash tripping over his own feet; a live-action Aquaman and his ocean current power (who nods to the '90's version - watch that hand!) and Mera; and Cyborg losing control of his developing powers (newbs). And every scene with Wonder Woman #hoplessfanboy.

What this movie needed was about another several minutes of characterization. More characterization would've went a long way to pull these characters away from how we know them as icons, and learn about them as characters. Their individual stories and how they relate to the overall story is a strong narrative direction that works in the movie. The small shifts between levity and seriousness had their moments (especially Aquaman's discovery of the Lasso of Truth, and everyone must love The Flash), but not all jokes seemed appropriately timed. Or was it because Batman was making jokes? The movie's biggest drawback, however, was that it lacked the themes that were the saving grace of MAND OF STEEL and BvS (and some extent SUICIDE SQUAD), and the core of WONDER WOMAN. The themes of passionate god-like aliens, and making human connectivity, were missing from this feature, and they were missed.

All those MacGuffin-of-a-Motherboxes were at least interesting in that they seemed to foreshadow something worse out there in Steppenwolf's big, bad universe. Plus Steppenwolf's efficient world-conquering technique was good to see. I also liked that his purely CGI rendition made me dissociate with him as a character, which let me focus more on identifying with the DC icons.

Overall, not a bad movie, because I was definitely entertained.