Review of Justice League (2017) by Mrmoviebuff — 17 Nov 2017

'Justice League' is one of the better DCEU films to be released, it is action-packed, exciting, fast-paced and fun. Ever since the death of Superman, the world has been wondering how they can cope without their "god like" hero.

Batman (another solid performance from Ben Affleck) tries to get a team together when he uses his sources to find them, and have them join to defeat evil and protect the world. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) is game for this as it is revealed that the evil they must face is Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds), a "god-like" enemy who will unleash ultimate power, and can be hard to defeat.

It doesn't take long for Barry Allen/"The Flash" (Ezra Miller) to enthusiastically join, but Arthur Curry/"Aquaman" (Jason Momoa) and Victor Stone/"Cyborg" (Ray Fisher) have other plans, or is lacking motivation because of what they have become.

The movie does a good job at being a fun superhero adventure, without skimping on the deep moments to develop our characters. What stops it from being amazing is its short run-time. It was rumored that this film was supposed to be 2h 40m long, but was stripped down to just 2 hours.

There are aspects of this movie which felt rushed, and some things do get glossed over to the point where I felt some discussions could have been easily brought up, but were probably left on the cutting room floor, amidst all the reshoots and editing complications.

'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' (2016) I felt had an unfocused narrative and unclear character motivations, though, the dark and grim tone worked for that story. This movie corrects what last year's "BvS" did wrong.

Every character here is used to their very best, and certain big reveals are definitely very surprising and worth the wait. This is definitely as good as any other superhero ensemble movie, the chemistry between our heroes is developed somewhat well (as I mentioned it was - at times - rushed), and how they team up to use their powers against their enemy ended up being a solidly entertaining third act.

Overall, this is the DCEU stepping in the right direction, after 'Wonder Woman' (2017) and now this, it seems that the DCEU filmmakers have finally found a formula that is working. Keep it simple, add some levity when needed, showcase the characters teaming up well, and don't rely too much on referencing past DC films, or foreshadow upcoming ones.

Keep these films standing on their own. This is another good comic book movie we've had in 2017.