I think I've made it abundantly clear that I don't like Zack Snyder as a director. Man of Steel and Batman v Superman are two movies with so much potential but executed poorly. So I was already wary of Justice League. The only thing that gave me hope was that Joss Whedon took over directing duties for reshoots. That's an odd thing to say because I don't like Whedon either, with his first Avengers movie the only piece of his that I actually like even if he did mess up royally in Age of Ultron. Needless to say, I was NOT hyped for Justice League. So how was it? Read on to find out. I will try to keep this review spoiler-free.
The Plot
The big baddie Steppenwolf is on Earth searching for the Maguffins in this movie: 3 Mother Boxes. They are boxes of immense power that can destroy the planet. It is up to Batman to gather the most powerful heroes on the planet to defend it from certain destruction.
What Worked
1. The characters - the cast clearly had a lot of chemistry and they had a lot of fun bouncing off each other. It didn't matter which characters were paired up, everyone played well with each other.
2. The heroes actually act like themselves (for the most part). You had Wonder Woman being strong yet motherly and caring. You had Flash providing comic relief. You had Batman being calculated and planning ahead. And Aquaman being surly. And they actually save people which was refreshing after MoS and BvS. The tone as a whole was lighter and hopeful in this movie which was also a welcome change.
3. Classic themes - it was awesome to hear the classic Superman and Batman themes alongside Wonder Woman's new theme. They are very iconic and helps create a mythic quality to each character.
What Didn't Work
1. The pacing - it was obvious that the movie was cut down dramatically. The team gels together too quickly without any real conflict. There was a lot of missed potential here.
2. The villain - Steppenwolf is already a D level villain in the comics. This is made worse in this film by having him fully CGI motion capture. The problem is that the CGI is awful and does not match the vocal performance of Ciaran Hinds, which is really too bad because it could have been great.
3. The music - I know I said that the classic themes worked which they did. It's the rest of the score that didn't. It was forgettable and certainly did not live up to Elfman's Batman work. Hell, it didn't even live up to his Spider-Man work. It was generic and forgettable save for the classic themes.
In Conclusion
I liked the movie well enough. It was exponentially better than either Man of Steel or Batman v Superman. I also liked it more than Thor Ragnarok and Spider-man Homecoming. But it was nowhere near as good as Wonder Woman, Winter Soldier or the first Avengers movie. It had many problems but the performances and chemistry of the actors made up for the shortcomings. In the end, it hyped me up to see more of the DCEU. I just wish that this movie's characters and tone were the first DCEU film and not the fourth. Then they might have been able to give Marvel a run for their money.
