Justice League (2017) starring Henry Cavill, Ben Afleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller
The formation of the Justice League, to prevent Darkseid’s minion, Steppenwolf from finding & joining three mother boxes. If he succeeds, he’ll literally recreate the hellish landscape of Darkseid’s world on Earth. Killing us all in the process.
Negatives
Someone described the movie as “all plot, no story“. He’s right. The movie travels from plot point to plot point, with little to no connecting story. Why do the character do the things they do? Because it’s in the script. It doesn’t feel natural or organic.
Flash: What’s your super power?
Bruce Wayne: I’m rich.
This is a cheap laugh, that undercuts why Batman’s in the Justice League in the first place. Yes, he’s rich. But he’s also incredibly intelligent, with an unparalleled mind for strategy. There’s a reason why in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon why Superman laughs when the White Martians ignore Batman … Because he has no super powers. “He’s the most dangerous one of us all!”
Superman’s resurrection. Clearly, Pet Semetary — for all of 5 minutes. He handily defeats all of the other heroes without breaking a sweat. But he magically recovers himself when he sees Lois Lane, and flies off with her to Kansas.
The villain, Steppenwolf, is utterly forgettable.
The heroes debate the pros and cons of attempting to resurrect Superman — and then they ignore all of the potential negatives and just do it anyway.
Positives
There’s a nice rip-off shout out to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. They tell the story of thousands of years ago, when this was last tried. An alliance of Amazons, Atlanteans, and heroes from other worlds (the Green Lantern Corps) drove the villains back.
The acting is fine all around, although the characterizations are thin.
The fight scenes are very well done and engaging.
The special effects are fine — not counting Henry Cavill’s mustache. Frankly, it would have been better to add a beard than try to cover his mustache.
Supposedly, a director’s cut will come out next year (2021) which I (and a lot of other people) are looking forward to. It will be interesting to see the director’s original vision, as opposed to the executive meddling here.
Editorial review of Justice League courtesy of Amazon.com
Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot return to star in this superhero action adventure, directed by Zack Snyder, which follows on from the events of ‘Batman v Superman – Dawn of Justice‘ (2016). Following Superman (Cavill)’s death, and with the world mourning his demise, Batman (Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gadot) unite to form a team of superheroes to protect Earth from the looming invasion of Steppenwolf (voice of Ciarán Hinds) and his army of Parademons. They recruit metahumans Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) to join them. But will the new league of heroes be able to put a stop to Steppenwolf’s quest for world domination?
