Justice League review: The DC Universe we deserve

Reviewing Justice League, the latest part of the DC Extended Universe.

Even before Justice League, the DC Extended Universe has been one of the most controversial franchises in modern Hollywood. Featuring an assembly of the most iconic characters on the planet, the world built by Zack Snyder has been derided by critics, by fans, and by this writer, for everything from a washed-out color palette to mind-boggling casting decisions (Jesse Eisenberg will never make sense to me as Lex Luthor) to story choices (Put me strictly in the anti-neck-snap category).

However, we saw a glimmer of hope for what the big screen could hold for the Worlds Greatest Super Heroes when Patty Jenkins gave us Gal Godot’s Wonder Woman: a mix of bad ass and heroic, someone who knew how to fight but yearned for peace. A hero that actually felt heroic. And after the world saw that, we waited with baited breath for Justice League, hoping we would get to meet a version of the that iconic team that would live up to their legend. And with the deeply flawed yet highly enjoyable Justice League, fans should rejoice: The League works.

Fresh off of his revelations that Superman was a good dude and that there is an ambiguous invasion coming, Batman/Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) is hunting down leads (and Parademons, the foot soldiers of the enemy) and putting a team together. Along with Wonder Woman/Diana Prince (Gal Godot), they track down The Flash, aka Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) a fast-talking and highly awkward super-speedster who is consumed with proving his father is innocent of murder, and Cyborg, aka Victor Stone (Ray Fisher, in this first screen performance), the survivor of a terrible accident whose father rebuilt him with ever adapting alien technology.

Also joining the team, although later because he’s a gruff loner, is Aquaman, real name Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), who spends his days rescuing and providing for the people of a small Northern European town and generally being a bad ass. Together, they face Steppenwolf, a terrible threat from space, who threatens to unite the Mother Boxes, ancient weapons which were separated since time immemorial because together, they have world-ending power. When even this fails to be enough, they turn to the most desperate of measures: bringing Superman back to life to save the day. Although the road is bumpy and filled with CGI explosions, the six heroes band together to save the world.

As I said at the start, the real stars here are, somewhat obviously, the characters themselves. But I say that in the context of the fact that in previous DCEU outings, characters have taken a back seat to visual flourish or broody special effects-laden monologues. But here, what shines through are the people in the costumes, and how they interact with each other.

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Gal Godot proves that she is not only a fantastic action star, starting right at the beginning with an impressive sequence of bullet-blocking and bomb disposal, but also that she’s the heart of the DCEU. She makes the League a team, as opposed to a group of weirdos in the same room. Ben Affleck turns in a performance with a level of awareness and humanity that escaped him in previous films, something that is helped tremendously by his ability to bounce off other characters. Ray Fisher impresses with a Cyborg that is horrified by what he’s become, but believably managing it like a person would. Ezra Miller’s Flash is basically a super-speed Sheldon Cooper, all tics and anxiety, and while some of the jokes don’t land, he gives a winning performance. Same from Mamoa, who imbues Aquaman with a degree of bad ass attitude (and the punch to back it up) and a sense of humor (seriously, a gag involving Aquaman and the lasso of truth is one of the film’s best moments.). And finally, Superman gets his long-overdue treatment as a legitimate superhero.

Once he returns from the dead (and after a brief period of post-Resurrection crazy) we see a Superman liberated from the hackneyed Christ poses that previous films have tied him to. He doesn’t come across angsty, or like he’s always brooding. He’s all smiles. He’s alive, he gets a second chance to be the best man he can be, and he’s bringing hope with him wherever he goes. That’s the Superman that has lived in fan’s hearts for decades, and its the version the fans deserve.

Equally impressive are performances from the countless supporting characters that live in this universe. JK Simons is immediately a fully realized Jim Gordon, weary of a world full of lunatics in costumes but comfortable with the ones he knows. Diane Lane and Amy Adams are probably both underused, but moving in their warm relationship work to get over a loss they need to share with the world. Connie Britton returns as Hippolyta in a really cool action sequence. Amber Heard’s Mera stops by and does just enough to make you want more. And speaking of wanting more, Jeremy Irons is as ever amazing as the razor-sharp and entirely over-your-nonsense Alfred Pennyworth.

However, the movie is far from perfect. As has been highly publicized, Joss Whedon took over the making of this film in the home stretch, and the film swerves back and forth between Snyder’s vision and Whedon’s pretty jarringly at times. Steppenwolf is the latest in an increasingly frustrating line of DCEU villains who are just CGI globs with nothing going on to make them interesting. This flaw continues all the way to his demise, which makes it seem like all he really cares about is… his ax? Maybe? Who knows? The film is also pretty noticeably shoddy in terms of the filmmaking. At several times, the character were intended to focus on is out of focus, or half out of the shot. There are some pretty iffy points in terms of the CGI, especially as it relates to Superman. The ADR is occasionally really sloppy. And while audiences don’t ask a lot in terms of superhero movie plots being so well thought out or story intensive (see: all superhero movies except maybe the Winter Soldier) this story feels particularly thin: Bad guy shows up, bad guy wants thing, bad guy gets them, good guy wins. There is literally no question at any point that anything is not going to end up perfectly fine for our heroes. Also, and this isn’t really a filmmaking thing: Barry Allen runs like an insane person. No one who has ever run more than three steps runs like that. Seriously, watch his arms. It’s baffling.

Even with all these flaws, the strength of the ensemble and an indication of an actual trend of these movies being focused more on being fun than on convincing people how deep and troubled these comic book characters leave the audience feeling optimistic about the franchise going forward. Which is why I think you shouldn’t let reports of the box office failure keep you away. This is a marked improvement in tone from everything the DCEU has done except Wonder Woman. Send the message that these are the heroes we want. The heroes we deserve. Justice League may not be a great movie, but is sure as hell enough to justify seeing what else these heroes can do.

Notes (Super Spoilery)

I see you, Green Lantern in the flashback sequence. Not a Green Lantern I could recognize, but 5,000 years ago I suppose it wouldn’t be. Very cool to see the ring fly off in search of a replacement.
Boy, this movie does a number on Jack Kirby’s Fourth World. These aren’t the over the top gadgets and evils of Kirby’s allegorical pop-art masterpiece, and the elements the crib (Steppenwolf, the Mother Boxes, and the Parademons) are pretty unimpressive. The King deserves better treatment and if (read: when) we see Darkseid, they can’t half-ass it like this. The Lord of Apokolips has to terrify and impress.
The first credits sequence, the Flash-Superman Race, hit all the right fanboy buttons. That’s some old-school Classic DC trope use, and this franchise needs more of it.
The second credits sequence features the return of the babbling Lex Luthor, which is decidedly controversial. Not controversial: Deathstroke the damn Terminator looks like he stepped right out of an Arkham game and I am 1000 percent ready for him to throw down with Batman.

Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history

Justice League is in theaters now.

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