Supra-Friends

Justice League: I enjoyed the hell out of both Man Of Steel and Batman v Superman.  But they’re big, they’re loud, and the latter, as much as I dig it, is pretty dumb, so I was ready for a shift in style.  Suicide Squad was definitely that… but MAN was a complete and utter mess.  Then Wonder Woman came along and truly added some legitimacy to these movies (obligatory generic final boss-battle notwithstanding).  And then there we were, hurtling towards another Zack Snyder joint, and the cynic in me was ready for a huge step back into slowmotionexplosionfacebreakingland.  And whether you dug those first two flicks or not, that would have absolutely killed the momentum that WB/DC had finally found.

I think this is the part where I’m supposed to say, “Enter: Joss Whedon.”  But I’m not a simpleton, so I won’t.  Or, rather, it’s clear that Whedon influenced the general feel of the flick (in post) and probably a chunk of the interpersonal character relationships (because that’s his jam), but make no mistake- this movie is Zack Snyder, through and through.  And while I clearly have no knowledge of the day-to-day production occurrences of Justice League, I get the impression that Snyder took the (seriously over-the-top) BvS critiques to heart and set out to insert some gravitas beyond the surface-level stuff he tends to fall back on.  But then he had a family tragedy and handed over the reigns, and since I doubt Whedon is an insensitive dick, I’m sure he mostly kept Snyder’s vision alive.

I’m rambling.  I’ll get to the point.  The point is- I dug Justice League.  It is clearly a movie influenced by WB/DC’s newfound respect for itself (via Wonder Woman) and, yeah, totally a product of Marvel’s movie juggernaut kicking DC’s ass all over creation.  “So, DC has given up and is just doing the Marvel thing now?”  Maybe?  Who cares.  All I want is a good movie at the finish line.  I don’t really need to know how it got there.

Some thoughts:

1. The big bad was mostly forgettable.  Not sure why he needed to be a big, drab, CGI monstrosity.  Ciarán Hinds voiced him… so why not just put Ciarán Hinds in some cool prosthetic makeup?  Use the CGI to make him larger, or something.  I mean, when the minions of the big bad look cooler than the actual big bad (and they did), you’ve got a problem.  In the end this is a minor complaint, however, since he was simply a MacGuffin to get the good guys together for their seriously great camaraderie.

2. The good guy camaraderie was seriously great.  As mentioned above, I imagine Joss Whedon had a hand in fine-tuning these group scenes.  But he didn’t cast the thing, so I’m not going to tell you “it was all Joss Whedon.”

3. The Flash was great.  That kid’s really funny.  Could very easily have been the opposite- annoying, groan-inducing, quippy one-liners making me want to pull my hair out.  Instead, it was completely charming.  I hope to see more of him.

4. Cyborg.  Uh… he’s good?  It’s an awkward situation for an out-of-nowhere first-time movie actor to suddenly be playing a lesser-known character in such a high-profile flick like this, but he stands toe-to-toe with those other guys, and even manages to fare better than…

5. Aquaman.  He was… oh man… a bit of a… I’m so sorry… fish out of water in this movie.  Jason Momoa is fine, but he wasn’t quite operating on the same level as his cohorts.  On the positive side, it solidifies his character’s loner, doesn’t-fit-in status.  This, also, is a minor quibble.

6. Wonder Woman is still a really good movie character.  But it’s time to give her some vulnerability.  Meaning, there never seems to be any danger for her- you always know she’s going to win.  For ideas on this, DC, see: Thor, Thor: The Dark World, and Thor: Ragnarok.

7. Batman.  Batman, Batman, Batman.  WB/DC should do everything in their power to keep Affleck in their ranks.  These movies may not be the best Batflicks out there, by a long shot, but… and I know most people won’t agree with me here… Ben Affleck is the best Bruce Wayne we’ve ever had.  Keaton was great because he was an oddball/eccentric choice.  Bale brought his “serious actor” thing to the role, and it mostly worked.  But Affleck brings a real sense of an aging man with a tragic past trying to find his way in a changing world where his basic physical humanity is becoming obsolete in the face of these super-powered beings.  And almost none of that comes from his spoken lines.  Also, on a physical presence level, he beats literally all of the other Waynes, hands-down.  And yes, I know it’s not a competition.  And no, I’m not some kind of Affleck fanboy.  Because that’d be weird.

8. Superman’s rebirth scene was the best thing in the movie.  It was awkward and chaotic.  And it seems that in the end they’ve shifted the character into a more fun place (probably as a reaction to all the overblown Man Of Steel hate), setting up a new tone for the future of Superman.  Which is fine- it’s not a jarring shift at all.  In fact, given the circumstances, it’s pretty much natural progression.

9. The Amazon sequence was the second-best thing in the movie.  Its placement in the story was a little awkward, though.  Without getting too deep into it, I’m thinking that sequence should have been the prologue of the movie… but I’m fairly certain they avoided this because it would have literally looked like a remake of The Avengers– bad guy portals in to a secret, well-guarded place to steal a powerful cube and although the good guys do a fine job of chasing him down, he gets away with said cube.  Cut to title card.  Directed by Joszack Snydon.

So, anyway, basically what we have here is a minor miracle- a notoriously micromanaged studio’s fifth foray into a (thus far) disjointed superhero movieverse playing catch-up (to a highly superior, years-old superhero movieverse) with a maligned-from-the-getgo team-up flick that saw its maligned-from-the-getgo director replaced, for the absolute saddest of reasons, in the 11th hour… and not only does it not suck, it’s quite fun.  If I had to rank it against the MCU, I’m not sure it would even surpass their weakest entry (which is… Doctor Strange?  Ant-Man?  Iron Man 2?  The Incredible Hulk?  I dunno.  One of those.  Depends on my mood), but I’m uncomfortable ranking it against anything anyway, because, obvious obligatory comparisons aside, it’s really its own thing.  If you haven’t seen it and you’re on the fence, I’d say you can wait for home viewing.  If you’re thinking you might want to see it big and loud, though, go for it.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.