Film Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE (USA 2017) ***

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Justice League Poster
Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.

Director:

Zack Snyder

Writers:

Chris Terrio (screenplay by), Joss Whedon (screenplay by)  »

 

JUSTICE LEAGUE is the d.c. comics team of superheroes (conceived by Gardner Fox and first appearing in the 1960 comic) who join together to battle super villains. The seven original members were Superman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Batman, and Wonder Woman.  These members rotate and have also included lesser known action heroes like Atom and Plastic Man.

In JUSTICE LEAGUE the film, the league is made up of the leader, Batman (Ben Affleck) , Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa)and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) formed to honour Superman (Henry Cavill) after his death.

The story takes place months after the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where Superman dies.  As the world mourns Superman’s death, the Justice League is formed by Batman to face the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf (an unrecognizable Ciaran Hinds) and his army of Parademons, who are on the hunt for three Mother Boxes on Earth.

Considering the (critically not commercially) disaster of all the films so far in the D.C. extended universe excepting WONDER WOMAN, director Snyder plays his film safe so it cannot be crucially panned.  The story is left simple and straight forward so nothing can go wrong.  Batman forms the league, the league fights the villain and wins and the film ends.  The mood is kept relatively serious with humour in the form of a few punch lines thrown in periodically.  Of all the superheroes, Wonder Woman has the most screen time and jokes about her sexiness (kept non-feminist) plentiful.

Of the new superheroes, Ezra Miller (WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN) puts in some fresh life as The Flash with his cute schoolboy looks and humour.  In the other hand,  Cyborh turns out pretty boring, as he complains of his super powers half the time.  Aquaman has little screen time, perhaps the filmmakers just whetting audience’s appetite for the new upcoming AQUAMAN film by James Wan.

The dialogue ranges from good to plain awful.   Good: When Batman is asked of his superpowers, his reply is :I am rich and wealthy.”  The awful:  words to Wonder Woman: “You smell good” followed by  “I have smelt you before.”  But one should expect better writing for a $300 million blockbuster.

The fight scenes at the end are executed with the expected pyrotechnics (nothing really stands out) that likely cost a big bundle.  Of the $300 million, $25 million went into 2 month of re-shoots and into the post-production digital removal of Cavill’s moustache which he had to sport for his MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 6 role.

At a massive cost of $300 million, the film should make a profit considering the success of the other films in the D.C. extended universe and the huge fan base.  Never mind if the film critically bombs.  Anyway, Warner Bros. has already had a swell year with hits like IT, THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE and of course, WONDER WOMAN.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cxixDgHUYw

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