The Gang's All Here....But The Plot Is Missing From 'Justice League'
- Starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons
- Rated PG-13
- Action/Adventure/Fantasy
- Run time: 2 hrs
- Directed by Zack Snyder
- In theaters November 17, 2017
After the insane success of Wonder Woman, fans starting letting their hopes get up for the new Justice League film, if for no other reason than getting to see Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) be amazing on screen yet again. While the audience is lucky enough to get plenty of that (partially due to some reshoots that allowed scenes to feature Diana a bit more heavily), there isn't all too much else to cheer for.
The acting isn't bad on any of the Justice League members, the dialogue is done well enough and any of the "hangout" scenes that just feature the superheroes chatting in some form or fashion easily entertains. The problem lies within the plot. There's a villain who seems like it was made in a Build-A-Bear-esque machine of big bads, the "mother boxes" that said big bad is after (and insists on calling "Mother" every time he mentions it) are never quite explained and no one really seems to know what the villain wants to do with this potential ultimate power.
Other than the very vague elements, the plot is a pretty standard superhero tale. Some rather reluctant-to-be-in-the-spotlight heroes are convinced when they are shown eminent danger to take action and work together to defeat the bad, no matter the cost, with wisecracks all along the way. Except in this one, they're also having to deal with what to do with the fact that Superman is dead and somehow this means none of them can accomplish anything.
It's easy enough to point out the issues with the plot and point out the not-so-great Rotten Tomatoes score, but it would do the film a disservice to not mention the truly amazing job Ezra Miller does portraying The Flash. He's awkward, a bit nerdy, extremely curious and unabashedly direct. He's still getting his superhero footing and seeing him play against the calm, cool and collected Wonder Woman and the brooding Batman (Ben Affleck) makes for some of the most enjoyable scenes in a DC film as of yet.
In addition to the unexplained aspects of the movie's storyline, there is the added tone shifts that come from the film having two directors. After a family tragedy, Zack Snyder stepped down from the film and Joss Whedon took the helm. Fans of Whedon's other properties can easily see where his influence comes in: the lighter, jokier, 'chill' scenes that bring much needed brevity to the DC-verse. But when it cuts from a Snyder-esque action sequence to the Whedon dialogue, it can occasionally cause some whiplash, not unlike if The Flash was pulling the audience along for the ride.
Justice League is a fairly enjoyable movie, especially when just taken at face value. It brings a lot of beloved comic characters together and provides an entertaining dynamic between them all. Just, try not to think about the plot too much. Otherwise it'll leave you as baffled as when you tried to figure out how the word "Martha" basically stopped an entire war between Batman and Superman before.