In 2007, Warner Bros. first announced production on a Justice League movie with a script by Michele and Kieran Mulroney. Titled Justice League: Mortal, George Miller of Mad Max was to direct, but numerous delays led to the project’s cancellation. Years later, Warner Bros. reannounced plans for a Justice League movie to be part of their upcoming DCEU. Following the release of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zach Snyder was hired to direct. Unfortunately, this led to a troubled production, with several rewrites, studio interference, and Snyder stepped down following his daughter’s death. Joss Whedon was brought on to handle post-production, but this led to additional rewrites, reshoots, and filming whole new scenes. In the end, it had a production budget of $300 million, making it one of the most expensive films ever. After ten years of development, Justice League was finally released in 2017.
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Synopsis
Following Superman’s death, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) is assembling a team of heroes in case of an imminent invasion. He manages to recruit Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), alongside Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller). Through some coaxing, they also recruit Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Jason Mamoa) and Victor Stone/Cyborg (Ray Fisher) for their team. Meanwhile, Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), an alien conqueror, is search for the Mother Boxes, devices capable of terraforming an entire planet. He manages to collect two, but the team manages to use one to revive Clark Kent/Superman (Henry Cavill). Unfortunately, Steppenwolf steals the Mother Box while the team fights a confused Superman, initiating a process called “The Unity”. While Superman recovers his memories thanks to Lois Lane (Amy Adams), the team heads off to stop Steppenwolf. Will the league be able to stop him, or will Earth become Steppenwolf’s new domain? Also, will Superman come to their aid?
Review
Given its long and troubled history, it’s a wonder that Justice League even came out in the first place. Even if you didn’t know, however, you can tell just by how disjointed it feels, almost like a Franken-film. So much of the plot is told through exposition and flashbacks, it’s hard to really care about what’s happening. Pacing-wise, much of it goes by so fast and so quickly that it’s hard to follow at times. At a solid two hours in length, the film feels unfinished, as if whole scenes are missing. On the other hand, its brief runtime compared to some other DC movies makes this easier to sit through. Given that this film technically had two directors, it’s hard to really critique the directing style since it’s cobbled together. Suffice to say, it’s passable, but nothing extraordinarily good or bad, so it’s more middle of the road.
Performance-wise, the actors do a good job, Affleck and Gadot being the highlights in their returning roles. Jason Momoa is pretty fun as Aquaman, being very loud and brash, even there’s not much character development. Ezra Miller is fine as The Flash, though he comes off like the most extreme version of a socially-awkward nerd. Ray Fisher comes off as brooding and emotionless at first, but he eventually starts to warm up and have fun. Unlike previous DCEU movies, this one has more humor and levity, which makes it a better viewing experience. The same can’t be said however for the CGI, especially the now-infamous mustache removal on Henry Cavill, which looks shoddy. Similarly, the CGI used for the action scenes comes off as messy and disorganized, an apt description of the film. Overall, Justice League is passable entertainment, but it feels like it could’ve been more.
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