Rent Justice League (2017)

film without a coherent plot - Justice League review by DS

The best aspect of this film is the theme song by Leonard Cohen, sung by Sigrid. The film is like a child's comic with cardboard cutout characters and a banal plot line. The target age group appears to be 6 -10 year olds. The film would have been better as an animated production. The regeneration of superman was silly. In contrast the film "Wonderwoman" was much better even if a little far fetched.

I think Gal Gadot was wasted in Justice league. The batman character was thrown around in such an extreme way that any normal human body would be shredded even if encased in body armour. The real problem with Justice League is that it did not make it's mind up whether to be a pure childrens' comic book romp or a more serious film appealing to a wider age group.

The film utimately showcases the more unbelievable side of CGI and as such can only appeal to uncritical children.

No Justice - Justice League review by BS

How is Zack Synder still making DC Comics films? The actors all look the part, but the CGI action and is eye-rollingly boring and unengaging. A little bit of banter is mixed with a dull as dishwater storyline, that made literally pray for Christopher Nolan and Bale to come back. Doesn't matter if Bale is too old now, he's a better Batman, let's have him back. But then again, maybe I'm missing a trick. The audience they're aiming for is obviously kids or adults with the minds of small children, so by that measure I suppose this is serviceable.

Not actually that bad, but not good enough - Justice League review by RT

Version I watched: UK cinema release (2D)

Actors: 6/10

Plot/script: 5/10

Photography/visual style: 6/10

Music/score: 6/10

Overall: 6/10

I'm a comics fan, so I was always going to watch it, but the record coming up to it before was not great, and what followed was even worse. This film got a terrible reception too, so bad that director Zack Snyder was given it back to make again, and reportedly rather better when it was released four years later (although I haven't seen it).

The funny thing, though, is that I didn't find this film that bad. I found myself rather liking some of the characters, particularly The Flash and Aquaman, and being interested in their character arcs. Jason Momoa and Gal Gadot still have screen presence and charisma, and the likes of Jeremy Irons are always enjoyable to see on screen. I think the criticisms are absolutely fair that it tries to pack too much in, with many main characters - partly a necessary factor of the teamup premise - and even more supporting characters who have to get their screen time, but the overall film didn't feel long to me, which is always a good sign. I was never bored. A few too many 'zingers' in the dialogue, a dumb name for the villain (Steppenwolf? Really?) but on the whole, it was... alright.

It helps that they seem to have restrained themselves a bit on the power levels of the characters involved. Man of Steel had cities being levelled, with an assumed death toll in the thousands, but this time they toned it down, so the destruction is limited to, well, just a town or two. Danny Elfman's score is also toned down, it seemed to me, eschewing some of his usual orchestral bombast and whimsy.

There has been a weird number of dramas and scandals surrounding the film's cast and crew ever since, though. The tragedy with Snyder's daughter, allegations about screenwriter and substitute director Joss Whedon absolutely annihilating his reputation as a feminist derling of the liberal left, Ezra Miller going spectacularly off the rails with criminal results, Amber Heard's vicious divorce proceedings with Johnny Depp, and even Gal Gadot weighing in unprompted on political situations in her native Israel then doubling down... All these proceeded to torpedo - or at least deal hefty damage to the prospects of - the Flash, Aquaman and Wonder Woman films that followed in the attempted 'DC Extended Universe'. And I haven't even mentioned Warner Bros' financial shenanigans that saw an essentially completed Batgirl movie canned forever.

Had Justice League been a palpable hit, it might have lifted the films that followed and had DC Comics' movie franchise well and truly off the ground. As it turned out, it was a somewhat disappointing mess, re-legislated over and over again online by an increasingly toxic core of "Snyder Knights" (and bizarrely, they voluntarily called themselves this!) and dogged by an endless succession of news stories that were not exactly it's fault but didn't help, until everyone else was fed up with it. Those 'Snyder Knights' still want to "Restore the SnyderVerse", and attack anyone who wants to move on under James Gunn, but it's not going to happen.

'Okay' it turns out, was not good enough.

For my full review, see my independent weblog on Blogspot, Cinema Inferno.