Justice League

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The inevitable DC ultimate team-up movie answer to 'The Avengers' has finally arrived. The universe has slowly been redeeming itself for audiences and critics alike with the release of 'Wonder Woman', and I have to admit that when it came to making 'Justice League' it's evident that the studio is finally starting to listen to the mass audience.

DC got the hint that 'Avengers', lets just face facts here, is simply a bigger film that more people enjoyed. They were smart and pulled in Joss Whedon to assist with some of the writing here. A perfect move on their part, if you ask me, if only because he's able to write dialogue for characters that allow us to empathize and sympathize with. It helps that he writes with a sense of humor as well, so as to show us, the audience, that the movie isn't supposed to be taken too seriously. This was something that wasn't truly established in either 'Man of Steel' or 'Batman v Superman'. It's only my humble opinion, but in both cases, the movies were more about eye candy than story or characters. 'Justice League' ended up adding some dimension to each of the characters within it. When it came to Cyborg, there was a bit more of an origin story being told because Cyborg tends to be a bit more unfamiliar. Then Flash and Aquaman were a little lighter brushed on because we know who they are.

As far as performances go, all pretty good. There was nothing here that blew me away, in particular, but each actor did well enough portraying their respective superhero. Flash added a real sense of humor to everything, as did Aquaman, but in a darker way. Affleck as Batman is actually something I was happier to see this time around because he felt more like Batman here than he ever did in 'Batman v Superman'. And of course we have the gorgeous Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, who pretty much gives us what we want here. It seems evidently clear here that they understand Wonder Woman IS their real lead. She represents the movie everyone liked out of this universe, and they definitely use her to their advantage.

The overall plot of the movie is basic enough. Some ancient evil being named Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) comes out of nowhere and aims to collect three mystical boxes with which he can pretty much take over the world. Bruce Wayne gets hold of this information and essentially becomes the recruiter for the Justice League. The challenge ahead, however, may not be able to be faced without Superman, who (potential spoiler but not really) died at the end of 'Batman v Superman'. I can't say much, but I will say this. What IS done with Superman is actually kinda awesome.

So,  like most DC films I find this isn't without it's flaws. But this time around I found them rather easy to shrug off. The film's dialogue and sense of humor add this new level of enjoyment to everything. Even some of the characters I fully expected to dislike (specifically Aquaman and Cyborg) I ended up enjoying far more than I thought. Much of this was a pleasant surprise to myself, and I think established fans of this universe will get exactly what they're looking for her. Not perfect, but there was enough here to allow me to leave the theater feeling more fulfilled than usual.

3/5

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