And Justice For All

So here we are with the most important film of 2017, the movie that not only has to save the DCEU franchise but also has to reinvigorate my passion for the superhero genre.

Now I'm not one to put all my eggs into one basket but after the deflating experience that was Thor Ragnarok the Justice League are indeed my last chance saloon.

Justice League is of course a troubled production after original director Zach Synder (who had originally been put in charge of the whole DCEU until Geoff Johns was brought onboard after the dismal performance of Batman vs Superman) left following the death of his daughter. Rumour has it that he had completed 80% of Justice League before Joss Whedon was tasked with finishing things off, a task that was made all the more difficult when it was decided that he needed to complete some extensive reshoots.

Reshoots themselves are never good news but Whedon and his team had the arduous task of dealing with Henry Cavills facial fuzz and how they could use CGI to make him look more like the Superman we all know and love. Cavill was you see in the middle of filming Mission Impossible 6 and for the role he had had to grow a moustache, a moustache that he was contracted to not shave off. This meant that the bottom half of his face would need to be recreated by computer as there was no other way to remove his top lip warmer.

More on that later, let us for now jump right in and take a journey through the films plot.

We begin with some handheld footage of a couple of kids asking Superman some questions after one of his heroic acts. The point in this opening is to try and humanise Cavills Superman after his performance came under huge criticism following Man of Steel and BvS. In both films fans complained that he had none of the charm or likability of previous actors in the role and it is clear from the getgo here that Justice League is trying to change things for the better.

We next find ourselves in Gotham where Batman (who has apparently been fighting crime for 20 years) is scaring a hoodlum on a rooftop (done better by Keaton in Batman 89) before he ends up in a fight with a Parademon who conveniently explodes, leaving behind the same three symbols that Lex Luthor had previously written in his journal.

Realising that something is afoot Batman decides to get the band together to fight whatever is on the way. Whilst he goes off to speak to Aquaman we reconnect with Wonder Woman who thwarts a terrorist attack (in slow motion again ffs) as well as getting an insight into the lives of the Flash who visits his dad in prison and Cyborg who we are told is powered by the technology from something called a motherbox (remember the journals three symbols) which is going to come in handy later.

Aquaman says thanks but no thanks whilst back on Themyscira the motherbox (one of three) they have been keeping safe falls into the hands of the movies big bad cgi monster Steppenwolf who takes a number of Amazonians out in the process of taking the box from them.

Speaking of Steppenwolf, he continues his quest for the three motherboxes by next visiting Atlantis where he kicks Aquamans ass whilst making off with the goods.

This leads to the four members of the Justice League battling the Mr Wolf which is where Aquaman shows up out of the blue and joins the team, not that this helps as they basically get their asses handed to them and they fail to stop Darkseids main man getting away. Batman therefore concludes that they need to resurrect Superman in order to save the world. This they will do by using the final motherbox along with the same Kryptonian technology that Lex Luthor used to create Doomsday in BvS. Not everyone is onboard with this idea but what Batman wants Batman gets I guess.

Resurrecting the big blue boyscout doesn't go too well as Superman takes to kicking the crap out of the league, an act that only stops when Alfred turns up with Lois Lane (groan) who Superman takes back to Kansas as he wants no part of whatever Bats and co are getting themselves into.

Oh and during the battle Steppenwolf gets his hands on the third motherbox Doh!!

So we head into the final battle which doesn't seem to be going the Leagues way until after getting bored talking to Lois Superman turns up to level the playing field. This of course tips the scales in the good guys favour and eventually Steppenwolf is despatched and the League are all sweetness and light.

The film closes after Bruce Wayne gives Martha Kent her farm back and shows Wonder Woman where he intends to set up the Leagues meeting room.

There are two post credits scenes. The first is of a race between the Flash and Superman and the second is Lex Luthor plotting the creation of an evil verson of the League as he talks to Deathstroke (not Deadshot as played by Will Smith in Suicide Squad).

So what did I think of Justice League? Was it a disaster as I expected it to be or was it a pleasant surprise that has given me hope that the superhero genre is not dead? Well it is not a disaster but it is from a technical triumph either. It was a perfectly serviceable movie that I will admit that I enjoyed more than Thor Ragnarok. The thing is though that this may well be because I had incredibly high expectations for Ragnarok and was left feeling greatly let down whereas I wasn't expecting much (if anything) from JL and so could only ever really be proved wrong.

There are of course many things wrong with JL -

The CGI is atrocious in places. Supermans face in the reshoots is laughable, Cyborg doesn't look great and Steppenwolf is a mess.

Speaking of the villain of the film, it is yet again a huge disappointment that a superhero film has a damp squib of a bad guy. There have been so many superhero movies in the modern age (the last 20 years or so) and other than Magneto and Loki every single villain has been frankly crap which quite frankly beggers belief.

The tone of the film is clearly split in two and its obvious which parts of the film were the work of each of the two directors as they both have their own unique styles. Now of course this couldn't be helped given the situation the studio found themselves in but that doesn't make it any better a viewing experience.

That difference in tone is none more evident than in the portrayal of Batman and Superman. Batman in particular (due to his share of screen time compared to that of his Kryptonian teammate) flits between the darker character we were delivered in BvS and a more jovial wisecracking Dark Knight in the Whedon moments and for me it makes him one of the weaker characters in the movie.

Its also quite jarring how badly they try to force Christopher Reeve style Superman into Cavills performance. I can understand why they have done this but they cannot get away from the fact that Cavill is just a poor Superman overall.

With all that said however Justice League is an alright film which kills a couple of hours and is better than its predecessors (except Wonder Woman). It is also did a better job of entertaining me than Spiderman Homecoming, Iron Man 3, Dr Strange and the aforementioned Ragnarok, although there will be many who disagree with that opinion.

So if you have two hours to kill and want to see a popcorn flick that will be instantly forgettable and not do anything to further the cause of the DCEU then Justice League could well be the movie for you.

Has it saved my love for the genre? No, I am still pretty burned out by Superhero films and am not excited about any of the films Marvel and DC have coming in 2018 but I will give Justice League a 6 out of 10 and I may even go back and watch it again with the kids.