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Justice League
Starring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams
Director: Taika Waititi
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Rating: PG-13
RUNTIME: 120 Mins
Another week, another superhero film. This time, it’s the turn of the Justice League, DC Comic’s answer to Marvel’s Avengers, as it tries to lift the stuttering franchise off the ground.
The skeletal and disjointed plot is set many months after the events of Batman vs Superman.
Justice League finds Batman seeking out meta-human allies to battle the imminent cosmic threat he’d previously foreseen. With help from Wonder Woman, he recruits Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg to prevent the alien invader Steppenwolf and his army of parademons from conquering the world.
If only Superman were still alive to help the Justice League save the day …
The story spends so much of its time trying to establish the new characters - and to cheer things up after the dreary BvS – that the movie never quite finds its rhythm.
There’s plenty of exposition and ample action scenes but overall, as a story, Justice League is a mess. It’s only through the charm of its cast and its depiction of its heroes that the movie is saved from being a misfire ... and good humour, new Thor movie style, works wonders.
And, thankfully, the Justice League itself works as a balanced team. Although Batman’s agenda clearly drives the plot, no one member hogs the limelight more than the rest. Each character gets moments to shine and make a positive lasting impression.
It’s to the movie’s detriment then that the film never quite offers this appealing line-up of heroes a worthy enough opponent to face or establishes any real doubt that they won’t overcome any of their challenges.
Batman has a redemptive arc here, accepting that he went too far against Superman in the earlier story and that he needs to play well with others in order to defeat this new enemy. Affleck remains solid in the role. His Bruce Wayne/Batman can still be a self-righteous idiot at times, but he’s far more self-aware and self-effacing here.
Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman is still the moral compass of the DC universe. She’s good, powerful, graceful yet willing to reveal her own shortcomings.
The chemistry between Gadot and Affleck remains palpable, and the dynamic between this duo helps provide a human centre to this otherwise cartoonish, VFX-heavy tale.
While they technically first appeared in cameos in BvS, Justice League marks the first true screen appearances of Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg. Thankfully, these three new characters work more often than not. The script offers the former a few moments to feel a bit more genuine and less like a muscle-head spewing one-liners, Flash is a standout scene-stealer, while Cyborg ends up being far more integral to the plot than some might expect, giving him a chance to prove himself as an intriguing character.
Faring less well is the villain Steppenwolf (a character voiced by Ciaran Hinds and performed via motion-capture). He is a wholly digital character, but not an entirely convincing-looking one. He’s another one-dimensional bad guy with a rote agenda and lacking any distinct personality. Steppenwolf never proves menacing or original enough to leave much of a lasting impact beyond indifference.
Unfortunately, Justice League seldom delivers any truly ‘wow!’ moments of finally seeing these awesome superheroes assembled together onscreen the way The Avengers did.
This first big screen union of DC Comics’ top-tier superheroes is ultimately just an adequate adventure flick.
It’s certainly entertaining and will be lapped up by comic fans, but it’s marred by a very choppy story, a run-of-the-mill villain, some shoddy visual effects, and an overall haphazard execution.
Now showing in: Novo, Cineco, Seef I & II, Wadi Al Sail, Saar, Al Jazira, Dana, Mukta A2
