Do you have any idea how excited I was for this movie when I first heard of it? It was back in 2014 when Warner Bros. announced their DCEU (D.C. Extended Universe) lineup to match Marvels. Little ol’ me was so pumped. I was ready to see the heroes I had watched as a cartoon during my childhood get the big screen treatment. There’s no way DC can go wrong.... right?
That would be a big fat, NOPE!
The DCEU has been on a spiraling collision since the release of "Batman V Superman." Many had hoped that Zack Snyder’s next film, "Justice League," would solve the problem. It didn't. Despite making money, "Justice League", bombed out as the lowest grossing DCEU movie. But why did it bomb review wise? The answer came from the critics and audiences alike: they were upset by the pacing, tone, action and, above all, the story.
I tried so hard to like it. I even walked out of the theater thinking, "Okay. this is a good start; let’s keep this up.” I also reviewed it like it was a good movie. The only thing in that review I’ll stand by is the fact that there are a few things in the movie that had the DC fan in me screaming like a girl.
Was it a good start to pave a different path for the DCEU? I don't think so. The Warner Bros. executives have ruined "BVS" and "Justice League" for me, and the only reason why they didn't ruin "Wonder Woman" was that director Patty Jenkins stood her ground and wouldn't let them edit her film. Good for her! I just wish other directors had the courage to defend their work like she did. This was supposed to be a two-part movie, bringing in key members of the league, and, in part 2, they would add a few more members to defeat Darkseid (who is Steppenwolf’s nephew).
The movie has many flaws in this reviewer’s eyes. I watched it twice in the theater and thinking it was decent; however, after watching it again a week or two ago, I thought it was terrible.
Let me explain my reasoning.
First, there are so many plot holes in this movie. For instance, Bruce talks to Alfred, even saying his name in front of a criminal! And then lets the criminal go! What?! Batman doesn't do that! Then he tells Alfred to get a plane ready to go north, and in the next scene with him, Wayne has a beard. How did he have enough time to grow a full beard and get to his destination if it was about a day to get there? Not to mention, SPOILERS, when Superman comes back, he automatically has his red suit…that was destroyed when Doomsday, in "BVS," killed him.
GET IT TOGETHER WARNER BROS!
Another reason why I think its terrible is due to all the cuts and changes in the movie. One of my favorite villains in DC is Darkseid. He was supposed to make a big appearance in the film, and yet they cut him out. Steppenwolf, the villain of the movie, had a complete back-story to win back the favor of his mother, whose essence, or soul, was kept in the Mother Boxes (hence why he called them Mother), and release her by conquering earth and initiating the “Unity” with the mother boxes. Did that confuse you? You are not alone in that regard.
His story was cut to look like a bad guy who just likes being a bad guy, which is quite boring when you’ve seen it done time after time. His actor, Ciaran Hinds, who can play a mean villain when he so desires, was also aggravated that the villain he worked so hard on was cut to look like your every day bad guy. There are many more cuts that ruined the movie.
However, the one that disappointed me that most did not occur during the end credits. In this scene, two Green Lantern characters were supposed to meet with Batman telling him of a greater threat (talking about Darkseid). But the executives put a two-hour time limit on this movie, which is why so much was cut out. Why? With such a rich history in the comics, why try to condense it all in two hours?! That's why so much stuff got cut, and the movie suffers for it.
The story and music were more than lacking. The story is your typical superhero story. You have your everyday villain wanting to destroy the world and your heroes, putting aside their differences in order to fight together and defeat the bad guy. Rinse and repeat. The characters are fine. All of the actors did their best with what they were given, although if you look hard enough, you can see the suffering in Ben Affleck’s eyes. The music, done by Danny Elfman, was awful. The music I recall from the movie was portioned from "Man of Steel" and "BVS," written, of course, by Hans Zimmer, displayed in one 3-minute scene.
At this point, I'm ready for the reset button.
We've already ruined several wonderful stories from DC just to make a quick buck. At first, I enjoyed this movie, but after letting it sit in for a few months and thinking about it, it really wasn't as good as I remembered it. I wonder if it was the hype of the moment thinking "This WILL be a good movie!" This isn't the actors' fault, I lay the blame with Joss Whedon and the Warner Bros. executives. I hope they've learned their lesson and will apply this knowledge to the next few DC movies, "Aquaman" and "Shazam!" coming out in the next several years. But then again, that's exactly what I had hoped for concerning "Justice League."