JUSTICE LEAGUE

“They said the age of heroes would never come again.”

In truth, the DC Cinematic Universe has had a very rocky start. While Man of Steel was a solid start, not everyone liked it, and 2016’s Batman v Superman didn’t fare much better in the eyes of the mass audience. Suicide Squad was even worse, and the only real hope we’ve had was this year’s Wonder Woman, which with its lighter tones and overall brilliance, showed audiences what DC is capable of when it wants to be. But now we have the big one: Justice League. So, as DC’s biggest heroes come together, is it any good?

In short, critics may be ripping the film to pieces, but I for one loved it.

Taking place after the events of Batman V Superman, the world is left in a Superman-less void and things on the whole aren’t good. From a far away world an ancient evil is returning to the Earth and it’s up to Batman and Wonder Woman to assemble the Justice League and face this foe and stop his assault on the planet.

A pretty good summary if there ever was one.

Honestly, I like Justice League’s plot. It’s not immensely over-complicated and it’s simple enough that you could easily go in to the cinema without having seen the previous films in the series. The story it’s based on is a solid one and it’s pacing doesn’t take huge slow down periods to explain the details. While the first half of the film can be slow at certain moments, it also acts as some characters’ first proper introduction, so it’s nice that it takes time to get the ball rolling. If it were any quicker, it would feel rushed by the time the third act arrives. Speaking of the third act, things do get a bit CGI heavy, as DC is unfortunately known for, but it doesn’t feel out of place given what’s happening in the film at the time. Something the third act does well is mix high, world-threatening stakes with a small area of action. That way, you know the worst-case scenario, but you can also keep track of who is doing what, and what’s actually going on, which is always nice.

Come to think of it, the only real flaw the plot had for me was its villain, Steppenwolf.

Unfortunately, before DC moves on to its big bad, Darkseid, Steppenwolf has to act as the stepping stone to a far more powerful villain that we’ll be getting in the future. While he’s perfectly functional for the role he has in the movie, he isn’t exactly the most memorable part of the film, and he doesn’t live up to the likes of Man of Steel’s General Zod.

On the hero side of things, we of course have the titular Justice league.

And honestly, I’m finding it hard to find a specific character who stood out for me above the rest. Not that they were all bad, far from it. But each character in the group had a good role and their own little arc in the film which paid off for each character pretty well. Ezra Miller’s Flash (far right) was definitely the comedy relief of the team, and while some of the humour didn’t land, a good amount of it did, and he played the part much better than I was expecting. Jason Mamoa’s Aquaman (middle right) was fun to watch on screen, but of the bunch, it felt like he was side-lined for some reason. His scenes were fun, but I just wish there were move of them. Ben Affleck’s Batman (middle) was once again brilliant, and it was nice seeing him show a slightly lighter side to his character than he did in BVS. His scenes are at the centre of the film, but he doesn’t over-shadow the others. Ray Fisher’s Cyborg (middle left) was perhaps the one I was most worried about, given that he’s almost completely covered in CGI, but his performance shines through none the less and he plays his scenes very well, although he didn’t have as many fun moments as the others did. Last but by no means least, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman (far left) was once again a lot of fun to watch, and she gives the character a perfect mix of her lighter and darker sides.

One character I do want to highlight is Henry Cavill’s Superman.

For some reason, the DC Cinematic Universe has taken a far darker route with Superman than most would have, but Justice League brings back Superman to near perfection. Watching him onscreen was a huge amount of fun and Cavill was perfect as the Man of Steel. His charisma and light-hearted nature fits perfectly with what fans expect of Superman, and I hope this is just a taste of what’s to come.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Justice League. The plot is as complex as it needs to be, and it fits well enough with the run time that things never feel slow. If anything, it could do with another ten or twenty minutes, but that might just be my personal taste. It was the film it needed to be, with a near perfect mix of DC’s darker nature with what makes going to the cinema fun in the first place. There were times when the CGI didn’t look top notch, but given that the film went through extensive reshoots once Joss Whedon was brought aboard, this is understandable. To balance that out, there are scenes where the CGI is beyond beautiful, and really succeeds in bringing the film’s vision to life. Danny Elfman’s score wasn’t as powerful or memorable as Hans Zimmer’s has been, but his use of the classic Superman and 1989 Batman themes work to perfection in the film, if you know when to listen for them. The cast carried the film very well and it helped a lot that Superman has returned to his old-fashioned and smiley ways. The film has its faults, as all films do, but I look forward to watching over and over again through the coming years, and it was a lot of fun to watch. And at the end of the day, isn't that the point?