It’s become somewhat of a joke, I realize, to rage on Justice League and on the DCEU in general. To be fair, though, some of that criticism is warranted – Wonder Woman was a superb movie, but Batman vs. Superman was, for me at least, too dark and too deep and just not a lot of fun, and those are the last two things on everyone’s mind.
That being said, some of the criticism is just …people who don’t like DC, in general. I’m not one of those. Though I will state my dislike of Ben Affleck and this version of Batman to anyone who wants to listen (and even some who don’t), that’s a reflection of his personal story with sexual harassment and his general attitude, not necessarily a reflection of Batman as a character.
Give me another actor, and I might well learn to like this Batman, despite his tendency to brood.
Wonder Woman, however, is as delightful in this movie as she was in her solo outing, especially because, despite the sexist overtones (THERE YOU ARE JOSS) the movie displays at times, she’s not being made to flirt with every man in the vicinity. The Flash is just as delightful, in a different way, but he brings certain lightness to the movie that, in my opinion, Batman vs. Superman was sorely lacking.
Lightness doesn’t mean jokes. Lightness doesn’t mean comedy. DC isn’t – and shouldn’t be trying to copy Marvel’s tone. In fact, at times, and I guess we can thank (or was it blame?) Joss Whedon for those parts, the movie’s tone is all over the place, almost like someone who has a completely different vision came in to finish a previous director’s job.
*cough* Which is exactly what happened. *cough*
The rest of the characters, however, are sort of flat. Arthur Curry gets more development than Cyborg, and he’s therefore more fun (plus Jason Momoa abs and boy, was that costume painted on or what?), but neither of them have a moment to shine that’s just them, and Cyborg, in particular, seems like he should have and could have been much more than what we got.
And then there’s Superman. And Lois Lane, who kind of comes with him.
I’m a fan of Lois Lane. I’m also a fan of Clark Kent more than Superman, but in general, my favorite part of the Superman mythos was always the woman, Lois. She made me want to be a reporter; she made me want to put words into paper. I will defend any version of Lois Lane, but especially one that boasts and actress of the likes of Amy Adams.
What was I talking about? Oh, yes, Superman. I liked him, and I wanted more from him, which I guess is both a good sign and a bad sign. This all has the feel of a Superman trilogy, after all, and we haven’t gotten enough of Superman for that, and also where’s my scene where he asks about the ring? Where is it? How is that something that needed to be cut? It boggles the mind.
I mean, except it doesn’t, cause Joss and inappropriate romances – makes sense he’d be more interested in trying to push a Wonderbat agenda, even if no one wants that, than in propping up THE couple of DCTV.
Conclusion? Some pieces work, others just …don’t, and since the villain is one of those that really, really don’t work (What was his name again? Who cares?), the whole movie is only salvageable by the character beats, the moments of interaction, the ….well, fun of meeting these characters.
Justice League, however, is not fun in the way Avengers 1 was, an uncomplicated movie with a great villain that meshed different types of heroes in a convincing way and made us root for them. If anything, it’s fun like Avengers 2 was, with stupid decisions, a lackluster villain, a healthy dose of sexism, but still some funny moments that, nevertheless, don’t really make a great movie, just a couple of clips that we could have easily watched on YouTube.
That’s not to say that you can’t enjoy it. You can. You just need to turn off your brain a bit. The question is …is that worth it to you?
SEXISM IS ALIVE AND WELL, A LIST
There were a couple of upskirt shots, A VERY OBVIOUS BUTT SHOT that I felt lasted about 25 years and oh yeah, The Flash saving Wonder Woman and ending up with his head in her boobs cause haha making women uncomfortable is funny.
Did Arthur Curry really need to point out, lasso or not, that Wonder Woman was just so beautiful? HOW MANY TIMES DOES THIS NEED TO BE STATED? A woman is more than her looks.
The Amazons’ costume, though not as distracting as it could have been, for the main actress were not saddled with the armor bikini, was still head-scratching. There was absolutely to make their costumes ‘sexier’
Wonder Woman was basically the Mom of the group, a dynamic that is tried and true and that basically shows absolutely no originality. She’s not there to be everyone’s shrink/support. Who supports HER?
Other things to note:
- I’ll still watch Aquaman‘s movie, but I need The Flash NOW. Also, why did they cut my WestAllen scene? WHY?
- Can Joss Whedon make good movies? Yes. Is he a sexist pig? Yes.
- Can Zack Snyder make pretty movies? You bet your ass he can. Is he as good as Whedon at the character beats? I don’t think so. Is he as much of a sexist pig? I doubt it.
- So let’s take all of that into account when we’re trying to figure out who wrote what.
- Diane Lane as Martha Kent is still superb casting.
- Most satisfying moment of this movie? Superman kicking Batman around and asking him if he bleeds.
Justice League is playing right now on a theater near you.