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drwexThe film shows seams where bits were(*) reshot and there are several occasions where you can say "OK, yeah, that's Joss Whedon humor". Whatever Zack Snyder's strengths are, snappy humor bits in ensemble casts aren't among them. Still, this exceeds expectations and ends up being a competent and enjoyable film (3.5/5 stars).
The film suffers a lot from a rushed opening - it feels like you need to have seen the various previews and prelude bits to know what's going on. And having seen (or at least know the plot of) Batman v Superman is pretty important. In a way, this film is BvS part 2.
The plot is really straightforward: with Superman dead, aliens who were long ago repulsed from conquering Earth see a chance to take over. They're mostly flying drone insectoid things led by the big bad Steppenwolf. This dude singlehandedly takes on armies of Amazons and Atlanteans and seems pretty badass. He has a lot invested in his axe, for reasons that aren't actually explained in the movie but you can get from the comic backstory.
Anyway, he needs to bring together three cosmic cubes... excuse me, mother boxes to create an uber-weapon that'll wipe the planet. Batman encounters scouts from the bug-demon army and decides this means a full invasion is coming (not an unreasonable assumption, given recent shenanigans with Zod and crew) so he puts together a team to fight them.
It's at this point the movie settles down and starts moving. Each of the team members (Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg) is damaged goods in some way and each is capable of things beyond themselves, beyond what they currently believe. Who can inspire and lead them is the question and one of the better themes in the film's dialog.
The film is strong both in the personal interactions (Batman/Bruce with Wonder Woman/Diana; Diana/WW with Victor Stone/Cyborg) and in the group dynamics. Justice League feels rushed in part because we got used to the slow pace of the Marvel movies, where we had an ?8? year build-up to the first Avengers movie. But given its pace it does its job well enough.
In particular, I liked watching the League team interact well enough that I didn't care how one-dimensional the villain and the threat are. The plot has no surprises and virtually no suspense... and that's generally OK. The action scenes are well staged, if kind of obviously green-screen-y. I wanted more Amazons, but I'm not surprised I didn't get them.
(*) obviously I have no insider knowledge but man it looks that way. Camera angles, pacing, lighting, dialog are all over the place.
The film suffers a lot from a rushed opening - it feels like you need to have seen the various previews and prelude bits to know what's going on. And having seen (or at least know the plot of) Batman v Superman is pretty important. In a way, this film is BvS part 2.
The plot is really straightforward: with Superman dead, aliens who were long ago repulsed from conquering Earth see a chance to take over. They're mostly flying drone insectoid things led by the big bad Steppenwolf. This dude singlehandedly takes on armies of Amazons and Atlanteans and seems pretty badass. He has a lot invested in his axe, for reasons that aren't actually explained in the movie but you can get from the comic backstory.
Anyway, he needs to bring together three cosmic cubes... excuse me, mother boxes to create an uber-weapon that'll wipe the planet. Batman encounters scouts from the bug-demon army and decides this means a full invasion is coming (not an unreasonable assumption, given recent shenanigans with Zod and crew) so he puts together a team to fight them.
It's at this point the movie settles down and starts moving. Each of the team members (Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg) is damaged goods in some way and each is capable of things beyond themselves, beyond what they currently believe. Who can inspire and lead them is the question and one of the better themes in the film's dialog.
The film is strong both in the personal interactions (Batman/Bruce with Wonder Woman/Diana; Diana/WW with Victor Stone/Cyborg) and in the group dynamics. Justice League feels rushed in part because we got used to the slow pace of the Marvel movies, where we had an ?8? year build-up to the first Avengers movie. But given its pace it does its job well enough.
In particular, I liked watching the League team interact well enough that I didn't care how one-dimensional the villain and the threat are. The plot has no surprises and virtually no suspense... and that's generally OK. The action scenes are well staged, if kind of obviously green-screen-y. I wanted more Amazons, but I'm not surprised I didn't get them.
(*) obviously I have no insider knowledge but man it looks that way. Camera angles, pacing, lighting, dialog are all over the place.
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Date: 2017-11-17 11:17 pm (UTC)