I never thought back in June of last year that this film would be my 50th review. After sitting for 2 hours, I want that amount of time back to watch something better. Regardless, this is what I think of Justice League.
It was no surprise that the succeeding DC slate of films would culminate with the formation of the Justice League. This was five years after Marvel Studios’ The Avengers, it already had a huge hill to climb to be on par with that film. Unbeknownst to me was the multitude of drama that was going on behind the scenes. I will talk about that later, but to put it bluntly. This film is probably the epitome of why this shared universe idea for Warner Bros. is a complete dumpster fire. And they have no one to blame but themselves. SPOILERS will appear in the review.
1. Story
The film starts with a phone video of a couple kids interviewing Superman. Already, it reminded me of Peter Parker’s introduction in Spider-Man: Homecoming. We then transition to Gotham City as Batman ropes in a robber to attract a parademon. Those aliens that was seen in the Knightmare sequence in Batman v Superman. It attacks the dark knight but it explodes as the caped crusader sees that it left a distinct mark. As the credits roll in, the world is sad that Superman is dead, depressing as it is, a homeless man has the sign “I Tried” by him. I’ll explain that since it’s part of the filming drama.
From there, Bruce and Diana go out and recruit Aquaman played by Jason Mamoa, Cyborg played by Ray Fisher, and The Flash played by Ezra Miller. The part with Bruce attempting to recruit Aquaman and Flash felt very repetitive. By having Bruce listing their abilities and saying that a threat is coming to Earth. Aquaman declines and Flash joins. I felt the Flash has Autism due in part that, he goes on tangents that is very Joss Whedon. Again, I might as well say that this is a very Frankenstein film.
Between that, the big bad called Steppenwolf is looking for three cubes called the Mother Boxes. So throughout the film, the Justice League is hastily assembled. As they grapple with how to resurrect Superman since Batman believes Clark is necessary to stop Steppenwolf with terraforming the planet to match his. It’s no surprise that this film is compared to The Avengers. Since it involves cubes, a horned villain, a group of heroes assembling, saving the day and going their separate ways.
Not to beat the bush, but the reason why this film isn’t good regardless of who filmed what, was the whole approach being rushed. How do you go from a Superman film, to a fight between Batman, a team of villains with no bearing of what’ll happen in the future of the franchise. Then a Wonder Woman film that was unexpectedly good. Which leads to a team up film where three heroes have yet to be properly introduced. The Marvel approach is ingenious since it introduced heroes no one even heard of and making them relatable and worth caring.
2. Frankenstein’s Movie
With anyone who follows behind the scenes drama in Hollywood, but not aware of this specific instance, deserves a documentary about the making of this movie. Zack Snyder was on contract to make this film since he made two stinkers prior to filming Justice League and possibly this one would be the winner. A death in the family happened and Warner Bros. brought in director Joss Whedon. Who ironically enough directed The Avengers and its sequel, was brought in for reshoots.
Watching the film, it’s clearly apparent who directed what. The footage that was seen in the first trailer cobbled with the reshot footage is apparent that anyone who closely pays attention can make it into a game. For instance, Bruce arrives in an Icelandic village to find Aquaman, he is on a horse that oversees the village. The longshot has a flurry of snow and when it zooms further there’s barely any snow. His hairline of all things is inconsistent when he interrogates Aquaman and Flash.
I can nitpick the various parts of the film that was reshot again, but I have to acknowledge Henry Cavill’s moustache. As he was filming Mission Impossible: Fallout, he was called back for reshoots. He has a moustache in the film and Warner Bros. wanted it to be shaved off. The execs at Paramount were petty since they urged him to have his facial hair. When he appears in the film, his upper lip just looks weird. There is even a photo of him that shows him in the suit with the moustache.
The list is bountiful for the very many reasons why this film was a stinker in 2017. I find it ironic that the Marvel films that were tied to the Avengers and Logan separately, were highly successful and outgrossed Justice League in terms of box office. The ultimate question is, who’s to blame for the film’s failure. Since I believe that there is equal blame, I will go at it one by one.
3. Is Joss Whedon To Blame?
As of recently, Ray Fisher has accused the director of having a toxic work environment during the filming of Justice League. I won’t divulge in that but I will say that in the end, he is not to be blamed for the film’s misgivings. I will defend him by saying that he was given a task to reshoot a film that is Zack Snyder's film. It’s apparently clear that when viewing a Zack Snyder film and a Joss Whedon film back-to-back, the level of quality couldn’t be more defined..
I felt that he was a fall guy if the film didn’t do well. Since he was told that he had to rewrite specific scenes and to shoot them. The way the film looked doesn’t help, since it looks brighter than any of Snyder’s films preceding this one. More so on the dialogue which is filled with banter and comedic timing which is a staple of Whedon. Even before that, in the very first trailer that was debuted in San Diego Comic-Con, there were moments of comedic levity in Snyder’s earliest footage of the film. Like having those moments would save the shared universe from mediocrity.
4. Is Warner Bros.- of course it is!
It’s easy to bash the studio since it’s on them that they let this turd hit the screen. What most people don’t know is that they really had no choice but to make it very explicit to have a November release at that time. A lot was riding on this film to hit its release since many investors and shareholders would be paid plentiful regardless if the film did well or not financially. During that time, AT&T was about to buy Warner Bros. and they couldn’t risk wasting millions of dollars by cancelling or delaying the film.
Just those circumstances is such a schadenfreude of hilarity that it’s almost comedic to read on various Hollywood sites of just how this is just part of an even bigger story. With everything that happened, Warner trusted on Zack Snyder to present a shared universe to rival the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At that point to now, the Marvel films are in a league of their own. With the release of Suicide Squad, the studio took the film away from director David Ayer to make the film comedic like Deadpool. The studio almost as a way to course correct shanghaies a movie so it can be like it’s contemporaries.
5. The Future of the DC Shared Universe
Going forward, the failure of Justice League appeared to make the films that follow it be mostly standalone features. Following this review, most of the films are just introductions to other characters albeit with the universe vision being just dropped in general. Although, still connected, if it really matters or worth caring. Warner Bros. even released the film Joker in 2019 as a love letter to Martin Scorsese, Joaquin Phoenix won an Academy Award but at the detriment of a promising film universe. Conversely, the Marvel Cinematic Universe still hit its stride which culminated with the event film Avengers: Endgame baring the title of highest grossing film, beating James Cameron’s Avatar.
6. Overall
With all that said, there’s a director’s cut coming some time this year. After the film’s theatrical release, many fans wanted Warner Bros. to release Zack Snyder's cut, their cries were answered. With this one, I can’t help but reiterate what I have been saying when I reviewed Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. If they believed in the director, why not release their cuts into the theaters, instead of having the studio cut which alienated the general audience. I wonder if I should end this endeavor of reviewing the DC films, but I’ll forge on.
Justice League, for the first time ever, gets one star.
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