Now in theaters
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons
There’s a notion in sports that momentum can breed success. Many fans and analysts believe that scoring a TD on one drive makes you more likely to score on the next. The baseball team that scored in the 7th and 8th innings will be more likely to score in the 9th. Research, on the other hand, suggests that sequencing, or momentum, doesn’t really play a big predictive role in the events that come next. Momentum can’t carry you to victory if you don’t execute. It’s a hard lesson, and Justice League reinforces it.
Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice was, more or less, a 2 hour, 30 minute preview for Justice League. It lacked much of a story, and served more to just plant seeds for DC’s ultimate stab at Avengers money. Needless to say, there is a lot of pressure on Justice League to hit the mark and not spoil the good momentum created by Patty Jenkins’ excellent Wonder Woman. And while DC’s latest offering isn’t its worst, and certainly has some nice elements and moments, it is assuredly a step in the wrong direction. Wonder Woman fittingly came out in Spring, bringing life and optimism to the DC Extended Universe. Justice League is, conversely, the bleak realism of autumn, a cold reminder of the issues that come with Zack Snyder films.
I wasn’t kidding when I said some things work, and let’s start with those. First and foremost, Jason Momoa is an excellent choice for Snyder’s version of Aquaman. It seems like a bold choice, given how he’s so physically different from the comic book version, but you get the feeling that Snyder and Warner Bros simply wanted their own Thor, because nothing about Justice League is original or inspired, so how could this be? That said, Momoa clearly has fun in the role, and I had a lot of fun watching him. He brings charisma to the film; if Thor had Tony Stark’s wit and zest for alcohol, he’d be Momoa’s Aquaman. More than any other character in the film, Aquaman seems like an actual superhero. When he’s on film, you’re reminded of Snyder’s biggest strength as a director – creating lasting images that stick with you. I don’t know how Aquaman will fare as the centerpiece of his own movie, but in the group setting, he works.
Ezra Miller has fun as The Flash, and there are moments that work, but other jokes written for him just fall flat – there’s a pause after a joke about brunch that clearly indicates the filmmakers expect some big laughs, but they miscalculated. Still, Miller is a solid Barry Allen. He’s an excellent actor, and while chops don’t exactly go on display here, like Momoa he’s charismatic. Unfortunately, Snyder’s depiction of The Flash is too obviously an amalgamation of successful Marvel big screen characters. The quippy teenager comes off as a little too Spider-Man-esque, and there’s a scene that owes so much to Quicksilver in X-Men: Days of Future Past, I was actually surprised Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle” didn’t start blaring.
Continuing with our tour through the heroes, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) is fine, but after a good scene where she foils a robbery, there isn’t too much for her to do for the rest of the film. I’m a huge fan of Gadot’s work in that role, and I think she does as much as she can here. Her role in Justice League mostly just asks her to look sexy and take her turn on the punch/get punched ride whenever it comes up. She succeeds with these tasks, but as you watch her, you just feel bad, because her characterization feels reductionist after her starring role earlier this year.
Batman (Ben Affleck) is the DCEU’s Nick Fury, banding these heroes together. Affleck is, in my opinion, a great casting choice for Bruce Wayne, and Wayne (as opposed to his masked alter ego) gets plenty of time here. Unfortunately, this film’s Batman is joyless, with Wayne mopey and dire all the time, presumably over his responsibility in getting Superman killed in their last film. I get that that’s Batman’s default mode anyway, but we usually get to see glimmers of passion, and Snyder’s having none of it. I’m disappointed Affleck won’t be making a standalone Batman film because, with the right director and script, I think he could be great. He does his best here, but again, the script and story is just impassable.
Finally, we have Cyborg (Ray Fisher), a genius football player who would be dead if not for the procedure that made him part-metal and gave him the ability to fly and do other neat things. He’s the Iron Man here, except the mischievous personality has been given to Aquaman, and the limos and lifestyle to Batman. That leaves Cyborg as something of an empty suit, as interesting as War Machine, which is no one’s favorite Marvel character. I don’t think it’s Fisher’s fault that Cyborg is so boring, as I can’t see any actor making this character interesting.
There are more returning characters from past DCEU films, and these actors, all well-proven talents, mostly just pop in long enough to deliver some bad lines and collect their paycheck. I hope Amy Adams’ new car can help her escape the memory of having to say dumb things. If this gives JK Simmons enough financial stability to go make another Whiplash, maybe this was all worth the trouble.
As for the story, this is totally nothing like The Avengers. This movie’s MacGuffin is a collection of 3 magic cubes filled with unlimited power. The Avengers, you see, only had one. This film’s big bad is a being from another dimension, wears a horned helm, and unleashes a horde of flying, faceless enemies via a light beam that goes straight up into the sky. The Avengers had their faceless horde ride flying machines instead of fly on their own, so it’s completely different.
Justice League is ultimately a mess of a movie that’s way less than the sum of its parts. When I think individually about the characters, it shouldn’t be that bad. Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and particlarly Aquaman are all well cast, fairly well acted, and mostly fun to watch. But the story, of world-destroyer Steppenwolf (voiced convincingly by the always-excellent Ciaran Hinds) looking for his 3 lost cubes of power, and its accompanying script are so phoned-in you just have a hard time caring. At one point, Cyborg emphatically says, “Boo-yah” like a badass, which might be the case if this movie came out in 2003. The script is filled with eyeroll-worthy moments like that.
Having aired all those grievances, I still think Justice Squad might be the 2nd best DCEU film. It isn’t as poorly done as Suicide Squad, it isn’t as boring as Man of Steel, and it isn’t merely an insulting preamble like BvS:DoJ. Unfortunately, it is a quick end to the DCEU’s creative momentum, and that’s disappointing. But remember, momentum clearly doesn’t mean too much, so maybe that’s some consolation for 2018’s Aquaman and the future of the so-far uneven DC Expanded Universe.
Is it Watchlist-worthy? Nope.