Justice League, directed by Zack Snyder, is the follow-up to 2015’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. It follow Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), or Batman and Wonder Woman respectively, as they try to recruit a team of metahumans (Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher) in order to stop an impending invasion from Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds).
I was so excited for this film going into it. I am a massive comic book fan, especially of DC (I love Marvel too, so don’t @ me), so this is a culmination of everything that someone like me wants to see: all of your favorite characters, on-screen, together. I love Aquaman. I love the Flash. I love Wonder Woman. I love Batman. I was so excited to see all of these characters that I hold so near to my heart together at last. After the leaving the film, I was smiling like a giddy child, even though there are many issues that are present in the film.
I just want to start off singing my praises of the cast. I loved Affleck as Batman in the aforementioned Batman v. Superman and he shines again in the role here, albeit not quite as dour. Gadot continues to be the most magnetic presence in this franchise with her portrayal of Wonder Woman and she steals most scenes that she is in.
As for the new cast though, Ezra Miller and Jason Momoa were perfectly cast as the Flash and Aquaman respectively. Miller brings humor and a pureness of heart to the Flash that not even a character like Wonder Woman has. Meanwhile, Momoa plays Aquaman as more of a stoic loner, but brings a gravitas to the character that suits him nigh perfectly.
The dynamic between the characters works extremely well, too. Whether it is in dialogue-heavy scenes or the solid action sequences, each character brings something different and distinct to the table which ends up creating a more rounded cast and more enjoyable scenes.
There are several noticeable issues with the film though, namely the structure. The film bounces back and forth many, many times between each of the five main characters. This is something normal in a film with an ensemble cast, but the reason that this causes the structure to falter is because there is often no real segue into the next scene. One scene abruptly ends and the next scene abruptly starts. It is often jarring, and this creates a messiness that often took me out of the film.
Some of the CGI towards the end of the film is noticeably awful as well. It seems like the CG artists didn’t have enough time to properly make the mattes and render them out completely by their deadline. It’s something that is very apparent in the third act, but since the characters are so fun, it’s often pretty forgivable.
Overall, Justice League is a fun film with flaws throughout it. Despite the flaws, it is an immensely enjoyable experience, especially if you love any of the characters from the main pantheon of DC heroes.
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