The following is my spoiler-free review of Justice League.
I don’t remember much about Man of Steel, I don’t recall even writing a review of it and can’t find it with a lazy blog search. I remember there was a lot of smashed buildings, a lot of CGI BSTs and a Lex Luthor who was an embarrassment to Gene Hackman. I didn’t hate it but it was pretty lame.
I was drunk and baffled through Batman vs. Superman, but I recall enjoying it even though it was a pretty terrible movie. I had a chortle at Suicide Squad and enjoyed its visuals and sass, although it too was pretty much a mess. And I thought Wonder Woman was great, even though it was spoiled somewhat by overhype and had to shoulder a lot of really heavy expectations. In fact, I enjoyed it more because it stood up under all that excess baggage.
Now we have Justice League, and it looks like DC is finally starting to find its stride. This was a really enjoyable movie (Aquaman! WOOO!), if not quite the BSTs-and-chuckles-fest of Thor: Ragnarok. It was its own thing while still trying a little bit to tap into the Marvel success conduit. It succeeded, I think, without being derivative. It was amusing and entertaining in all the right places, without losing its sombreness.
I understand there were some dramas with Snyder starting the movie and Whedon finishing it, so the dark Snyder colour palette was spiced up in post-production and reshoots, making some of the movie jarringly colourful. It didn’t bother me. Neither did the classically silly villain (fun fact, the band Steppenwolf came a few years before the DC villain of the same name, I’d love to know the story behind that), although Whedon apparently got himself in hot water for liking a tweet criticising the bad guy in this movie. Poor Whedon.
Cavill could have shaved off the moustache he grew for his next role before coming in for reshoots though. Wouldn’t that have been cheaper than this abomination? Good luck unseeing that shit, I couldn’t so I fail to see why you should.
All in all, a grand movie. I’m looking forward to seeing the next installments, and a feeling of optimism is a new and worrying thing for DC movies. Stick around for the end-credit teaser for extra nerd-squeals.
See you at Aquaman: The Motion Picture!
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Finally saw it last weekend! I agree, it was a welcome addition/turnaround for DC movies of late, Wonder Woman aside. Gotta agree the villain was classic silliness, though it DID bother me. I just thought he was so lame and generic. Also, his swarm should have taken out everyone but Superman, given its size and strength (one demon seemed to equal one Batman, at times!), so I felt a little of the “OP characters are all too OP” that one often can feel in these sorts of movies. Doubly so when Superman is involved. And they turned on him because he showed a little fear? But I hear in fact he just returned to…Doom or wherever his boss is…so the whole conclusion of the fight and the “I smell fear” jokes were misleading? Grr.
That said, they showed Superman being…bothered, I guess?…a bit at times by the hits he was taking, so that was refreshing. I’d like to think of him not as INvulnerable, just really really really not very VULnerable.
I accept your moustache challenge. I tried and tried to be bothered by it, and really didn’t even notice it. And I knew it was fucking there. So go figure, man. No idea about the logistics, I leave that to the movie studios. I do feel awful for Justice League in general for getting the short end of the moo-stache, though.
Superman, well and Flash, surprisingly provided my favorite (non-gawking at Gal Godot’s perfect form) moment…the one where Superman sees the Flash, during the resurrection battle? Holy crap, that was cool, and funny, and then cool again. Wowza. But Gal…it doesn’t matter WHAT she wears, does it? Always amazing.
All in all, I’m excited for DC, hoping they can give Marvel a run for its money to all our benefit. So far, I’d say they’re not quite there. The trailer for Infinity Wars was on before Justice League, and I wished I was seeing that instead. Especially during the first 30 minutes of Justice League, which I thought were incredibly slow. I went ahead and peed twice, to get it out of the way. I thought 2 beers wouldn’t make me have to pee as much as my usual I-don’t-wanna-say, but no dice. LOL
Hunh, rereading that and it seems like over-sharing. But I’m leaving it in, damnit!
Hm, I might have had more to say, I can’t remember. Been a few days that seemed like forever. But I think that was most of it.
Oh, is Batman going to age himself out soon? Because I got a massive “I’m too old for this shit and can’t be epic anymore” vibe in the fight scenes.
Right?? I mean Batman I can sort of see, because he’s just gadget-enhanced and not really metahuman (as he says, his superpower is being rich), but six or ten of these things pile onto Steppenwolf and basically chase him off? So that means they’re about as powerful as the Justice League, one-to-one. Since all … five? … of the Leaguie Weegies attacked Steppenwolf simultaneously and he beat them.
Leaguie Weegies, it’s a thing.
I may be underestimating the number of insect soldiers that piled onto Steppenwolf at the end there. But basically yeah, agreed. They seemed super-powerful.
Don’t know about that, but then I don’t have much of a handle on Steppenwolf and Darkseid. I guess it was enough that the army turned on him and chased him off. Considering how badly he took one defeat, I guess when his spirit breaks it breaks hard.
Hee hee, agreed. One of the best moments. And the Flash was definitely a highlight.
Agreed again, although obviously I didn’t get to see the Infinity War trailer on the big screen. It looks fucking amazing.
Dang, you had to pee twice in the first part of the movie? I had to go and pee during The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but that was the first time it had ever happened to me (I’m losing bladder control in my old age). I thought I’d be able to hold it, which was stupid because it meant I had to leave during an exciting bit rather than the long build-up. So you definitely made the more strategic call there.
On the other hand, I got to climb over a bunch of seats and annoy / freak out a bunch of people in a really small theatre with my antics, so I call that a bonus.
It would seem to mesh with the nostalgic vibe to his conversations with Albert, and the rumour that Affleck is looking for an exit strategy.
“Right?? I mean Batman I can sort of see, because he’s just gadget-enhanced and not really metahuman (as he says, his superpower is being rich),”
Well, I mean he is incredibly highly trained but basically, yeah.
“but six or ten of these things pile onto Steppenwolf and basically chase him off? So that means they’re about as powerful as the Justice League, one-to-one. Since all … five? … of the Leaguie Weegies attacked Steppenwolf simultaneously and he beat them.
Leaguie Weegies, it’s a thing.”
But WHY is it a thing? WHY?????
“I may be underestimating the number of insect soldiers that piled onto Steppenwolf at the end there. But basically yeah, agreed. They seemed super-powerful.”
Right. Although Looper does present a different meaning for the ending dogpile on Steppenwolf. But again one demon was taking on Batman and doing fine, so yeah.
“Hee hee, agreed. One of the best moments. And the Flash was definitely a highlight.”
He certainly got the message that he was the comic relief.
“Agreed again, although obviously I didn’t get to see the Infinity War trailer on the big screen. It looks fucking amazing.”
Looks can’t be deceiving in this case, I guarantee it!
Spoiler alert: everyone fucking dies. Thanks Hulk. Hulk smash surprise.
“Dang, you had to pee twice in the first part of the movie? I had to go and pee during The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but that was the first time it had ever happened to me (I’m losing bladder control in my old age). I thought I’d be able to hold it, which was stupid because it meant I had to leave during an exciting bit rather than the long build-up. So you definitely made the more strategic call there.”
Yeah, twice, but I think that was because I was bored and kinda had to go, and decided better now than later. *nods*
“It would seem to mesh with the nostalgic vibe to his conversations with Albert, and the rumour that Affleck is looking for an exit strategy.”
Well sure, but I mean, that’d be the end of Batman, right? Or does that role (in the DC universe) get handed off from person to person? Only one person is Bruce Wayne and has his history/background, after all.
What I’m saying is not that Affleck is trying to get out, but BATMAN seems to be trying to get out. Due to being a little past his prime, based on the fight scenes. Since I think “there can be only one!”, where is this going?
Interesting question, since the little reference to Penguin’s scheme in Burton’s Batman Returns makes it pretty clear at least that Keaton and Affleck Batman / Wayne are the same dude. So yeah, is it a James Bondesque handing down / reincarnation, or just a don’t-pay-too-much-notice-of-it hand-wave meaning we should pretend they’re all the same guy? Like I think you’re saying, I tend to agree they’re all the same guy but that does take a certain amount of head-bending to pretend he’s been a good-condition 30-40-year-old since the mid 1980s.
I don’t know. DC reboot and change their shit around and seem to have only the feeblest attempt at movie-to-TV-show continuity. Shit, even the DC universe Justice League stand-alones and ensemble movies barely seem to hang together. Marvel isn’t exactly perfect in this regard either, but at least they try.
Maybe Batman’s mortality and Too Old For This Shit -getting is going to be an issue now that we have demigods like Superman and Wonder Woman in the mix (although “now” may be a stretch since they’ve always been around, more or less).
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