Justice League
clearly demonstrates that DC/Warner Bros. is moving in the right direction. The
main problem is that there is still an element of rushing to get things out in
order to compete with Marvel. DC’s failure to effectively compete with Marvel
where it matters, $$$, is a good example of the downside of being competitive. Warner
Bros. needs to focus on just making good comic book movies based on DC comic
book characters. This is why they should have fired Zack Snyder from the
project earlier or given another director a chance. The DC films are mostly
under the influence of Snyder stylistically. Man of Steel probably would have been worse if he was the main
writer and not Nolan. I have already explained the fundamental differences
between the styles of Nolan and Snyder in an earlier blogpost. Suffice to say
that Snyder is a second rate version of Nolan. The structure of the DC
cinematic universe is being hampered by this rushed and disjointed approach or
reaching for things that aren’t there. Again I will make some suggestions of
how the DC cinematic universe can reach its full potential without SNYDER;
without SNYDER then things will begin to take shape. Snyder leaving this
project early as a result of family issues is ultimately a good thing even if
the circumstances are unfortunate.
This film stars Ben Affleck (Ben Affleck), Gal Gadot (Wonder
Woman) and Henry Cavill (Superman) who, along with the newest additions such as
CyBorg, Flash and Aquaman, battle the forces of Steppenwolf who wishes to take
control of the entire planet. These heroes end up forming the Justice League.
Positives
The main positive of this film is that the DC cinematic
universe is moving in the right direction, somewhat. I found the film
entertaining for the most part. It wasn’t a drag like the overly serious and
poorly conceptualized BvS. Justice
League is definitely a more straightforward film than BvS but it’s a bit rushed. It is a film made on the assumption that
comic book fans will know about the particulars so that they can bypass
building something meaningful. Otherwise it makes for a good romp and does not
necessarily run out of gas. Some people will watch this film and be entertained
by the jokes and some of the action on display.
I know about the character Steppenwolf since I did read
comic books in the heyday of the ‘90s and it’s clear that he had the potential
to be a great villain for this film if there was a proper introduction. One can
actually see this film trying to emulate parts of Wonder Woman and there is a moment when an explanation is provided
about the mother boxes. I heard some people frowning about the idea but at
least they explained it. If it’s an absurd concept then it can’t be any worse
than the infinity stones in the marvel films. It is admirable that they (DC)
are actually trying to build a universe with its own mythos. Diana refers to the
Age of Heroes (taken from Hesiod) and it seems fitting since she mentions the
earth realms involved in the DC cinematic universe, with two being mythic.
There’s some Lord of the Rings vibe when she makes reference to the world of
men. So it seems that going forward the present Justice league will be
continuing the fight from a historical perspective. There seems to be a lot of
old world conflicts taking place. To be fair in Man of Steel it was mentioned that a Kryptonian space ship visited
earth 20,000 years ago. It seems that DC is trying to say that Earth has a long
history with these more advanced alien civilizations. In DC comics we know that
Steppenwolf is from the planet of Apokolips
and in this film it was revealed that he visited earth thousands of
years ago. So far, therefore, two dominant alien civilizations have already
visited Earth. This means that while Earth is not as civilized it does have
some value and ancient wisdom (Themyscira and Atlantis). So I understand what
DC is trying to do and it does work based on their own comic book lore. All
that’s required is some more explanation weaved into the story which should
give the actors more to work with once they internalize it. The admirable thing
is that the composition of the league reflects this diversity based on the
stories already told about the so called Age of Heroes. They only have to
reveal the origins of the Flash correctly and effectively. It is likely
therefore that the Flash might have some connection with an otherworldly force.
Thankfully there was a reference to the Green lantern corps which means that Green lantern might have a solo film. The diverse composition of the league
reveals that the DC cinematic universe has a lot going for it; it just needs to
emerge from the shadows by just making a good comic book film. As I’ve said
before the storylines in DC comics have always been superior to marvel. There
is a richness of material which suggests that the DC cinematic universe should
be story centred instead of character centred like Marvel films. A lot of DC
comic characters have origin stories that can be translated into good films.
DC films clearly have a look that’s distinct from Marvel and
it shows here. There are less bright colours. It definitely has more of a real
world feel which is why they need to work on the CGI
I also liked some bits of the action especially when it
wasn’t CGI heavy. The action was pretty good but it could have been better in
some areas
Negatives
The primary negative is that the film is rushed. A better
film could have been made if it wasn’t so rushed. It goes by in an instant and
then you’re asked to tag along or keep up. A good 10-15 minutes setting up the
story could have done wonders. How did Batman become aware of these creatures
who feed on fear? Why are they here all of a sudden? Why did Steppenwolf decide
to strike now? If he’s in exile then where has he been all this time? I thought
they would have introduced Darkseid by now and made it clear that Steppenwolf
is just his emissary. At least that’s what I expected. The problem is that they
are telling everything from the perspective of Earth. There is nothing wrong in
featuring the planet of Apokolips. It would have been much more effective if Steppenwolf
was seen taken orders from a mysterious authority figure. The authority figure
would have clearly given the go ahead for Steppenwolf to launch his attack.
Real comic book readers would know that the figure is Darkseid. Nothing would
have been wrong in actually revealing Darkseid. The origins of Darkseid should
come later for Justice League 2 which will probably come after the next
round of solo films. It would also be good if there was an actual reason given
in the intro as to the importance of retrieving the mother boxes on Earth.
Obviously this would mean that Earth is one planet that the forces of Apokolips
have been unable to conquer. This frustration would more than likely explain
the decision by Darkseid to invade the Earth. He will do so eventually.
It’s clear by his actions that Steppenwolf is some second in
command and so the brief 5-10 minute intro should have introduced the planet of
Apokolips. Maybe another villain can be featured in pt, 2 followed later by Darkseid in Justice League
3. This will give DC time to build something meaningful while giving the usual
hints about Darkseid. The reality is that Justice
League should have begun setting up the clash with Apokolips and not just
throw Steppenwolf into the mix. This is why an intro to the planet itself would
have been a good thing. These filmmakers are trying to make it into a big
mystery and so it backfired.
DC should spend the time building the solo films before the
next Justice League. They have too much good source material to be rushing to
get the next Justice League out.
Batman looks a bit stodgy here. Affleck’s performance makes
it clear that Batman is an old man behind the costume. He looks out of place
when the pace of the action increases and there are parademons everywhere. I
thought batman was going to cry at one point when superman joined the party.
Flash and Aquaman really show up batman’s age.
DC need to get rid of Snyder or make him take a back seat.
One problem I had with the CGI is that if you take the real
world approach then the graphics must be at a high level, Steppenwolf looks out
of place here. What about old fashion makeup and then fill in the rest with
CGI. As usual it was probably rushed. Steppenwolf was probably an afterthought.
I just hope that Darkseid doesn’t look out of place.
I hope there are not inconsistencies with this film and the
origin story of the amazons as told in Wonder
Woman.
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