Justice League - A LEAP in the Right Direction
Justice League promises, among others, the return of the "age of heroes" -- the time when every kid in the streets held comicbooks and adults played with superhero action figures in their mancaves. And weeks prior to the movie, Justice League has delivered its promise as fans' excitement for the movie grew and influenced new and casual fans.
The success of the movie will be weighed, as all the others, on its domestic and foreign ticket sales. A week from its release, the movie was already hit with criticisms about how it performed poorly in domestic sales. Despite such criticism, Justice League fared above average in foreign ticket sales.
Justice League is not a perfect movie. It is not an overnight fix to address all the issues in the DC Extended Universe franchise. However, the movie provided a step--nay, A LEAP--in the right direction.
There are a lot of review and criticisms online and to be fair, some are meritorious while others are groundless and unfair. My final verdict on Justice League is still a solid 9/10 stars. And here are the reasons why I gave the movie a high grade.
Great script, oversimplified story
Chris Terrio was a late addition to Batman v. Superman and despite that, he was able to produce timeless dialogues that will always be remembered by Batman and Superman fans. He's won numerous awards for his screenplay adaptation of Argo and with a person of his vision and skill, one would definitely expect big things from the story. Others argue that Terrio's screen writing went crashing after Argo, but, to his credit, I think his dialogues for Justice League is great.
But in movies, script is not equated to the story. Some movies have a strong script but a weak story. On the other hand, some have a strong story but a weak script, but seldom do we see movies with great story and an impressive script.
I can't blame Chris for the oversimplified story. For one, this is the Justice League we're talking about. The focus is the development of the team and not the individual characters in the movie. I think the script was well written especially if you listen carefully to the dialogues. Justice League, for me, had a great script but a weak story or an oversimplified story.
I would assume that the oversimplification or what we call a linear story was directly brought by the involvement of Joss Wheadon in the film. I've read Zack Snyder's presumed version of the Justice League and it pretty much follows the complexed story telling of Snyder, similar to that in Batman v. Superman. The genuineness of those reports/rumors is still up in the air. I guess we'll know if and when Warner Bros. decide to release Snyder's Justice League cut. Until then, I will have to presume that the oversimplified story was caused by Joss Wheadon.
Like I said, the oversimplification is not entirely a bad thing. Its something that I'm not used to with the DC Cinematic Universe but it did work for an ensemble story with many intricate and established characters.
The story did provide a great build-up and an internal conflict that, later on, paid dividends in the resolution of the story. It also avoided all the clutters on which Batman v. Superman was heavily criticized.
Another point I would like to make with regard to the movie's story is that it was far from what the trailers showed. This is something I didn't like and is my biggest gripe with the movie. But, to be fair, this is not a meritorious argument because it deals with the post-production and does not really look into the movie per se.
Characterization of the Team
Many are claiming that due to the movie's oversimplified story, Justice League failed to provide growth for the heroes of the movie. According to them, there was no character development or, at the very least, a proper introduction or a background story to make these characters relatable.
To be fair, that statement is true... and false at the same time. Heroes weren't given enough time to grow. But it is important to note that these are DC Heroes and not Marvel Characters. The biggest difference between the two, at least for comicbook readers, is that the former are gods we look up to while the latter are heroes we aspire to become. Marvel characters are more relatable because of how they were portrayed to be humans acquiring special gifts. DC characters, on the other hand, are established gods.
Moreover, Justice League comicbooks usually consider the League as a character on its own. Just to give a concrete example, the Justice League is still the Justice League even if Batman is not part of the team. Back in the 90's, Batman left the League to form him own team--The Outsiders--and the League was still called the Justice League. Regardless of the team members, the League was considered to be separate and distinct from the personality and the characteristics of each and every League member.
For me, I saw the growth and the development of the League from its formation up to the meshing of the members into a single unit. This element of the movie was my favorite part as it reminded me of the comics that I've read and the Justice League animated series that I've watched growing up.
However, the only thing I didn't like about characterization was how they heavily made it a fan service rather than making it interesting for casual fans to understand the pantheon of the DC Universe. Here's an example: Aquaman's Lasso of Hestia scene was hilarious but for a casual fans who are not aware of the lasso's powers wouldn't appreciate it as much. The only instances where the Lasso of Hestia (Lasso of Truth in comics) and its powers were mentioned in the DC Cinematic Universe was during the Wonder Woman movie and it was also mentioned in passing in Justice League. This will be a hard pick up for casual fans and kids below the age of 13. Much more since there are interpretations that the Lasso of Hestia was inconsistently portrayed in the two movies.
Great Ensemble of Heroes and Actors
The portrayal of the DC heroes, I think, are spot on with exception to The Flash. While Ezra Miller's remarkable acting skills is prominent, his character was portrayed less serious than his comicbook counterpart. The Flash's appeal and humor in comics is not the same as the happy-go-lucky character of Ezra's Flash--or at least Flash in the comics is not the same as the Flash that we saw in Justice League. I know its not a fair evaluation since I'm expecting the character to be the same as that in the comicbooks but it might take a while before I get used to it. On the contrary, I thought his character was perfectly portrayed in his short exposure in Suicide Squad.
Considering that Justice League is a separate and distinct character from those members who make up the League, Batman's detective skills were still shown in more ways than one. In his opening scene while battling the parademon in-flight, Batman was able to deduct parademon's reaction to alarming sounds. In a split-second, you see Batman's confusion and realization all in one. I also love how his guilt for the death of Superman is spilling over at the first half of the film. This is the Batman that carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. And its refreshing to see Batman finally come to peace with the events that happened in Batman v. Superman when he finally saw Superman in his blue suit.
While I love how most of the heroes were portrayed, I personally, did not like how Aquaman was integrated to the team. Arthur Curry, here's an Atlantean from royal descent decided to live with the humans in order to find his place in the world. He was content and happy with his life in Amnesty Bay. His sudden descent to Atlantis and his sudden change of mind to join the League is a bit uncharacteristic of how his character was portrayed in the movie. For me, Aquaman had the least purpose in joining the League.
But overall, I love the chemistry of the League. All members share a common ground on which they built their connection. Batman carried the guilt of the killing of his parents, of Robin (presumably), and of Superman; Wonder Woman exiled herself from her home trying to find her place in the world; Aquaman left his royal lineage just to find acceptance and the feeling of being a relevant member of a society; The Flash running to great lengths just to prove that his father did not commit the crime of parricide; Cyborg trying to find meaning and purpose to his new life; and Superman who finally accepted what he was meant to become. All of these are not just simple developments that the characters had to go through. Rather, there is a common element of finding one's purpose in life.
Just to reiterate, Justice League is not a perfect movie. It is not the solution that the franchise needs right now, but it is a movie which DC fans deserve. Me, being a DC fan, really appreciated most of the elements of the movie. But considering that this is not a quick fix for DC and WB, fans of other superheroes might not appreciate this movie as much as I did. Will that be a problem for DC? I don't think so. As long as they keep their fans happy, people will continue to support their movies. Am I concerned about WB and DC? Well, except for the AT&T merger court litigation, no, I am not. I'm happy that Justice League brought back the "Age of Heroes." And yes, it returned with a resounding cheer from the fans.
Paolo Ollero, 28, working law student, a comicbook enthusiast and a Batman historian, is one of the co-founder of The Dark Knight Philippines -- the premier Batman group in the country. He also contributes reviews and write-ups in Geekend Gladiator and Flipgeeks.
