Justice League review by Bobby Blakey
Despite the mixed reviews of both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice there is no stopping the new DC Cinematic Universe machine. Suicide Squad got a better response than the others and Wonder Woman is already getting great buzz just from the trailers, but the upcoming Justice League is where all eyes are really firmly planted. The films features a great cast including Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Mamoa, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, J.K. Simmons, Diane Lane and Ciaran Hinds, but does the film live up to the hype of this iconic team or will it fail to be able to save the DC uuniverse?
Justice League follows Bruce Wayne, fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, who enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes-Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash-it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions. Going into this movie I was obviously a bit nervous as it seems DC has been rushing to catch up in the big screen universe, but as a whole I was not disappointed, but there are some big issues.
The cast are all great with each of them bringing their own persona to the character that fully captures that of the iconic characters brought to life. I was already a fan of Mamoa, but his turn as Aquaman is awesome. This poor character has always been the butt of jokes, but finally he is showcased as a pure badass in the best way possible. Despite hating the Flash’s uniform, Ezra Miller does a great job as the character giving the much needed humor to the team that is always needed. Cyborg was my biggest issue. I am a huge fan of the character and while Ray Fisher played the character fine I hated his look throughout the
film. It wasn’t even just the CGI nature of it, but just the overall design. It was distracting and just looked horrible. There is a moment that tries to redeem it, but felt a little too late for me. The rest step back into their respective roles great, but the overall tone at times between them felt off. Maybe it is the comic fan side of me, but there was a little bit too much of the buddy buddy thing happening for me.
The story is fine despite being a bit clunky throughout, but the weakest part is that of the villain Stepponwolf. He was yet another case of a villain that offers up very little threat and felt more like just something for them to punch. His look was fine other than the horrible CGI’d face, that was distracting throughout, but thankfully it was not that much of it to ruin the film. As you might expect there are a ton of CGI action moments that don’t all work visually, but on the flip side are fun to watch and do offer up some iconic visuals. There are some great Easter Egg’s for the comic fans here and there including two great after credit scenes that had me more excited than the rest of the film.
There is a major reveal that I felt was poorly handled and very anti-climactic that should have been the biggest moment of the film, but instead felt like it was just tossed in and they moved on. Despite my issues I really did still have a great time with this film and it will likely grow on me in a great way with a second viewing now that the mystery is gone. While I still like Wonder Woman better, I did really enjoy this film even though I think they went a bit too light hearted this time around. We don’t need the dark and brooding of the other DC films, but some better balance will help.
This release not only includes the film but bonus content including bonus scenes and a ton of featurettes taking you behind bringing this iconic team to the big screen. Step into the biggest outing of the DC Universe yet when Justice League hits Digital HD on February 13th and then on 4K Ultra, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, and DVD on March 13th from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.