A Product of a Broken Franchise

Rating: 3/10 (20 March 2018)

I never in my life would have thought that the release of the first live-action Justice League film would not have me up in arms with excitement. But even with the stellar 'Man of Steel' that kicked off the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), the three atrocities of film that have followed over the last two years have made that never-having thought a reality. Even with nearly zero interest and the lowest of expectations, getting my own opinion is a must for these films, and there's always a sliver of hope that DC can right the ship that is this mess of a franchise. Not to my surprise, Justice League (JL) met my incredibly low expectations with ease, producing yet another abysmal film and proving that the DCEU is still stuck in a state of desolation.
You could say Justice League is an apparent result of two directors and two visions, because, well it is. Initial director/writer Zack Snyder, whose vision for the DCEU has utterly destroyed the franchise, had to step away for personal reasons, leaving Avengers director Joss Whedon to fill in the blanks. This dual vision pulls the film apart, creating a tug-of-war feeling between Snyder's story and tones and Whedon's. For better or worse, Warner Bros. should have made the executive decision to either have Whedon fully execute Snyder's original intents, or to completely scrap it in favor of Whedon's ideas. Even if Snyder's full cut would have made it through, at least it would have had a consistent tone. The divisiveness creates a misdirected narrative which is unoriginal, unfocused and ultimately bland. DC can't seem to hit the sweet spot of proper pacing either, as JL continues the trend from 'Batman v Superman' of an incoherent, poorly edited script, which in turn for me, was often simply boring. I'm not sure who's green-lighting the story decisions at Warner Bros., but this script is another completely uninspired narrative full of plot holes and an enormous lack of vision, but the greatest tragedy of all, is the writing of the characters.
When I think of the Justice League, there's one thing that immediately comes to mind before anything else; a team of seven iconic, defined and developed characters at the forefront. JL has many flaws, but hands down, its dearth of compelling, well written characters is the wound that cuts deepest. The writing of just about every character is deficient. They lack, sophistication, lack depth, with little heart to make you care about them. There was little to invoke any sort of inspirational, emotionally engaging response to the characters, which creates major disconnect and in turn gives a response of weak interest. Most characters weren't given proper screen time, or enough meaningful screen time, while some side characters (Commissioner Gordon, Mera) were awesome but wasted in their DCEU debut with no room to develop them, since there wasn't even enough room to develop the main characters. Worst of all, nearly every character felt hopelessly dumbed down. Batman was turned into a comedic Tony Stark rip-off, Flash is given too many corny one liners to count and though I wasn't a huge fan of Wonder Woman's solo outing, she felt infinitely more empowering than she did here.
What's not missing is sincere acting talent, but most of it is wasted on the dreadful writing. Some of the actors do their best with what they got; Ezra Miller (Flash), Henry Cavill (Superman) and Jason Momoa (Aquman) are still enjoyable while other high-level stars like Amy Adams, Jermey Irons and J.K. Simmonds are sorely unused on screen. Ben Affleck seems as though he's already given up playing a compelling Bruce Wayne, a major downgrade from his admirable performance in BvS while Ray Fisher's portrayal as Cyborg was terribly one-dimensional.
The absence of proper character development can be traced back to DC's initial decision to seemingly rush their franchise's progress to play catch up with Marvel's success. While Superman and Wonder Woman have had their own films, JL proves that well known characters can't just be thrown together without the audience having any reason to care about them, and have their movie sell on namesake alone. It's shameful, because there are bright spots. Most notably Superman, who, when he's actually in the movie, is accurate to the comics and is easily the most enjoyable character. Aquaman and Flash have moments of humor and awesomeness, the former more so than the later, but no dedicated story arcs to provide anything of substance. Had they gotten solo films before this team up, that could've panned out much differently. Batman falls under the same category. His character direction is the most disappointing by far, and as my favorite superhero of all time, he was lackluster. We hear about Batman's 20+ years of crime fighting before JL, but how beneficial would it have been to this franchise to see some of those stories with appearances from other characters before this film. It would have added a level of character development and chemistry that DC just doesn't have. The absence of a seventh member is a dagger as well, with no dedicated Green Lantern being a noticeable hole in the team, but in retrospect, his addition could have further convoluted the script.
Then there's the villain. Steppenwolf is the definition of a lifeless cardboard antagonist. Generic motives, the cheesiest of dialogue, and by God, the worst eye sore I've seen since Dr. Doom in the latest Fantastic 4 film. He's presented to be a big bad but isn't entertaining or threatening in the slightest. Steppenwolf makes Malekith from 'Thor: The Dark World' look good, and that's really bad. Not boasting a meaningful set of characters, primary or secondary, buried JL before it could even get going, and as far as Cyborg goes, let's just say he's not only the worst hero in the movie by a long shot, he's one of the worst heroes in superhero movie history.
Batman v Superman may have been a hot mess of film, but one thing it had going for it was high-octane action scenes. Justice League, for the most part, can't say the same. There are some cool action sequences no doubt. When the team works together, especially with Superman, it's at its best. There's also an awesome but quick flashback battle scene and an impressive underwater action section that makes me more excited for the upcoming Aquaman film. But at large, most of the action was sluggish and some characters (Batman, Cyborg) were underutilized. The third act in general just didn't deliver the action on the level a film of this grandeur should. What's most shocking, however, is the baffling awful CGI. Like, ridiculously bad. It starts right off the bat with Superman's mustache removal, which was laughably terrible and a major distraction through the film. I already touched on how awful Steppenwolf looked, the backdrops and atmospheres looked thoroughly unconvincing and then there's Cyborg who sticks out worse than a sore thumb, whatever that analogy might be. Batman and Superman look amazing in costume and it delivers minor appealing spectacle, but even with a massive budget, JL is not aesthetically attractive whatsoever.
I love DC at large just as much as Marvel. The Dark Knight remains my favorite film of all time, and I discovered a new-found love for Superman following Man of Steel. But the DCEU is in chaos. Iconic characters are being put to shame, a potential juggernaut franchise with excellent acting talent is being wasted with deplorable writing and decision making. Of course, I want to see DC movies succeed but at this point, the best option seems to hit the reset button. Justice League has slim moments of redeeming entertainment value, but overall represents a shining example of almost everything that is wrong with this film universe. The DCEU is a broken franchise, a tidal wave of misery, and Justice League is the latest to suffer from its wrath.
3/10