The culmination of all of DC's superhero woes. At least it's out of their system

Rating: 4/10 (2 April 2018)

Every time a new superhero movie comes out lately, we wonder if this will be the point that the market finally hits oversaturation, that audiences and critics will just stick a fork in the genre. When Marvel Studios releases that new movie, we tend to pleasantly discover there's more places these films can go; when DC Entertainment releases that new movie, we wonder how the genre hasn't died already.
Although "Wonder Woman" turned out excellently, "Justice League" suggests it may end up being the lone exception. Despite bringing together Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher), the film offers nothing new or exciting to the genre and barely executes the formula to satisfaction.
Seeing Marvel bring multiple beloved heroes together in 2012's "The Avengers" was exhilarating; DC's hero assembly evokes ambivalence at best. The difference lies in "Avengers" being a true culmination, a few years of (well-made) solo films introducing us to the characters. DC introduced us to Cavill's Superman in 2013's "Man of Steel," added a brand-new Batman in "Batman v. Superman" (2016) and managed to squeak in "Wonder Woman" mere months before this film's release. What does that leave us with? A big contrast between scenes featuring Gadot and scenes without her, three completely new characters and a familiar Superman who isn't even in three-quarters of the movie.
A film directed by Zack Snyder, co-written and partially directed by Joss Whedon (the first two "Avengers" films) and executive produced by Christopher Nolan surely shouldn't be this average, but perhaps that's exactly why it is. With the mediocrity of past films nipping at their heels, DC and Warner Bros. took some panicked measures to right the ship, making "Justice League" a tonal blur that every so often hits on a good laugh or a good character moment before returning to predictable status quo.
The real issue with "Justice League" is that even with three new, theoretically exciting characters, every element of the film feels reused and retreaded. Cyborg and Batman are basically Tony Stark/Iron Man made more brooding and split in two, The Flash is that young excited-to-be-there character we've seen in Ant-Man and the latest Spider-Man and the jury's still out on Aquaman.
Story-wise, the threat in the film comes from yet another supernatural, other-worldly being in Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds), who seems no more intimidating than the other villains DC has sent us recently, and he's after the three Mother Boxes, which will form the Unity, giving him the power to turn earth into his hellscape (a plot that feels straight out of various Marvel films). Why this particular all-powerful villain requires the teamwork of all these heroes isn't immediately apparent.
Maybe DC is simply late to the party on some of these superhero movie ideas so what's generally fine simply feels stale. Maybe the action is cooler and the jokes funnier than they seem, but DC is trying to too quickly overcome its past letdowns. Perhaps the difference between DC and Marvel right now is credibility; whereas Marvel seems two steps ahead of where its audiences are at, DC is two steps behind what its audiences expect. One is proactive, the other reactive.
There's some promise in the DC Entertainment Universe. "Justice League" hints at exciting new worlds in Atlantis and its reboot of the Green Lantern Corps universe; Ezra Miller seems capable of carrying his own humorous coming-of-age superhero film; and Wonder Woman is perhaps the most beloved hero on screen right now. With a little patience and a clear, committed vision, the second "Justice League" should outdo the first.
~Steven C
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