Another DC effort dogged by overused, sub par CGI and obvious re-shoots

Rating: 5/10 (19 November 2017)

The film's intentions are clearly good, with Ben Affleck's Batman trying to assemble some kind of union among the people with abilities of which he learned in BBS, however the very first scene - Batman taking on a petty criminal and then a 'para-demon' - betrays the actual legacy this film will leave: very bad, unrealistic CGI and poor dialogue to match. The opening shots look just like a video game - even the backdrop of Gotham looks blatantly computer generated, and badly too. This scene is a sign of things to come, because for the majority of the film most of the effects and CGI are really disappointing, reminding one far too much of the messy, dark and incoherent Batman vs Superman, and the third act of an otherwise good looking Wonderwoman solo outing. Affleck and Gadot make a good go at injecting charisma into it, but with Ray Fisher's Cyborg being about as one-dimensional and dull as possible, and Jason Momoa's Aquaman clearly suffering from extensive re-shoots - allegedly ordered by WB themselves - limiting his story and actual time with the team, as well as JK Simmons' and Jeremy Irons' very limited screen time in favour of a CGI mess of a villain in Steppenwolf, the movie's flow and actual story and enjoyability suffers heavily. Justice League is a messy attempt, and certainly not the answer to DC's prayers, let's just hold out hope for The Batman and Aquaman films finally rewarding the loyal fans, because this newest DCEU instalment misses the mark in so many areas and leaves a lot to be desired.