A fun, thrilling adventure with some flaws

Rating: 7/10 (15 November 2017)

Can DC Comics keep the momentum going after the massive critical and box office success of "Wonder Woman"? That is a question that many would like to know the answer to, and I'm happy to say that the answer is yes.
Justice League is the fifth movie in the DC Extended Universe and the third directed by Zack Snyder, with some reshoots done by previous Marvel movie director, Joss Whedon. The story takes place right after the events of "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" where Batman, aka Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), inspired by Superman's selfless sacrifice to save the world (spoilers to those who have not seen BvS), runs into trouble with an unknown enemy and decides to form a group of people with superpowers to save the world from evil forces. Already having Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) on his side due to already fighting alongside her before, they must confront Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller), Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and Victor Stone/Cyborg (Ray Fisher) to convince them to fight alongside them. But they soon learn that this is not such an easy task. They don't know these people, and these people don't know them. So, predictably, there's problems and tension at first, except with Barry Allen who instantly decides to join because he claims he needs "friends". But they all eventually come to their senses and unite to form the Justice League, aiming to stop the evil Steppenwolf from destroying the world.
What's great about Justice League is its heroes. They are all great and likable, and it helps that they are brilliantly casted and have great chemistry with one another. Affleck and Gadot reprise their roles as Batman and Wonder Woman, respectively, and they're both very good. But it's the newcomers who are the most interesting, and they don't disappoint. Momoa is a natural fit for this Aquaman, Fisher brings heart to the role of Cyborg, but the true standout here is Ezra Miller as The Flash. He is what you call a "scene stealer". Miller has a knack for cracking jokes and his comedic timing is dead on in every scene he's in. Good times indeed.
The film's runtime is 2 hours, which is surprisingly short for a superhero movie these days. As a result, the movie's plot is constantly moving and there's not much down time, which keeps things entertaining. There's never really a dull moment. When there's not much action, there's interesting interaction between the heroes, and when there's no interaction, there's action. And the action scenes are well done, with each one showing what each hero's powers can do while at the same time being engaging and exciting. Not to mention the action scenes are visually thrilling, particularly the final battle.
Although Justice League gets a lot right, it does have its flaws. The movie has a good amount of jokes, and even though they are mostly funny, they get in the way of the movie's dramatic moments far too often. And this is the movie's main problem, it's unsure of itself. DC clearly tried to take a page from Marvel's book in terms of adding comedy to the movie, but there's such a thing as too much. There's just too many jokes that interrupt the dramatic moments in the film, and as a result these dramatic moments feel cheap. The movie doesn't really know what it wants to be, a comedic superhero movie or a more serious one. DC is known for its darker, more serious tone, and they mistakenly strayed away from that here.
Even though its 2 hour runtime is a good thing in some aspects, it is also a bad thing. The movie's plot constantly moves, but it almost moves a little too fast. Proper introductions to the Flash, Aquaman,and Cyborg are seemingly skipped over or are rushed and the movie as a whole feels rushed. It feels like the movie should have been a half hour longer to fully flesh out these characters. Granted there will be solo films about these heroes, but still.
I haven't really talked about the movie's villain much, and that's because there's not much to say about him. His name is Steppenwolf and he wants to obtain the three "motherboxes" so he can ultimately destroy the world. Boring.
All in all, Justice League is a fun, yet flawed superhero team-up movie. It gets a lot right, its heroes most importantly, but its flaws keep it from achieving greatness. And even though it's not quite as good as "Wonder Woman", it gets enough right to surely thrill DC diehards and casual fans alike. Booyah!