DC gave about as much effort as Ben Affleck did

Rating: 3/10 (18 November 2017)

I really tried. I really, really tried.
Reaching an expectation is like chasing a moving car. If you don't know who you're chasing, you don't know where they're going, why they're going. There is an impossibility to reaching expectations; I struggle with this reality going into every major blockbuster. "Temper your expectations." "You want every movie to succeed." Never have I wanted a movie to fail. A failing movie means we don't get more of the art, and getting someone to pay and adapt beautiful art is reason enough to keep making art. Justice League is not art.
I once read this article about how Geoff Johns and Zack Snyder have different visions of DC, because of Watchmen. Johns deplores the bleak world Alan Moore created. Snyder made a romance of it. You would imagine they'd have differing views of Superman. Justice League begins with found footage of kids interviewing Superman about what he thinks a hero is. I should have known what I was in store for as the first shot of Superman we get is one of his lower-face comically CGI'd to remove the mustache Henry Cavill grew for MI6. It's so obvious. The skin tone in his upper face doesn't match the lower one, and it just looks bad in all respects. The entire movie attempts to glorify Superman's accomplishments and what he stood for without offering any substance of what he actually stands for. There's no sense that the loss of Superman really turns the world upside down until the Motherboxes are awoken and scream for Steppenwolf, of whom, I guess, was just waiting around somewhere for thousands of years until Superman died, of whom only came to Earth a few decades prior. But, whatever, "don't focus on the plot issues."
You don't get a sense, outside of Wonder Woman -- and we only know her because Patty Jenkins gave us a hopeful introduction earlier this year -- that any of these heroes embody what Superman stands for. You don't get a sense that they even know what he stood for. But that is a clear thread Snyder and whoever made this wants you to explore. They did a "Death of Superman" story without allowing us to really know Superman and to know everyone important and Superman impacted them and/or the world. They just tell you "hey, Superman is a beacon, and you should look at him like one." 'Show, don't tell.'
The Batman BvS introduces us to is broody, rich. You can tell that his infamous trauma very much drives his life's work, his decision making. The Justice League Batman is a neutered icon. His only endearing quality to the team is he's "rich." Aside from Batman's guilt at causing Superman's death, you can't point to me a line of dialogue that says Batman believes anything he's doing in this movie is for the 'right thing.' "Stopping Steppenwolf and his invading army to save the world is the 'right thing.'" Okay.
The first time Batman meets a Parademon, he struggles in the fight. Is there even one time Batman wrecks a Parademon with his elite hand-to-hand combat moves? Every scene the League fights together in Batman requires the use of his toys, especially the big toys. I can understand that Batman is not superhuman, but in every fight scene he felt utterly useless compared to everyone else. If you've read a Justice League comic, you know Batman is exceptionally intelligent and that intellect allows Batman to truly stand alongside everyone else. You don't get a sense of that in this movie, it's probably all the times Batman says "uh oh." Let's not even forget how much he pines for Superman and especially his assistance during the latter fight scenes. This is the same guy that just tried to kill Superman in the last movie? Give me Scott Snyder's Batman, Tom King's Batman. One time, please!
If Justice League was the pilot for a show on HBO (it wouldn't be on HBO because HBO wouldn't waste so much money putting garbage out there), it would be fine. I would probably finish the season and leave it at that. Unfortunately, it was a major studio production that had me sitting there waiting for the post-credits stinger thinking 'maybe it's just impossible to make something good, coherent, cohesive with these characters.'