Good Characters; weak story; severely rushed CGI

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2017)

First the spoiler free details: I give this movie a 7 out of 10 on the basis that it is a C-grade attempt at superhero cinema. I loved the characters. I thought the growing dynamic between Bruce and Diana was perfectly in line with what they had already experienced together and where they were heading. I also believe that Bruce's lighter tone was very much a realistic portrayal. While I'd love to have seem some more aggression and darker characteristics from Batman, I think his humor was the most believable as he is making the deliberate choice to honor his promise to Superman and be a better person. With that in mind, hopefully we will see Affleck return to a darker persona in movies to come that can sprinkle in the "gallows humor" while also keeping Batman as an aggressive, dark figure of justice.
Now some of the spoilers: The Flash and Aquaman were awesome to see on the screen but not without their flaws. The Flash seemed to be nothing more to the team than a backup plan to keep civilians safe, but became completely useless to the team once Superman returned. The same cane be said for Aquaman, which felt more like a forced appearance just to set up his solo outing. While he did battle the parademons, his part in the film was largely unnecessary other than to inform Batman and Wonder Woman that Atlantis had lost its Mother Box. When its as all said and done, the plot could have been accomplished with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg. I do believe Cyborg was a very critical part of the story but his pain and character development took a back seat to the Flash's humor and Aquaman's screen time.
Superman return also felt a little cheapened. The end of BvS gave audiences hope that Superman would return on his own when the world needed him most. Instead, they repeated BvS and let Batman restore a Kryptonian in a slightly more refined method than Luthor's actions with Zod. True, Superman seems to be taking steps toward being more light and the character we all want to see, but his resurrection would have felt more pure if it was something he achieved on his own, battling his way out of the darkness (both of his backstory as well as his death) to reach the light.
There's also the matter of one really large pothole, which is: what happened to the Mother Boxes? We see Steppenwolf taken up into a Boom Tube, but we don't see an visual confirmation about the three boxes. Did they go through the Boom Tube as well or were they left behind for the Justice League to guard?
I won't even mention the poor attempts at Superman's mustache, which I hope are corrected before the DVD release of this film.
All in all, there were problems. But I think it was a step in the right direction. Much like with BvS, I expect to love the extended version infinitely more once we have the context of the added scenes. The cut scenes in BvS offered a lot of insight into Luthor and Batman's minds and hopefully the cut scenes in JL will do the same for characters like Cyborg.
At the end of the day, though, it was a fun movie and great to see all the characters together. They had a great dynamic that DC can definitely build on for future films. Their formula was very similar to Avengers, which was teach first of its kind in this genre. Had Justice League been they first, I have no doubt it would have seen a great deal of praise. Instead, it is a format we know and one we are all overly critical of now. But it leaves hope that the DCEU is moving forward. Aquaman's solo outing should be amazing and the next time these characters team up, it should play to each of their strengths. Batman as the brooding strategist, Wonder Woman as the leader, Superman as the symbol of hope, etc.