Strange

Rating: 7/10 (19 November 2017)

Watching Justice league was a strange experience. On one hand were the expectations- viewing my favorite heroes on screen together was a goose-pimpling experience (give it up Marvel- Superman and Batman put together trumps all your flock). Also, after 3-4 middling ones, and one good movie, this was DC's make or break move. Marvel's big bucks is what DC was after, and true to their style, it was the movie that kind of summarized DC's Phase 1, much like The Avengers did for Marvel back in 2012.
So in short, Justice League was a movie that I desperately wanted to like. All DC had to do was to dish out a coherent yet original fare, which may seem simple to imagine given the wealth of material available, but difficult to execute- imagine Suicide Squad and Batman vs Superman and you get the idea.
The good news- it is a fun movie, mostly. Having two directors may have had its minuses, but it Whedon's addition surely lightened things up. Justice League picks up from where Batman vs Superman ended- with Superman's death. His death left a lasting impact- with Batman reducing his homicidal tendencies, Wonder Woman surfacing, and other metahumans stepping up. At the same time, the world is a place worse off without Superman, with people being afraid- a perfect time for parademons who feast on fear to appear, along with their master, Steppenwolf. Speaking of whom, is one of the movie's many mistakes. Bland, single track and CGI only- this guy the worst comic book villain in recent times.
"No protectors here. No Lanterns. No Kryptonian. This world will fall, like all the others"
Steppenwolf is here to steal the 3 mother boxes - one each in Atlantis, Themiscyra and Metropolis, which will help him conquer the world, and terraform it (yet again, DC?) amidst a lot of Mother, Unity mumbo jumbo. In a world without Superman, Batman realizes battling such an alien threat will require a league of superheroes, and goes about assembling his team, and when the team is proved inadequate, the focus shifts to reviving Superman, who understandably, tilts the balance by waving his little finger. But not without letting each of the Justice League members know who the boss is.
"I miss the days when one's biggest concern is exploding wind-up penguins."
One of the many joys of watching Justice League is looking out for the easter eggs. Some of the Old Gods feature- Zeus and Artemis, as well as a Green Lantern. Deathstroke makes an appearance, Flash and Superman race, Gorilla Grod, Penguin and Captain Cold are referenced- oh there is so much more! But the flaws are equally many too- bad CGI, inconsistent tonal shifts that is associated with two distinctly different directors, wooden acting from Affleck, and Gadot, and most importantly, poor editing.
I really do not understand the 2 hour rule here, as this is a movie that could have been at-least 20 minutes longer to give some more backstory to some of the new characters. More so because it is the new characters who steal the show- nerdy Flash, macho Aquaman, and techie Cyborg. Justice League brings together heroes with a range of powers- mythology, science or as Batman would put it, money based. But unlike The Avengers, where all the heroes had already been introduced in solo movies, this introductory team up feels hurried and inadequate. But then Justice League was never the main event- everybody knew it once the villain was announced. As a build-up though, it works well.
Where does the DC Extended Universe go from here though? It is in the right direction at-last I think, but really needs better directors. As for Justice League the movie- depending on the mood in any particular day, viewers are likely to classify it as good or bad. It is a strange movie, as I said at the outset. 7/10