It's good, but that's all it is.

Rating: 7/10 (19 November 2017)

I'm a fan of the DC Comic Universe (The Green Lantern being my favorite), so I've gone in to every movie with high expectations. After Suicide Squad, those hopes pretty much went down the toilet. Still, Man of Steel made me believe in Superman again, so I gave the movie a chance.
If Suicide Squad brought those expectations down, then Justice League slowly brought them back up, making this a good movie, but that's all it is.
First, the bad stuff: The villain (Steppenwolf) is very generic and forgettable (and it calls upon parallels in the Marvel Comics Universe), making it cliché. A terrible villain, with a powerful weapon, seeking to destroy the status quo and become ruler. The Hero is only as powerful as the Villain.
The CGI: I've always said this, but I believe that CGI is one of the things that, if not done correctly, will rob the audience of emotional impact. Suspension of disbelief is very important when telling a story, and there were moments when I felt I was watching a video game. Superman's MOUTH?!?!?!?! What the hell happened to Henry Cavill's mouth to require CGI? It's bad enough they do that to his cape, but his mouth?!?! It made me curious about the story, and not the one on the screen, but the one between Henry Cavill and the studio (Again, suspension of disbelief). Watch the first two installments of the Alien franchise, and tell me different. Bring the CGI down a notch (or ten)!!!!! The humour (Part One): Batman vs. Superman was dark. It needed humour. I get it. I simply felt that they made certain characters too quippy, and unnecessarily so (The Flash, for example).
The delivery: There were moments when this movie felt too antiseptic. I can accept it to a certain degree, but certain moments could have used that dark and complex delivery to make it more impactful emotionally. It made parts of the movie less inspired than other superhero movies I've seen.
The story: Because they felt that complexities may be difficult to understand, I get that they wanted to keep the story simple. That being said, complexity doesn't mean complication. Rick & Morty deals with that complexity all the time, and on every count, they're able to simplify it with a line of dialogue, or even a split-second image.
Now, the Good, because there were a lot of good elements to this movie that excite me for future installments.
The characters exhibit their trademark complexities with the presence and dignity they deserve. I liked them. There were moments when certain characters were over-sexualized (Aquaman and Wonder Woman), but I didn't put too much emphasis on their physiques until they were given context. They showed their powers. Fair enough. I also liked how they heightened the vulnerabilities of certain characters (Batman, The Flash, and Cyborg), and I connected with them even more as a result of them. Good for you! They can be hit (and in certain cases, with more than just Kryptonite).
The story: There were certain sequences when my jaw was dropped. The Superman Resurrection was indeed one of them. I had always wanted to see a Dark Superman battling the Justice League, if only for a moment. I hope this isn't the last we've seen of Dark Superman. Also, the little pieces of the DC Universe teasing us in the moments of exposition made me want to see more (The Green Lantern Power Rings, Deathstroke and the Founding of The Secret Society of Super Villains, leading potentially to the Infinite Crisis). The Extra-Credit scenes in Justice League do for DC what they also do for Marvel. I think that they're setting the stage for a very human struggle set on Earth, and I think we need The humour: Even though the movie was too quippy, there were the moments where the humour hit its mark, and heightened what would have been very boring scenes. The Flash is funny, I'm not doubting that for a moment.
All in all, it was fun, but flawed. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't blown away. I don't doubt that there will be a sequel to this, preceded by movies exploring the individual members of the League. I liked Wonder Woman, and I look forward to Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg and The Batman (especially given the reveal of Deathstroke in that very last scene with Lex Luthor, a twist that, although was very predictable, was still very entertaining).