Bland Superhero Ensemble Movie is no Avengers

Rating: 6/10 (8 December 2017)

There is no denying the only reason this film exists is because of the gargantuan amount of money "The Avengers" raked in. The Avengers stunt was carefully setup and well executed, with a charismatic villain. This new type of group superhero movie has now lost it's excitement quotient. I actually found the extended cut of Batman v. Superman to be an entertaining movie. I found Ben Affleck to be a good balance of smart and tough. He is slightly demoted this time around as we have to be committed to this being an ensemble piece.
The introduction of the new characters are the bright spot, as we are introduced to actual new superheroes, instead of a reboot of spiderman, etc. The screen time spent on developing the Cyborg character, for instance, creates some depth and sympathy. Same for the Flash character, who visits his father in prison (obvious plot bait for a future episode). Aquaman is one of those weird superheroes that needs to be setup carefully. It is understandable that Hollywood has never tried to do this type of hero before. The villain, guess what, wants to destroy the world. He is part of the generic side of this story, being able to summon flying robot insect people (or something like that). You might expect that other subplots would arise involving others colluding with the main bad guy. Thankfully, subplots that add extra running time are kept to a minimum. Mainly, because with so many main characters, you have your hands full just keeping them all busy.
Pacing is good with this film, trying it's best to get through a heavy emotional beat in a hurry. For me, I think a popcorn film needs no excuse to stay consistent with the number of minutes between action scenes. Joss Whedon found the right formula with "The Avengers", so you can expect his influence on Justice League to be familiar territory. Gone are the flashback/nightmare scenes that were a curveball from BvS. Wonder Woman is already a familiar character, so it is nice not to feel that she has to regurgitate much of her past. Her action scenes perhaps have a bit more imagination to them since she is still a new character with new superpowers. Jeremy Irons is more light-hearted than Michael Caine's portrayal of Alfred.
It is too bad this film felt it had to hold back with the kind of world Zack Snyder had created. It ends up being not very exciting and more of a chore. Certainly the novelty of creating ensemble films are feeling stale. Nevertheless, to get a chance to see more Wonder Woman, and some likable new co-horts, you won't get bored.