Entertaining but flawed

Rating: 6/10 (16 November 2017)

So after seeing Batman vs Superman, I didn't exactly have high hopes for this film. The trailer, particularly, with it's sacrilegious abomination cover of the Beatles' Come Together, gave me mixed feelings about it.
DC have been playing catch-up with Marvel for ages, and it really shows. Half of the Justice League have already been introduced from previous films. The others (Aquaman, the Flash, and Cyborg) are given their proper debut here (no, I'm not counting their brief cameos in the other films) and the film does its best to integrate them into the story.
The film is your standard 'evil overlord tries to take over the world' plot, with Batfleck trying to assemble the Justice League. The team have some funny lines occasionally, which I feel is thanks to Joss Whedon being one of the screenwriters, but once again, the Zack Snyder tropes come to the surface with numerous sped up/slo-mo action scenes. There were also a few lines of dialogue that made me cringe.
The film overall is enjoyable but there are pacing issues. The villain of the piece is particularly forgettable. They try to build this sense of scale that looks grand and epic but ultimately it doesn't quite live up to the hype, in my opinion.
If we're talking about wasted potential, how about JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon? I really hope he has more time to shine in future films because he had no reason to be in this film other than establishing his presence in the DC Universe. Also, speaking of wasted talent/useless characters, Amy Adams as Lois Lane... I swear to God, her character development is halted in its tracks beyond simply 'I love Superman'. It's ridiculous.
That aside, the main heroes perform well here. I particularly enjoyed Ezra Miller's interpretation of the Flash. Jason Momoa is just awesome in everything. Gal Gadot is great as Wonder Woman, yet again, Ray Fisher makes a good Cyborg (I found it ironic that his Dad was the actor who played Miles Dyson in Terminator 2) and Ben Affleck continues to be great as Bruce Wayne.
Not terrible, not fantastic, but it's in the healthy middle ground for me.