Average superhero movie.

Rating: 6/10 (28 November 2017)

In Justice League, 5 individuals with powers and/or raw intelligence come together (see what I did there?) to stop the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf. A simple setup that is very clearly the opposite of the extreme convolution that is Batman v Superman, which this film follows upon very clearly. Taking place a couple of months after these events (and a while after Suicide Squad), Superman is dead and the world mourns him.
Evidently, the largest problem in this film is its setup, which comprises roughly half the film. It's a familiar story, assemble a team and tackle the bad guy. Most of the new members, namely Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman, are given some proper character development. Flash is a young man stuck in limbo who is still hung up over his mother's death (the cause of which is evident to anyone who watches the TV series with Grant Gustin) and Cyborg is bitter over the nature of his condition following his "reconstruction", clearly at odds with his father. Aquaman is the odd one out in these circumstances, a rather strange situation considering his own film is the closest to release. His personality shows promise, but I can't help but think that his arc could have been stronger had they stuck with the original running time of 2h 30min. There is simply not enough exposition to him to really care about his arc. Cyborg is the opposite, his exposition is reasonable, but his personality is lacking, with most of his humorous attributes going to Barry Allen instead. This is clearly a problem with the script, which fails to take advantage of Ray Fisher's natural charisma in any of his character's interactions. Overall, however, it is a good setup for a reasonably enjoyable to watch team. A team seriously undercut by a frustrating aspect.
Unfortunately, Justice League also has the misfortune of dealing with the death of Superman in its second half, which was an unconvincing and underwhelming addition in Batman v Superman. The repercussions of that awful movie are felt here, where the necessity of the need of the Justice League is undercut in the final act of the film. It's no secret that Superman is back, the marketing team literally included him in the main poster the day after the film came out as if it was a big reveal. Given his power though, the need for the Justice League to conquer obstacles without Superman's help is almost completely gone, his involvement overshadowing all prior teamwork and commitment the group of 5 displayed. This leaves the inevitable final battle feeling heavily anti-climatic for the main characters the film had dedicated half of its run-time to establishing. On the bright side, it is a return of form to Superman, whose personality has clearly changed for the better since his last appearance. He is far more cheerful and less brooding than Batman, as it should be. Still, it is more an advertisement for better days with Henry Cavill's incarnation, one which would seem to benefit from his actor's charisma as well.
The villain, Steppenwolf, played by Ciaran Hinds, is also given ample screen time in the film, far more than I was expecting. Unfortunately, and very clearly a consequence of the film's screen time limitation as well as the writing, his exposition, motives and personality are all utterly crap. The film utilises elements of Jack Kirby's Fourth World very poorly, with minimal reference to the New Gods or even Darkseid and Apokolips. Darkseid and Apokolips were a necessity in a film dealing with Parademons and New Gods, even if that appearance was rather small. What we are left with is a henchman without a master, which severely undercuts Steppenwolf's already vague motives. Ciaran Hinds mentioned that his character "is old and tired, wishing to escape his enslaved position under his nephew Darkseid". Yet we see very little of these motives at all, nor its impact on his already bland personality, which reduces Steppenwolf to a generic alien invader who could have been so much more if he had been written with those essential elements as a priority for the film.
The film also cost well over $300 million when including marketing, which only makes me more disappointed in the final result. No DCEU film so far, with the exception of Wonder Woman, has ever exceeded "good enough", which shows a distinct lack of quality when compared to Marvel. Fact of the matter is, they are in the same ballgame, and comparisons are inevitable. Justice League, with its range of issues, is not an exception and continues the trend for what I hope is the last time.