Let it end with this one

Rating: 6/10 (19 November 2017)

I don't despise or hate the DCEU, but by this point, it'd be good if WB let it die here and now. Man of Steel is passable, Batman v Superman is a muddled mess, Suicide Squad was a complete mess, Wonder Woman is good and Justice League is just good. Has world building, no duh, but with 3 out of 5 of the movies so far being less than ideal or just plain terrible, it'd be nice to start fresh with a DC Cinematic Universe
Story. Batman and Wonder Woman seek out to recruit Barry Allen; Flash, Arthur Curry: Aquaman and Victor Stone; Cyborg to their cause in order to stop the villainous Steppenwolf, before he uses three cubes to what else, take over the world. And that's it in a nut shell. Looking back on it, there's nothing else to it. Halfway through, our heroes unite, plan, talk, plan, go to some Eastern European town and save the world, defeating the villain and going their separate ways until the next installment. Did I mention that Joss Whedon re-shot about 30-40% of this film after Snyder left, cause this feels very Age of Ultron esque. I admire that he put some humour into a Justice League film, but that only makes it tonally inconsistent to the Zach Snyder DC movies so far.
It has a simple story, some good pacing admittedly, likable characters, predictable dialogue and jokes, and a really cheap ending. It really made me wonder what ending Snyder would have given it had he remained. I could tell which scenes and dialogue was included by Whedon instantly. The villain is one note and cliché, just like Ultron or that Dark Elf guy turned out to be in the MCU.
Affleck and Gadot are fine in their roles. I really like Jason Mamoa as Aquaman, and even though I'm done with the DCEU by this point, I'll go see Aquaman just for him when it comes out. Ezra Miller was fine as the flash, and that's all, fine. Not my first choice. He's too goofy; in my mind the flash is meant to be a hardened and mature, yet whimsical character, not just down right goofy, and no, the touching scenes he has with his dad didn't sell. Ray Fisher I liked as Cyborg; I wanna see what he does in a standalone Cyborg film. Even though it stuns me today that Snyder chose Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, this was a good choice, he's half and half when it comes to casting, I will say.
And now, a SPOILER Superman comes back to life halfway through, and it's both contrived, and a waste of time from the last movie. They do nothing interesting with him being back, and what they do is over in a 'flash'; the league needs Superman so the script makes it so. And again, the tonal shift Whedon makes just makes this superman comes off like a different person, which looking back on the previous films, I actually admire that; he's not a brooding a'hole this time around. And I won't lie, it cheapens the forming of the justice league in a sense, but I feel like either way the league would have been formed; they still have Steppenwolf to fight, I didn't feel like Superman's "inspiration" to Batman meant anything really. Not to mention, depending on Superman to win the day really cheapens the other characters and their abilities.
On one nitpick, I really wanted Batman's skills and weaponry to pay off more. I wanted to see that metal suit from BvS, or something like the Hellbat Armour from the comics show up; he just fights in his batman suit, no guns, just good old martial arts and small gadgets against an invincible god and an army of monsters twice his strength.
The ending ends on a promising note, but that being said the DCEU, if it continues past this point, still had a rough and disappointing start, and it's gonna be distracting going forward. I just want it to end so we can start fresh; yes it will be a pain in the neck for WB, but that's what you get for shoving all your mandated nonsense on the directors and the script. Stop trying to be Marvel, stop trying to play catch up with Marvel. Take time to develop your stories. Let creative directors do what they want with the characters and you'll get somewhere.