Justice League (film)

**Justice League** is a 2013 superhero film based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name. It is also a sequel to *Superman: The Last Son of Krypton*, *Wonder Woman*, *Green Lantern*, *Batman 2*, and *The Flash*. It was directed by Joss Whedon and written by David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan. It stars Hugh Jackman, Chris Evans, Gal Gadot, Chris Hemsworth, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jason Momoa, James Franco, Kenneth Branagh, and Angela Bassett. The film ran 161 minutes, with an extended version at 186 minutes, and was released on July 3, 2013.

## Plot

On Oa, the home of the Green Lantern Corp, Thaal Sinetestro has been in their prison for two years now for crimes against the Corps. However, he is able to escape, being secretly released by Ganthet to lead an invasion against Earth. Sinestro gets his army of Yellow Lanterns and they head to Earth. In Gotham City, Bruce Wayne/Batman stops a criminal, only for the man to kill himself by throwing himself off the ledge. Commissioner Gordon reveals criminals are doing this to spit Batman, so don't let it spite him. However, at that very moment Bruce gets a call from Amanda Waller of A.R.G.U.S., saying it is time to unite. In Metropolis, Clark Kent and Lois Lane are on a date when the former gets an alert from A.R.G.U.S. to meet at Gotham Harbor. Clark promises to repay Lois later. Bruce gets Barry Allen/The Flash out of Central City to get him on the team. Waller also reveals her own hero, Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, a 5,000-year-old Amazonian princess who has incredible powers. Clark remembers a man he met a while ago and Waller asks him to fetch the "fish-man" as they need all the help they can get. Arthur Curry/Aquaman refuses to join, wanting to stay in isolation.

The four member team has their first fight to stop Sinestro in Gotham City, where he is trying to get Wayne Enterprises' reactor core, which can tear an entire city apart. Waller reveals she doesn't Sinestro's true intentions, but she sends an A.R.G.U.S. squad, including Steve Trevor IV, the great-grandson of Steve Trevor, and Dale Gunn, an A.R.G.U.S. agent Bruce met. Gordon holds back his police force, letting the team take care of the threat. Suddenly, Hal Jordan/Green Lantern and Carol Ferris/Star Sapphire appear, fellow members of the Lantern Corps, to help the team stop Sinestro and return him to his Oan prison. When Sinestro reveals that he needs four reactor corps, one in Gotham, one in Metropolis, one in Central City, and one in Atlantis, Curry's home, Curry decides to join the team to protect his home.

In Metropolis, Lois reports the phenomenon only to be attacked by the Yellow Lanterns to find the reactor core. Clark appears and reveals it is underneath LuthorCorp. Sinetestro finds the core and prepares for his next two invasions. Clark flies Lois to Smallville until the invasion is over. In Central City, the Flash alerts Singh, who sends his Metahuman Task Force out to stop Sinestro any way. However, Sinetsro reduces the squad to ash, showing Singh his power and he calls off the rest of the force. The team learns Sinestro just needs the Atlantis reactor core. They get to Atlantis first and defend the city. However, Carol is mind-controlled by Sinestro to get the core. The four cores are combined to create a weapon that can tear the whole planet apart. The team fights Sinestro in Gotham, his starting point for the weapon. Aquaman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Star Sapphire get the citizens to safety while Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman fight Sinestro.

While fighting the alien, the city slowly tears itself apart from the underground. Batman travels underground and almost dies, but he is able to restore the city and he destroys the reactor cores. The heroes go their seperate ways, but promise to unite the "Justice League" when another threat comes along. Bruce is able to show the criminals not to kill themselves by making them realize they are just slowly killing off the infestation. Clark and Lois return to Metropolis, where they have their date over again, with no interuptions. Diana returns to A.R.G.U.S., where she begins a relationship with Trevor IV. Hal and Carol return to Coast City to help out the Lantern Corps. Arthur returns to Atlantis, where he is labeled a hero. Barry returns to Central City, where Singh begins to realize he is the Flash.

In a mid-credits scene, Sinestro and Ganthet talk about the former's failure to end the world. However, it is revealed to have been a distraction for Darkseid. In a post-credits scene, three years later in 2016, Hank Henshaw, still alive and healthy, looks at Cheetah's cryo-chamber and presses "open".

## Cast

* Hugh Jackman as Bruce Wayne/Batman
* Chris Evans as Clark Kent/Superman
* Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
* Chris Hemsworth as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern
* Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Barry Allen/The Flash
* Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
* James Franco as Thaal Sinestro
* Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Carol Ferris/Star Sapphire
* Henry Cavill as Steve Trevor IV
* Kate Mara as Lois Lane
* Chris Pine as Dale Gunn
* Tom Cullen as David Singh
* Mads Mikkelsen as Ganthet
* Kenneth Branagh as Jim Gordon
* Angela Bassett as Amanda Waller

## Reception

### **Box office**

*Justice League* grossed $368 million in North America, and $602.7 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $970.8 million.

### **Critical reception**

*Justice League* received positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 74% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10 based on 175 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "*Justice League* offers plenty of eye-popping visual inventiveness and a number of great action sequences, though it can't quite live up to the big team-up we were expecting." Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating from mainstream critics, gave the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The film earned an "A" from audiences polled by CinemaScore, on an A+ to F scale.