Review- Justice League

Justice League is DC's follow up to Wonder Woman and while I was afraid it wouldn't live up to that film, I'm now terrified of DC's future. The plot (as it is) is that a big ol' bad guy called Stepenwolf (no relation to the band) needs to grab three boxes so that he can turn Earth into some wasteland or something. The only people who can save the day? The Justice League, consisting of Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash and everyone's favourite, Cyborg. Superman is also in it but he's dead, so the gang will have to get up to some craaaaaaaazy antics to get him back. Honestly, the plot could be the biggest thing holding this film back. See, there's this rule in writing stories where events should always be "therefore, this happens" or "however, this happens", events that have cause and effect, the plot never just becoming "and then this happens" Justice League is "then this happens": The Movie. Wonder Woman stops a robbery. And then Batman meets The Flash. And then there's another fight scene. And then I'm already bored.

Considering that much of the cast have played these roles before, acting should be a highlight but somehow, it isn't because it doesn't seem like anyone cares about this film. Ben Affleck is usually great as Batman but here, he comes across as uninterested. Gal Gadot, having proved to be similarly good before, is not only a much more uninteresting version of her character than before but one whose arse we get a lot more shot of. Basically, if you thought Wonder Woman had too much character and not enough objectification, you'll love this. Henry Cavill turns up as Superman and is bland. Jason Momoa's Aquaman borders between moody and trying to crack wise, never finding a middle ground. Ray Fisher's performance is robotic but I guess that works for Cyborg? The final main cast member is Ezra Miller as The Flash and while he bordered on obnoxious for me in other films, he was not on the border here, falling face first into being just the worst. If I'm honest, the best performances are from those who are barely in it, that being Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons and Billy Crudup. These are incredibly talented actors who make the most of their two or three scenes and seeing them wasted bums me out. In fact, there was one actor who was so underused that I almost forgot he was in it, JK Simmons. It made me realise that he has not been used well once since Whiplash and man, that is depressing.

There's so much wrong with the film that is still left to be covered. I suppose really the biggest thing to talk about is the special effects and how... Well, there's no getting past it, there are some really bad special effects in this film. There was a Batman scene where he's walking around the rooftops of Gotham and I legitimately thought they'd stolen the scenery from Batman: Arkham City, a game which came out six years ago btw. Countless scenes in the film are identifiable as reshoots purely because the green screen in them is so aggressively noticeable. Someone might almost say it looks like about a third of the film was reshot two months ago, giving the poor special effects artists no time to do their job properly. The worst CG in the film though is clear and it is Superman's fake lip. For those who don't know, there were reshoots that happened while a lot of actors were also working on other films, including Henry Cavill who had a moustache for that film. Due to a clause in his contract, he wasn't allowed to shave and DC instead had to green screen his moustache out of the film. From the very first scene of the film, it creates an uncanny effect and makes looking at one of the main characters in the film quite painful.

I've really torn into Justice League here and while I definitely don't recommend it, it isn't awful. The stuff you liked from the last DC films is in here in traces but lacking the charm. Many are saying the film is at least better than Batman V Superman but other than a lack of Lex Luthor, I don't feel it did anything better. Testament to how bland this film is is that later that night, my mind started to wander and I thought "Oh, Justice League comes out soon" and then remembered I'd already seen it. Really, the one regret I have with this film is that I wasn't much drunker so I give it a