The Justice League: Good, Not Great

The holiday movie season is gearing up again, and DC comics just released their latest film, Justice League. The Justice League are the Avengers of the DC world, with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, the Flash, and Aquaman all making appearances in the new film. It follows the events of Batman vs. Superman, where Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman successfully defend the world against Lex Luthor and his evil creation, Doomsday, but at the expense of Superman’s life. However, at the end of the movie Superman’s coffin levitates, setting up a possibility for Superman’s return.

The Justice League picks up after the worldwide mourning period following the “death” of Superman. Batman has begun to assemble an all-star team of superheros to defend the world in Superman’s absence. It becomes more urgent when it is revealed that Steppenwolf, the main villain in the film has returned to Earth to get revenge on his failed invasion attempt many years ago. He is motivated by three mother boxes, scattered in various locations around Earth, which he can use to turn Earth into the hellscape that is his home planet and please his master, Darkseid. The Justice League, with the help of a newly exhumed Superman, must fight to retake the mother boxes and save Earth.

While the action is cool and all, the story felt a bit rushed, and the plot seemed to be the same cliche story where the heroes must band together to save Earth. It has been done a million times before and Justice League does nothing to set itself apart. It also doesn’t do much to develop any of the characters. While it tries it some spots, like showing Barry Allen (Flash) visiting his dad in prison, or the back and forth between Victor Stone (Cyborg) and his dad, it just doesn’t feel genuine. The poor performance of Batman also can’t be left out, as he really does nothing to help the other heroes and really just causes most of the drama that is present in the movie, #notmybatman. It seems to rush it’s way to the end fight scene, which is graphically amazing, but is underwhelming overall. The heroes struggle to overcome Steppenwolf, until the far overpowered Superman comes out of nowhere and beats Steppenwolf easily, devaluing the 20 minute scene that unfolded before.

Although the Justice League tries hard to be more than just another superhero film, it fails to do so due to its lack of character development and rushed story. The visuals were really good, and there were some good fight scenes, but overall it just left a lot to be desired. All these factors play into my rating of three out of five Spartan Heads. Hopefully the series can bounce back in one of its next films, as Marvel is miles ahead of DC right now.