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| Justice League |
To quote The A-Team: "I love it when a plan comes together." For the D.C.E.U., the plan was leading to director Zack Snyder's Justice League: a movie that marks the first time that several iconic comic book heroes appear together on the big screen. There's Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman. In some ways it's a miracle that the film even made it to opening weekend given its fraught production issues, and general disdain for previous franchise entry and Razzie-nominated Batman v. Superman. So, does the film turn things around by getting the band together? Kind of. The issue isn't so much the characters this time around as it is the story's inconsistencies in tone and usefulness. Justice League has a lot of good signs for the future of this hobbled franchise, but it's still a proud and out mess.
This past summer saw the D.C.E.U. get their first major break with the critically acclaimed Wonder Woman, which saw Gal Gadot tackle World War I with physical grace. It's a career-defining performance, and one that possibly shifted the course for Justice League. Before Wonder Woman, this franchise was more reliant on dreariness meant to embody the reluctant hero narrative, but with superheroes. It's why Batman is grumpy now, and Superman chooses to merely watch destruction happen around him. It's a nihilistic, Frank Miller-esque vision that Snyder has reveled in ever since his first D.C. movie Watchmen. However, Wonder Woman was a blessing and a curse because it proved that these movies could have merit. They just needed to be constructed that way from the ground up.
Some of the issues were inevitable. It was a clash of visions thanks to Snyder's personal conflicts, and the replacement of Joss Whedon who allegedly counts for "20%" of reshoots. Who knows when the script got time to borrow Wonder Woman notes and become more personable. From the looks of the final product, Justice League at least succeeds at being both of their visions while fused together. The only issue is that nihilism and snark doesn't always go together. It's what reduces some moments in the third act to trite gimmickry of action movies (not to mention borderline plagiarism of Whedon's own The Avengers) as Aquaman gleefully shouts buzz words like "My man!" and "Yeah!" while doing things that don't compliment a man who controls water. While he does get to play in the ocean, his lack of third act relevance to water shows that some creative liberties were taken. It doesn't help that central villain Steppenwolf is too impersonal and blends in with the same apocalyptic foes that Batman v. Superman and Wonder Woman have faced. The issue is that this film is about the end of the world for the franchise's umpteenth time. Trying a new angle for Justice League 2 would be nice, or maybe just make next year's Aquaman be an aquatic Chinatown.
It's frustrating in large part because this is one of the first times that the franchise feels like it has an understanding of who these characters are. The reluctant hero angle was so upsetting that it created a controversial shift for do-gooders. This time around, the cynicism is replaced with fun character dynamics. The Flash is the giddy young kid, not unlike Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Homecoming, who livens up the entire movie. Cyborg is delightful in his exploration of powers that end up being pretty cool as an introduction to an obscure hero. Aquaman's taunts with Batman are just as fun. The only one who seems to be at odds is Wonder Woman, who has the best action scenes but is now reduced to comic folly when the boys club hangs out in the Bat Cave. In a sense, the Justice League team is much more upbeat and engaging that this could've been an exciting starting point. Screw needless exposition of Batman v. Superman. Just start here. With a few twists, it arguably could be the neo-steampunk pulp masterpiece it strives for. It doesn't quite get there, but there's traces of what could work, especially in an early action scene where the group dynamic is first explored in fascinating, energetic detail.
The film's other big success is that it's one of the first to not feel downright miserable and nihilistic. There may be some confrontations among Justice League members, but they inevitably put aside their differences in time to take down Steppenwolf. There's no petty, 40-minute extension of needless arguments. Instead, it gets to the point and delivers on moments that are fun, even nodding to the comics. The look may be different from those more familiar with 20th century D.C. characters, but the vision is so assured in presenting a fun team movie that it's hard to ignore what works. Maybe if Snyder was able to complete the film (there's an alleged "director's cut" that may appear one day), this film would have a more concrete tone. But would it be better? The humor definitely improves certain aspects of the film, but it's still at odds with itself. Still, the change towards optimism feels in line with Snyder's building character arc to suggest that maybe his vision wouldn't be perfect, but it would be more consistent and interesting.
Like the films that came before (though it's hard to discredit any superhero movie from this), there's plenty of odd moments ready to lampoon. Leaps of poor logic are made, and technical errors drown out a rather fun Danny Elfman score. It doesn't help that the villain is not very interesting, and the finale has some dreary-looking cinematography. Had the film felt more grounded and unique, there possibly could've been more to love about it. Instead, the third act wipes out even the sillier and dumber elements from being endearing. Still, the moments that do work in which the Justice League work together gives some hope that this franchise knows what it's doing. Aquaman may be the least consistent and interesting character, but even the promise of a unique, 21st century take on him now seems exciting.
Justice League is what the D.C.E.U. has been building to, and there's plenty to like and hate. In some ways, it's an improvement on everything that came before. It understands how to at least make the characters compelling, but sacrifices story with mediocre villains and set production. With a little more effort, the messy elements could've been more polished to produce something that may not be the ideal version of these heroes, but would be a perfect reinterpretation of them. This film deserves to have more focus than it gets, which becomes more noticeable as the third act chugs along, mixing in needless whoops and hollers with standard action sequences. Given that the first half is actually pretty decent, it's a shame that they couldn't stick the landing. There's a fun movie hidden somewhere in here, and maybe that will be seen on the director's cut - or maybe even in an upcoming movie. It just depends on what lessons are learned from Justice League.
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