Review: 'Justice League' (2017)

Okay, as an amateur movie critic, I'm not super well-versed on the burgeoning and ever-endless growing comic-book-franchises that are popping up like weeds in the desert. I do find that both the powerhouse comic book forces, DC Comics and Marvel Studios are in some sort of battle royale to get their respective movie superheroes into multiplexes as fast as you can chug a 2-liter soda bottle in three to five seconds. I haven't seen Thor: Ragnarok yet and I'm reserving judgement for when I do see it, but if and when I do, I won't be drawing parallels between the DC Extended Universe and the Marvel Universe. Nope - thankfully, Justice League will do all of that for me. Yes, there'll be a breach of movie etiquette of comparing crosshatching dueling comic book movie franchises. The question will be, did I enjoy it and do I recommend it? The answer may surprise you.

The film opens as I kind of expected. In true comic movie fashion, we get a wink-and-a-nod to the Tim Burton 1989 blockbuster, with Ben Affleck as Batman duking it out with a perp atop city rooftops until he gets interrupted by some alien-bug creature who gives him a clue as to who the greater enemy is. Then, it's an alterna-rock montage with the recurring theme of Superman's death, that was apparently caused by Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (and even a nod to the late rock icons Prince and David Bowie wasn't lost on me). Then, we get the DC Comics icebreaker standby: the bank robbery with a shitload of hostages; wink-wink-and-a-nod-nod to The Dark Knight. We have Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman/Diana Prince doing her thing with the Lasso of Truth and then, pseudo-bragging about her boring existence. We then, meet Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), a barfly/mystery man, whom we learn is a very cool and coy merman who is quite adept at communicating with marine life, hence, we know he's Aquaman. There's fidgety and nervous (not to mention annoyingly talkative) teenager Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) who is as quick as (ahem) lightning, but has too many quirks to rival Norman Bates without the sick Oedipal-psychological tendencies. He's the Flash. If there's a clever and interesting back story among the growing superhero brood; it's high school football wunderkind-turned-death victim-turned....Cyborg. (Ray Fisher who you can sort of call a tragic version of the 'other' iron-clad hero who bears strong resemblance to Robert Downey Jr.) Of course, the other iconic superhero who lost his life in the 2016 sequel to Man of Steel, played by Henry Cavill in those previous films, is, spoiler alert, expected to pull off a Lazarus comeback this time around. Will he do it convincingly? Will we even care?

Here's the story's gist. Like a certain 2012 Marvel Enterprises inception film that introduced us to a motley crew of superheroes, a somewhat Loki-like villain without the coy sense of humor and also NOT a human being (a pure CGI effect from start to finish), but voiced with relish by Irish actor Ciarán Hinds, is hellbent on destroying Earth with an alien power device called the Mother Box which if you ask me, bears a striking resemblance to what destroyed New York City in that 'other' movie - The Tesseract. Apparently, the freaky evil dressed-as-a-black-devil alien baddie (in a costume that also appears in that 'other' 2017 Marvel superhero movie with Chris Hemsworth worn by an Oscar-winning Australian actress...) is clearly wanting to bring the flying monkeys (or flies) to our universe to destroy us and that damn Tesseract-oh, sorry, Mother Box is the equivalent of a chrome briefcase carrying nuclear launch codes ready to annihilate us to smithereens! It's at this point, Bruce Wayne/Batman feels the need to right his wrong (uh, now when its reaaaaally pertinent) and try a clever method to "Frankenstein" Clark Kent/Superman back to life. Does it work? Should we care?

Okay, here's the deal. Justice League, despite all its flaws and my countless quibbles, was a thoroughly pleasant surprise. I did enjoy it tremendously as I did that 2012 'other' movie, even though its like comparing crisp apples to tangy oranges. Zack Snyder who helmed this, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Man of Steel, as well as 300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch, and Dawn of the Dead, is a clear master at creating an almost surreal comic-book-graphic-novel universe in all of his films. Here, it's no exception, but this time, he allows us in and lets us care at least a little about each of the heroes in the story. For those who don't know, director Snyder pulled out of the film when his daughter died this year. The director of that 'other' film, Joss Whedon (oh, hell, he made The Avengers) stepped in to complete the film and its script; perhaps reasoning to me why both films bear such striking resemblance. Both films feature a tight, well-chosen cast and each given some fair screen time and are aided by a killer supporting cast including Diane Lane, Amy Adams, J.K. Simmons, and Jeremy Irons.

I suppose we may never get the perfect comic book movie entertainment in 2017 or any future year for that matter; though admittedly Wonder Woman with Gadot this year, came close enough. It was nice seeing Marc McLure, the original Jimmy Olsen from the 1978 Richard Donner masterpiece, Superman, makes a fun cameo as a security guard. Billy Crudup from Snyder's own Watchmen makes an effective cameo as the Flash's father. However, it's a funny kick to see Simmons as the new Commissioner Gordon. I mean, does anyone remember he was newspaper mogul J. Jonah Jameson in the original Marvel Spider-Man trilogy?

In wrapping, despite my impatience with comic book movies borrowing, riffing and outright stealing from each other, Justice League, is still a fun time at the movies. I will be looking forward to seeing Jason Momoa don those aqua-green contacts for his new Aquaman movie next December 2018. Don't let the complaints fool you. I had a great time This is after all, 2017. Expectations must be painfully lowered these days.

The 2017 Poster