Were admission prices really justified for latest ‘Justice League’ superhero ensemble?
Kaitlin Schneider
Antelope Staff
After the release of the fantastic Wonder Woman film, many fans were hoping DC’s cinematic quality was steadily on the rise, with their movies improving day by day. Alas, it is not so, because Justice League fell short of the mark. Actually, this latest film almost misses that elusive mark completely, rather like the cast’s blows coming up short on the film’s big bad, Steppenwolf. Of course, there were several factors that made this movie about as entertaining as “Dawn of Justice” (which by the way, was not), but its main issue was obvious: DC hardly had any original content in this film. Ensemble cast, terrifying box for a weapon, snarky leader with too much money? I was unaware I had paid money to see the first Avengers film on the silver screen yet again.
While the cast was filled with huge names, many of which the DC universe has used before in previous movies, including Ben Affleck, Jeremy Irons and Gal Godot (who, as always, is a highlight, but was lost in the chaos), some of the newbies just didn’t pack a hard enough punch. Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, while badass and intimidating, was basically just that, badass and intimidating. The character had no depth, even though I quite excited to see his character on screen. Ezra Miller’s quips as the Fastest Man Alive added a thin layer of occasional hilarity to the movie, but more often than not, the jokes were as mistimed as the film itself.
The pacing was entirely off. In the beginning, during which events unfurled much too slowly, I kept waiting for things to pick up, but by the time the credits rolled, I just sat in my chair thinking “…What? That’s it? That wasn’t an ending!” Sure, it leaves the option for more movies, especially as audiences see Bruce Wayne making plans for a conference room for the six superheroes, “with room for more.” But after sitting through two hours of poor jokes, excessive use of slow motion and some characters audiences don’t even get the time to care for, would they really want to sit through yet another movie akin to this one?
The plot itself was fairly simple, but it was a rehash of many previously released superhero films from the get-go. The cell phone recording of Superman that took place before the title sequence was an evident copy of “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” and it certainly didn’t pack the humorous punch that the Webslinger’s latest film did. And then there was the inclusion of Superman himself—the disappointing driving force of the whole movie, at that. It just so happens that the weapon which Steppenwolf is after, the three Mother Boxes, have the potential of bringing back people, even The Man of Steel, from the dead. How convenient for this struggling band of heroes! Just when all seems lost at the end of the film, Superman swoops in to save the day in a battle that audience members were hardly invested in the first place.
Overall a lackluster tale, “Justice League” presents an array of problems for the usual superhero film fanatic. Of course, my world is Marvel-centric, but even putting that bias aside, what happened to the brilliance present in the last DC film? Or was “Wonder Woman” just a wonderful fluke? Either way, you certainly don’t have to be as fast as The Flash in racing to see this film.
