Movie Review - Justice League

It is funny how it was only a week or two ago I had watched and liked Thor: Ragnarok for it being not too serious. This movie, which had been my childhood dream (I mean, it is THE JUSTICE FRICKIN' LEAGUE!), feels very similar in this aspect. It is actually light on story and it kept me entertained throughout. Was it the grand Magum Opus that DC was building it up to be...? Yes... and unfortunately, no.

Let me deal with the problems first, which this film has quite a bit. I am aware of the tragic incident that the director had to go through, and not-to-mention, the metaphorical passing of the torch during the later stages of production. And it definitely shows. The difference between the scenes, particularly those that focused on the (paper-thin) plot and those that focused on the action, felt like night and day. Quite literally. You can tell these scenes were like pieces of a puzzle that were put together at the last minute that didn't feel quite in place. It was a fair bit distracting and inconsistent (much like this review).

Speaking of distracting, the CGI and the special effects were all over the place. Some effects felt like they were from the 90s (that is not an over-exaggeration) and some were serviceable. The worst offender of them all was the mandatory moustache-removal from Henry Cavill's face. That guy looked like a Superman from a low budget video-game, except this is not low-budget nor is it a video-game.

  

The plot, you ask? I know I am sounding like a broken record, but its the same old, same old. Big-old CGI bad guy comes from the sky to take over the world and the heroes save it. That is it.

Now onto the good parts... this movie as a whole was thoroughly entertaining. The movie didn't slack anywhere and unlike BvS, I didn't want to leave half-way through. This is one of those movies that begs you to leave your brain and its best friend, the sense of logic, at home. As with Thor: Raganrok, this is a mindless Superhero action flick through and through, and I am quite certain you will not be bored with it. Also, all the characters of the JL were given more or less the equal screen-time which is a good thing.

Being the ardent fan that I am, I must beg your pardon for speaking exclusively about The Batman in this section of my review. You can ignore this if you'd want but I strongly suggest you read it through. Basically, EVERY scene with Batman is top-notch... with a caveat. They made him a laughing-stock in few of the scenes at the cost of making the other heroes look awesome, which I totally did not like. They make fun of him throughout the movie when, if my memory serves me right, he was the one who said to the Justice League that he knows all their weaknesses as a sort of a "contingency plan" if they ever go rogue in an animated film. Such a bad-ass character was brought down to a second comic-relief character which I do not approve of. Otherwise, aesthetically and cinematically (even with Frank Millar's "fat-man" version of the suit) Batman was done right. They even play a modified version of Danny Elfman's theme song from the 80s which sent a chill down my spine every time it was played.

In the end, this movie did feel like a Justice League movie without a doubt, but not the movie I was hoping for. Now, you may have had minor doubts in your mind if you aren't a fan of the source-material. I can assure you that I have tried my best to erase those minor doubts and replace them with major ones instead. Get what you will from this review but watch this movie is all I'm saying. It is worth it despite a few problems.

Score - 7.5/10

To 3D or not to 3D -  The 3D was good with adequate 'out-of-the-screen' moments. Some scenes felt like they were 2D, with little to no noticeable DOF but the action scenes appear at the right time to prove me wrong. On a side note, I would suggest you to go to an IMAX screen (the movie was shot in IMAX) since the resolution was messed up where I watched (a non-IMAX).