Before viewing Justice League, I braced myself for it to be a complete waste of time. After all, Batman vs Superman is one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my life, Suicide Squad was unwatchable (any time Harley Quinn was not on the screen), and I was the only one I know who thought Wonder Woman was too long and boring. In other words, I have absolutely no faith in the post Dark Knight DC universe.
But due to circumstances beyond their control, DC changed their formula. I am sure the studio would have loved to continue making dark, brooding, nonsensical, joyless and boring superhero movies. However, due to personal reasons, director Zack Snyder needed to step away from the film before it was completed. In swooped Joss Whedon. If there is one thing Whedon knows, it is fun.
I think fun was the main element missing from previous DC movies. How can you possibly have a movie involving Superman that is too serious? His disguise is a freaking pair of glasses! You can't possibly take a movie seriously if it relies heavily on every single person in the world being a complete moron who can't recognize someone without glasses. Perhaps my biggest frustration with Batman vs Superman is that Snyder included a scene where Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent interact... and Bruce Wayne can't figure out he's talking to Superman! In the comic books, one of Batman's nicknames is "the world's greatest detective". So the world's greatest detective can't see through a disguise that consist of a pair of glasses? The 1978 Superman film handled the problem with humor. They made Clark Kent a bumbling, silly buffoon. And it worked. It showed the audience that they should not take it too seriously. Conversely, Snyder really wanted everything taken super seriously. This was just one example of how Snyder forgot that comic books aren't religious texts. They are meant to be fun.
Due to to the director switch, Justice League seems like two different movies mashed together. Normally, that would lead me to criticize a film. However, during the movie, I found myself being very thankful every every time the tone switched from what I imagine was the originally intended dark, bleak and boring one. It seemed very obvious that Whedon had inherited a nearly complete film and did not have enough time or money to redo it all. So he jammed in fun any chance he got.
Although the result was odd, at least I didn't leave the theater angry that I had completely wasted my time.
Don't get me wrong. The movie is not good. It simply isn't terrible. I can see how some people may actually like it.
I am guessing most of the first 45 minutes was not touched by Whedon. What is my evidence? It was really boring. Even with a couple of inexplicable fight sequences, it is still quite dull. The entire story of building the team simply drags on and on. After most of the team is assembled and Joss Whedon gets the characters having fun and interacting, it picked up quite a bit. I actually found myself having fun at times.
I pride myself on not including spoilers in my reviews. This is going to be especially tough for Justice League. Because of my desire to avoid spoilers, I am going to have to present this in a more choppy style (kind of like the movie). So let's take a look at the spoiler-free pros and cons of the movie.
Pros
+The action sequences during the second half of the movie are very entertaining.
+75% of the Flash's jokes are funny.
+40% of Aquaman's jokes are funny.
+A couple of Superman and Cyborg's jokes are funny.
+Gal Gadot looks pretty cool during the action sequences.
+Music was used well.
+I was originally upset with the fact that they did not allow Grant Gustin from The Flash TV show to reprise the role of Barry Allen, in the film. However, by the end of the movie, Ezra Miller had grown on me.
+It is short. Because it is under two hours long, I didn't have the chance to fall asleep at any point. If they had included 30 more minutes of useless boring dialogue, it would have made it impossible to watch in one sitting.
+If you enjoy looking at muscular men with their shirts off, you get at least 15 minutes of it.
+Both after the credit scenes are great! (Yes there are two.)
+I enjoyed how the Flash ran. He did not look smooth and composed. He kind of ran like Phoebe from Friends. I think this was an amusing detail. He is moving at ludicrous speed. It made sense that he was on the edge of loosing his balance.
The Cons
-None of Batman's jokes are funny. There was simply no magic Joss Whedon could work on Ben Affleck.
-I think Gal Gadot is a terrible actress.
-Almost every scene involving characters talking about something serious is nearly useless and incredibly boring.
-It takes way too long to assemble the team.
-Every character who is not a superhero or villain is pretty much useless.
-If you do not enjoy looking at muscular men with their shirts off, you get at least 15 minutes of it.
-There are two Mercedes Benz commercials in the film. Neither one of them is needed aside from the obvious money grab. They aren't used in a clever or original way. Just simple scenes of super heroes driving to a new location in a Mercedes Benz.
-Many of the special effects look incredibly fake. Most of the effects looked like I was watching my son play a Justice League video game on the Xbox One. This is especially true of the main villain, Steppenwolf.
Quick. Is this from a video game or the movie?
Although I did not despise the movie as much as I was anticipating, I still could not recommend a friend waste their time or money seeing it in the theater. Perhaps if Jos Whedon had been in charge of the film from the start it would have been more cohesive and fun. However, this did give me hope that perhaps DC will get it right next time. The fourth time is the charm right?
I actually think this is a prefect movie to watch on DVD. That way, you can fast forward any time characters begin to have a serious conversation. You could probably finish the movie in 60 to 70 minutes and use the rest of the time to watch an episode of Firefly or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Oh yeah... comic book movies can be fun. I forgot.
By the way, the reasons this is a Geeky Guy" review instead of a "Geeky Dad" review is that my twelve year old son had absolutely no interest in seeing this movie. He has less faith in the DC universe than I do. I can't blame him. We will watch it together when it is released on DVD... and fast forward through most of the dialogue.
Geeky Dad's Movie Guide
Number of times I fell asleep: 0
Number of eye rolls: 8 (Any serious conversation. Oh and Ben Affleck.)
Number of face palms: 2 (Any attempt at love scenes)
Number of times I checked steemit: 0 (I would have every time there was serious dialogue but there were 8 other people in the theater and I didn't want to be "that guy".)
Number of times I said "That's ridiculous": 1 (For some reason, something needed to be charged precisely when it hit the water. Why couldn't it already be in the water and then get charged? I have no idea.)
Would I recommend this movie: Rent it and prepare to fast forward
Full price/Matinee/Rental/Free/Not worth the time: Rental.
My all time favorite Jimmy Kimmel bit (starting at about 3:00)
That's hilarious.
Lol.....at least he has glasses....what baffles me is wonder woman
haha.... you may be a @theblindsquirl but you must have great hearing :D
super funny :D
How did I get here? oh yeah hanshotfirst upvoted my post....ok going to go brush my teeth now and get ready to catch the bus.
up-voted.....cause this is just a magical reply to this post :)
Peace ✌, Hope 🙏, & Love 💖!
Shoot....forgot this is 11 days....will reallocate to you latest post.
Laughing my ass off with the line that the flash ran like Phoebe!!! Made my freaking night!! Thank you!!
This is a good version @hanshotfirst because they included aquaman and I hope they would add more new characters.
These characters cannot be too seriously violent because they are targeting younger audiences but I want them to be like that though, maybe its fun to watch them in a different flavor.
Yesterday I got myself removed from the cheetah blacklist. You always supported me and when cheetah began to flag me you thought that I was stealing the content and stopped visiting to my blog but after ten days of continuous hard work and explaining everything I have been removed my friend. I will be happy to again invite you to my blog.
Yes!!!! I am so happy to hear this. I was really hoping this would be the end result. You are very talented.
Just went yesterday to the cinema for this movie. The biggest disappointment of the year for me...
Yes, you can argue that the style of Snyder was very boring and dark, but the visuals were beautiful. The staging of the fights were mind-blowing.
Old, hard, huge aggressive Batman ( in Batman vs Superman) has become my favorite character.
Maybe you are right and comic-movies don't have to be grim, but we already have the Avengers. I was really hoping that this universe will keep own style. But in the end we got strange characters with silly jokes.
P.S. The only scene that I liked in this movie: Superman vs League, after his resurrection. I was under the impression that this is the only scene, which was not changed by Joss Whedon.
I think Whedon renshot that entire scene. That is why Superman’s face looks so odd. They had to digitally remove his mustache. (Not kidding).
In the end, I don’t think anyone was happy with this. It’s like two movies mashed together. Neither Whedon fans not Snyder fans could be happy with the unholy marriage.
Yes I know :)
I even suggest what to expect from this film, including the issue of computer graphics. But it still doesn't reduce my frustration.
I can't argue with you. I was expecting it to be one of the worst movies I had ever seen. The fact that it was not quite that bad was a pleasant surprise... but it was still pretty bad.
Thanks for your critique! It seems as if though most movies nowadays are taken aback by the visual effects and focus way less on actual plot/character development. It's becoming more and more increasingly rare for a movie to come out and I don't even bat an eye at it because just the trailer tells me it's going to be an overrated SFX showcase for 2 hours.
WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY ABOUT MY SUPERMAN????????
Oh if you like him, you will love this movie. He doesn’t wear a shirt for the first 15 minutes he’s in the screen.
There's such a thing as perfect chest hair. Whoda thunk?
It was a completely forgettable experience this film. DC just can't make a decent superhero movie (aside from Wonder Woman). Thor Ragnarok, Guardians Vol2, heck, even new Spiderman were way more interesting. Like you said not worth the movie ticket.
The fact that I was fully expecting a complete garbage fire actually made it a slightly more pleasant experience. They need need to start from scratch. People like Wonder Woman. Keep her and build around her. It's like when your favorite sports team is below mediocre. Just do a complete rebuild asap. Cut your losses.
A brilliantly entertaining and fun film from start to finish, The story was same old superhero plot with an Extra Terrestrial being coming down to enslave earth with is cannon fodder army, The main fault with this film is the runtime as 2 hours is not enough for a team up
Usually I would agree. But I wouldn't trust DC with more than 2 hours of my time.
Darn, and to think I had actually reviewed this far more favourably than you did! While I didn't think JL was a great movie by any measure, it was light years ahead of Batman v/s Superman (which was as bad as it gets) and if you're somebody who disliked Wonderwoman, I wouldn't ever recommend you to watch Justice league.. I'm surprised you didn't totally hate it :)
Here's my humble review on the same movie : https://steemit.com/blog/@roji.abraham/uo8xt-when-life-comes-full-circle-from-employee-150-to-employee-3742
I did say "I could actually see how some people may actually like it." LOL. Batman vs Superman may be the worst super hero movie I have ever seen (and I've seen the made for TV Nick Fury movie starring David Hasselhoff). I think I liked Jos Whedon's influence. I'll check your out now.
I'm inclined to share your sentiment about the film. I went to see it with my brother, since we're both fans of the comic book universes crafted by DC and Marvel. I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that Joss Whedon taking over for Zack Snyder improved the film significantly. Couldn't save it, but it made it at least not terrible.
Many people have the opposite reaction. But I bet those are the same 10 people who liked Batman vs Superman. LOL
Well, when you want your superhero films to reflect your life (dark, brooding, ultra-serious and boring), nothing less than a Zack Snyder DC film will do LOL
Lol. Great point. I don’t mind dark and brooding. For example I LOVED Logan. Not much darker than that. But this is the freaking justice league. They should be finding funny ways to work in the wonder twins! The dark night series was great, because it was a vigilante fighting terrorists. But if you are going to have Superman flying around in his underwear, you need some fun.
Yeah, wearing underwear on the outside makes you "super". Hrmmm...
So... better than suicide squad?
I actually think so. But I loved Harley Quinn. Not just how she looked, but I think her character was fun. If I had to watch one again, I think I'd pick Suicide Squad for that reason only.
But either one of them would be fast forwarded generously.
Your guide is definitely entertaining. But I also found that Justice League is one of the worst Marvel produced movies. I left the cinema after half an hour :( I was thoroughly disappointed.
Check me out perhaps on @explorernations ? I blog about travel, food and also my life
nice insight view of the movie @hanshotfirst ..just watched it last week with my daughters,and they do enjoy the team..more or less,i do agree with you here haha..come and check my parody cartoon at my blog..new with steemit though..hope get the support from you!!..best of life for you and the whole family..cheers!!
Even there are things Joss whedon's unable to do. He can create a new universe with space cowboys but can't make Ben Affleck watchable!
HAHA! I was going to ask why the change to Geeky Guy, instead of Geeky Dad, but your explanation pretty much answers it.
Way to set expectations! They're playing catch up so much that they don't even care how much they sacrifice. DC keeps thinking that the strength of the characters' reputation would carry the films, but really though, we're presented with a bunch of strangers, except for Supes and WW. If they just took time to endear the characters to the viewers, I'm sure the reception would be much different.
I was surprised that I didn't hate it. Whedon did a good job salvaging a would-be trainwreck. As a Flash fan, my main gripe is that they keep pushing Barry on us even though Ezra Miller's Flash's attitude was closer to the original Wally West.
And I don't look the tiniest bit familiar to you?
Hahaha!!!
Thanks for yet another great review- dvd it is :)
Annndd @rigaronib got me with this, I couldn't resist bringing you into it. Of course there is no obligation- but you are my final selection. (Today's post)
Wonder Woman is my favorite
Some nice piece of information !
I will download it asap.. Thanks for the great review @hanshotfirst
I enjoyed it, but I don't like Snyder movies, in general...
I made this to reflect the fan reaction I have seen so far... Since the poster was so hackable!
this is very funny movie
I love this movie
love this movie
For memes 👌👌👌👌 @hanshotfirst And lovely movie it is
Good post and i love this movie ...
Should be a great movie. The title itself speaks volume...
wow I watched the film 3 days ago and I did not the analysis so precise
Good post for me. thanks @hanshotfirst
Good post
great man
perfect movie,nice story people like it very much,photography was so super
i know its a great movie and i have to watch it .hopefully i will watch it some days latter
I love all of them
i just skiped it spoiler i guess
nice information ....
Nice lolol
This post was very informative thank you for sharing
you have my upvote plus a resteem
@mannyfig1956
nice
Hilarious post. Thanks. Good read and LOL
good
I have watched the movie
The climax fight was not that much level and the story was nice.
I don't read it cause of facing of the spoiler danger :(
Thanks, I'll wait for this one to come out on DVD or something :)
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