Justice League gets mixed reviews

Movie Title: 
 Justice LEAGUE

Grade:  B

Rating:   PG-13, 110 minutes

In a Nutshell:  With this much superpower force, this movie should have been awesome, but is getting very mixed reviews.

The gathering of the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War brought together fun and quirky personalities that created a super spark that surprised and delighted audiences, something that this movie struggles with.

Uplifting theme: 

• “Hope is like your car keys – easy to lose, but if you look around, you can find it.” - Superman (Henry Cavill)
• “Hope is real.  All you have to do is look…up in the sky.” – Lois Lane (Amy Adams) 

Things I liked:

• I think Gal Gadot is gorgeous and I was looking forward to seeing her again after her successful Wonder Woman movie. Unfortunately, she gets a little lost in all the testosterone and frenzied action.
• Keep watching ALL the way to the very last of the rolling credits to see two more clips.
• The Amazonian women are awesome.  Their battle sequence was one of the best in the entire movie.  Their costumes and hair were dramatically changed from what they looked like in the Wonder Woman movie.  Hmmm...which one is going to stick?
• Most of the CGI is really great.
• I like Ben Affleck as Batman.  He’s certainly the solid leader in this league and his fans will think his opening scene is really cool.
• I thought Jason Momoa made a cool, bad boy Aquaman and I'm excited to see him in his own feature film for this character, which comes out December 21, 2018 in the USA.

Things I didn’t like:

• I was excited to see how DC was going to handle Superman’s death, and was pleased to see he was given so much respect in this movie.  I really like Henry Cavill as Superman in Man of Steel (2013) I think Henry Cavill is so handsome, but what was going on with his CGI face?  It turns out that he had a mustache for his upcoming role in Mission Impossible and Paramount forbade him to remove it, so they used CGI to brush over the stash.  Weird, right?  I thought it was ridiculous that Batman beat Superman to begin with in Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice.  Superman is way better than Batman. You can read my movie review of Batman vs. Superman here.
• Some of the action sequences seemed so rush and chaotic that it's hard to see what's happening.  You don't see a lot of civilians in the fighting areas, which tends to make the scenes feel less dangerous and urgent.
• The DC movies are much more dark than the Avenger films.  Based on huge box office sales at Marvel movies, audiences seem to prefer a more light-hearted superhero action flick.  My youngest son explains it by saying, “Marvel is self-aware and doesn’t take itself so seriously.”  Yup.
• I would have loved to see more of Atlantis.
• Barry Allen/The Flash played by Ezra Miller is supposed to provide the comic relief for the movie, but a lot of the humor falls flat.  He also looks really strange when he's running. Weird, since that's his big talent.
• People who aren’t familiar with DC Comics may not know who Steppenwolf is, other than they’ve heard of the rock band with the same name.  ha ha  We first saw a blurred glimpse of Steppenwolf in a deleted scene in the movie Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, which was later released online.  He’s scary, mean, bad, and angry, but there are rumors we’ll learn more about him and the Darkseid in future movies.
• JUSTICE LEAGUE had to undergo a lot of reshoots and redo’s, because it was directed by two different directors.  Unfortunately, the first director’s daughter died, so he pulled out of the project.
• The character introductions seemed rushed for the new superheroes like Aquaman, Cyborg, and the Flash.  Warner Brothers has tried to keep their superhero movies at 2 hours or less, but this movie could have benefitted by longer backstories that explained character motivation better.  Comic book fans who are familiar with the characters and stories will be able to fill in the missing gaps, but the general public won’t.
• It always bugs me when trailers have lines and scenes that aren’t even in the final movie.
• Once you see the movie, you’ll probably forget it.

Interesting lines:

• “Technology without reason, without heart, destroys us.” – Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot)
• “I believe in truth, but I’m also a big fan of justice.” - Superman
• “What are you?” – bad guy

“A believer.” – Wonder Woman

• “You’re out of your mind, Bruce Wayne.” – Aquaman

“Doesn’t mean I’m wrong.” – Batman

• “Darkness, true darkness is not the absence of light, but the conviction that the light will not return.” – Lois Lane

Funny lines:

• “What are your super powers again?” – Barry Allen (Ezra Miller)

“I’m rich.” – Batman

• “It’s good to see you play well with others again.” – Alfred (Jeremony Irons)

“Dressed like a bat.  I dig it.” – Aquaman

“It may be temporary.” – Batman

• “Children.  I work with children.” – Wonder Woman

Tips for parents: 

• One of the superheroes drinks alcohol.
• Some profanity.
• Shootings, violent fighting, death of humans and other creatures.
• Lots of butt shots and skimpy clothing on Wonder Woman.  I really liked her movie, but she's treated like just another pretty object in this one.

@trinaboice