Review: ‘Justice League’ isn’t everything, but it’s something

Story by Nicholas Lester / Contributing Writer      

“Justice League” is DC’s attempt to replicate Marvel’s “The Avengers,” even if they’re five years behind. Is it as good as their rival’s mirror-image “getting the band back together” movie?

In short, no. But, it’s not as terrible as “Suicide Squad” either.

There are quite a few things it does very well. One of the movie’s biggest strengths is the performances. It’s pretty obvious that Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa and especially Ezra Miller are doing everything they can to save this movie. The interactions between them are entertaining and often humorous. However, the best performance, by far, belongs to Miller, who steals every scene he’s in with his humor and relatability. 

Cavill as Superman proves to be another win for the film. Many reviews have said that this is one of the best representations of the Man of Steel on the big screen to date. Without giving anything away, this Superman is more light-hearted than the one in “Man of Steel” or “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” He’s also more fun to watch onscreen than other iterations of the character, which may be due to the fact that he has a team to interact with.

For the most part, the special effects are pretty realistic, even if they are a little over the top at times. A good example of this would be any time The Flash runs using the speed force — if you’ve seen “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” think of the kitchen scene with Quicksilver.

Even though this movie is co-directed by  Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon, who, coincidentally, directed Marvel’s “The Avengers,” it’s often hard to tell. Even if the tone is unbalanced, the style is consistent, which is difficult to accomplish since each director maintains a different style.  

Finally, if you’re a huge DC fan, you should definitely stay for the end. There’s a familiar face that you may recognize in a scene hidden in the credits.

“Justice League,” though, certainly has no shortage of flaws. For one, the quality of the villain, Steppenwolf, is so bad that he makes Hela from “Thor: Ragnarok” look good. He’s a CGI villain with generic plans, vague abilities and cheap, disposable minions that look like glow-in-the-dark dragonflies.

Another major issue in the film is that it jumps all over the place, especially in the first 45 minutes or so. The flow of the movie is anything but smooth with scenes skipping around every three to five minutes. It feels quite rushed.  

The writers seemed like they were making up Cyborg’s abilities on the fly. He could do whatever the story required whenever the story required it, which made it difficult to believe that the heroes were ever in any real danger.

Overall, “Justice League” is far from perfect, but its handful of bright spots make it a movie you might want to consider watching.

To contact Lifestyles Editor Tayhlor Stephenson, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com.

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