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| Justice League Movie - Injustice to Fans? |
The Justice League movie was a much anticipated film by critics, fans and casual film watchers. It was widely expected to be a blockbuster especially riding on the success of its predecessor Wonder Woman, the first female solo superhero movie in recent times. It was essentially directed by Zack Snyder and was from the stable of Warner Bros. It had a strong cast comprising Henry Cavill (Kal El Superman, Clark Kent), Ben Affleck (Bat Man, Bruce Wayne), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman, Diana Prince), Ezra Miller (Flash, Barry Allen), Jason Momoa (Aqua Man, Arthur Curry), Ray Fisher (Cyborg, Victor Stone), Jeremy Irons (Alfred), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Connie Nielsen (Queen Hippolyta), J.K. Simmons (Commissioner Gordon) and Amber Heard (Mera), among others.
The story line is how Bruce Wayne's faith is restored in humanity after being inspired by Superman's selfless act and his death. He enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince to find and recruit a team of metahumans to face mankind's greatest threat and enemy, Steppenwolf who has awoken. However, the assault is of catastrophic proportions and the newly found league of super-heroes (Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash) may not be enough to stop the threat in his tracks and save the planet from imminent destruction. To counter the threat, something vital is missing and that is Super Man. Meanwhile, as the team make futile attempts to save Earth, Steppenwolf has emerged from his exile and has begun collecting the 3 Mother Boxes, ancient gadgets with the power to end all life on Earth. The Mother Boxes need to be kept out of the clutches of Steppenwolf lest they once combined, transform Earth into his nightmarish world with severe consequences for all the inhabitants of the planet including humans.
Originally, Zack Snyder's Justice League was expected to be DCEU's answer to Marvel's Avengers. Unfortunately, it was plagued by numerous issues. Some of these issues, like Zack Snyder's exit as Director on account of a personal tragedy, were thoroughly unavoidable. Snyder's 20 year old daughter rather tragically committed suicide in March 2017. Though Joss Wheedon stepped in for Zack Snyder, the movie suffered. There were many other problems too that were self-created by DC and Warner Bros. These included the confusion caused by the clash of directorial styles of Zack Snyder and Joss Wheedon, substantial re-shoots, indiscriminate and meaningless cuts / edits in the movie (probably favouring shorter run-time of the movie), a plot line that seemed quite weak and of course, an improbable story with numerous plot holes in it. The special effects and CGI too were way off the mark.
For instance, with Joss Wheedon stepping in, there were extensive re-shoots to the movie in London and Los Angeles. Consequently, Henry Cavill had to simultaneously work in both Mission Impossible and Justice League. In the former movie, he was sporting a moustache for his role while in Justice League, the moustache and facial hair had to be digitally removed since Paramount refused to let the actor shave it off when he had to play Superman again. Unfortunately, the digital removal did no good and the effects were awkward. This was clearly noticed by audiences globally.
There were more goofs like Steppenwolf's axe is easily destroyed by Superman's cold breath? Really, the axe of a super-being like Steppenwolf is made of such cheap material that it is so easily destructible? Was it cost cutting? Even more weird is that Steppenwolf despite being mighty and powerful is subdued by his own parademons, as he showed fear? The movie was underwhelming and belied expectations of critics and fans alike. The final product was more of a broken film rather than a powerful culmination of its predecessors Man of Steel, Wonder Woman and Batman Vs. Superman. Understandably, the film performed poorly at the box office, perhaps the lowest from recent movies in the DC franchise. Film goers also noticed that the much touted Justice League movie trailers contained footage that seemed to have disappeared from the movie itself!
However, do not forget that the movie has some positives too. The comedy tone was definitely much lighter in Justice League than Batman Vs. Superman. It was engaging through the movie and fun. The interplay of the superhero characters with each other was quite good. Ezra Miller as Flash adds genuine personality and innocent humour in the movie though the film could have done with better backstory for characters like Aquaman and Cyborg.
If you are prepared to make some allowances, then you can still expect the movie to be entertaining and fun. Despite all its gaps, in our view, it is worth watching, at least one time, especially for children.
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