The problem is that he’s only given a little bit to go off of, as there are six full superheros in the film that need character development, and only 4 of them were even given a modicum of backstory in the previous couple of films. Ben Affleck was the single redeeming feature of BvS (well, Wonder Woman was a shining moment for her few minutes of fan service), and he still ACTS the part here. Also, it doesn’t help that the characters are so drastically under developed that you really can’t feel anything for them. Huge chunks of Snyder’s film was gutted to make room for Whedon’s more lighthearted adventure film, but the core of the original film is still there, fighting Whedon step by step. Both men have slightly different visions and styles (it’s actually pretty easy to see the pop culture style of humor that Joss thrives on competing with the dark and gloomy ambiance of Snyder’s world), and combining both of them together gives the audience the feeling that they’re watching 2 separate movies. As is the case with so many other movies that have had a fractured filming process, the end result is rather muddled. As I said in my opening, Zack Snyder (who I have disagreed with in his past DCEU films) was forced to step down due to the loss of his son mid filming, leaving Joss Whedon to pick up the pieces and finish the film. Justice League has a lot going for it, but is sadly a heavily flawed film for several different reasons. All without the aid of Earth’s mightiest hero, A fallen Superman (Henry Cavill), who lies dead after his sacrifice in taking down Doomsday.
But lo and behold, they are joined up by Aquabro (Jason Momoa), and the enigmatic half human, half machine Cyborg (Ray Fisher) to complete the 5 man (and woman) team needed to take down a being so powerful, that he is on the verge of godhood. So Batman, Wonder Woman and the Flash set out to protect the final “Mother Box” (the cubes that Steppenwolf needs) alone. Incomplete or not, the world has to be saved. Steppenwolf is here, and he has two of the cubes, and Batman’s “league” of superheros is incomplete. Recruiting young Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) as a burgeoning Flash, The powerful Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) as Earth’s most powerful female Amazon, and looking for more, the brooking Dark Knight is almost too late. Batman (Ben Affleck) has forseen this incident due to his vision, and has been prepping a team to combat this threat. A glory that he was denied hundreds of years ago when the heroes of our past gave him his first defeat. A world killer named Steppenwolf (voiced by Ciaran Hinds) who is coming for the cubes in hopes of uniting them and destroying Earth. Only thing is, they are powerless to stop the force that is coming. These cubes happen to hold a world destroying power within them, and have been distributed among the humans, the Atlanteans, and the Amazon tribe for safe keeping. Well, that villain is here and he is coming after three mysterious cubes on Earth. Superman Lex Luthor was behind bars, and hinting at a much greater villain coming to Gotham/Metropolis (which we all assumed was Darkseid due to the vision that Batman had earlier in the film). What’s left is an entertaining superhero film that really struggles under the weight of two different visions, as well as not enough screen time for the characters to really become devolveped enough for the audience to care about them the same we do for Thor, Captain America, Tony Stark and the rest of carefully crafted Marvel superheroes (which has taken place over a decade with multiple films for many of the heroes).Īt the end of Batman Vs. This forced Joss Whedon to come out of the production gallery and take over the rest of the film, including reshoots, remakes of the story, as well as culling a good bit that Snyder had intended to put on screen. He unfortunately had a much different vision for the film (as you can tell by the trailer that has a completely different vibe), but he was forced to pull out from the film mid project after a family death left him needing to recover in peace. Sadly, Justice League was not just simply a case of Zack Snyder going full emo on us again. Except, it’s more like Rushed League, as DC has shoved a couple of solo films down the pipe for Batman and Superman, and Wonderwoman, then shoe horned the rest of the league into the film with nothing more than a cursory introduction before going full bore into the storyline (and skipping a few setups from BvS as well in their enthusiasm). Their own variation of Infinity Wars with all of their legendary heroes (or at least 5 or 6 of them) combing together to form the famous Justice League, a superhero force that defends the world from even greater heroes than any one of them can handle alone. Like Marvel, the new DCEU (DC Extended Universe) has been working up to one final goal.