Justice League
It’s been more than a month since Justice League was released in theatres. Countless write-ups have been constructed and deconstructed in every imaginable way. Criticisms on the film have been worded and presented more eloquently than I possibly could. I’m not sure how much I, or anyone, can add anything more of value to the discourse on this film.
As one of the many steps of course correction for the DCEU, Justice League basically recycles the same story beats as the Whedon’s Avengers films, with even more poorly rendered CGI plastered all over the film. The shoehorned one-liners and jokes that so obviously have Whedon’s fingerprints on it are definitely in competition for some of the worst dialogue in comic book film history. (It’s astonishing how Joss Whedon still doesn’t get the memo from 2015 that his boob faceplants joke did not work in Age of Ultron and it certainly does not work now.)
The most valuable thing DC and Warner Bros. can take from Justice League is that there are consequences to their reckless treatment of the DCEU brand. In their attempt of course correction, they are morphing themselves into the same weaknesses of its competitors. The overt tonal shift to address criticisms of the DCEU films being “too dark” should be one of their smallest concerns. The successes of Marvel’s Thor and Fox’s Logan within the same year proved that there is room for both more comedic and darker superhero films to thrive. Instead of chasing a certain style or tone, it is crucial to find creators that match the properties in terms of sensibilities. It is because of this recklessness that the get-together of the most iconic superhero team ended up as nothing more than an afterthought, a far cry from the crowning success that the studios expected.
As for the film itself, all I can say is that Justice League is not the best it could have been. But, does it deserve the venom that has been spit at it? Honestly, the comic book genre has seen worse.
(Originally posted on 24 Dec 2017 @projectunwrapped)
