Justice League

Oh, DC. I swear I am not actively rooting against you just because I'm a Marvel fanboy. Competition makes both of the companies better. However, as far as the movies go, DC is like a Triple AAA baseball team and Marvel is the big leagues.

Wonder Woman gained so much good will from me, but in the back of my mind, I figured Justice League wouldn't be able to build on that momentum.

Let's be frank here. Justice League is a bad movie. It occasionally has some cool moments, but that is not enough to save it.

The argument I always make for those inevitable Avengers vs. Justice League movie comparisons is this simple fact. The Marvel universe took a slow, methodical approach to get to their movies. They took a calculated risk by getting tentpole movies out for their main players of Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor. Once those were successes, they had the foundation to build the Avengers movie. You had a natural anticipation that built and built and culminated in the first Avengers movie. You wanted to see all those characters together and see how they play off each other.

DC tried to take the fast track and after putting out Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman and Wonder Woman, they jumped straight to a Justice League movie. In that time, there was a Suicide Squad movie that had no impact on this movie. So this movie has to spend time introducing us very quickly to three new team members in Cyborg, Aquaman and the Flash. Unfortunately for us, they do not do a good job. You get quick side explanations or scenes that show how they came to be, but you're not invested in their stories or given a reason to care.

What still bothers me about Batman v. Superman is that they act like Batman and Superman were great friends. They circled each other for the bulk of their movie and then fought at the end, before coming together for like ten minutes. From that we are supposed to buy that they have this deep friendship? In the comics, that is true. In the movies, that is completely false. So every time Batman/Bruce talks about how he wants to do things in Superman's memory or how they want to bring him back to life, it rings so hollow.

Also, who is Steppenwolf to be such a big bad guy in this movie. Again, comic fans will know who he is but I am taking the role of Joe Average here. All you know is that he is a bad guy who wants to take over this world for some reason. The way the movie is constructed, para-demons have been showing up for while in anticipation for a big attack. That would be fine if this was sprinkled throughout all the movies leading up to this. Instead, you have to believe it's a big deal without understanding what the stakes are.

Another big beef I have with this movie is it just feels so boring. Even though there are world ending stakes here, it never really feels like there is anything of consequence. We don't see how these events affect anyone. It's as if the course correction caused by the mass destruction in Man of Steel has affected this movie too. Also, I think this movie is too special effects heavy. It would be okay if it actually looked good. For me, if I don't see guys doing physical stunts in the fight scenes, you lose me. Say what you will about Man of Steel, the special effects in that movie were great.

The fight choreography isn't all that spectacular outside of what they do with Wonder Woman. Like every movie she's appeared in, she's the bright spot here. I hope her (and Gal Gadot who plays her) star continues to rise.

Outside of Wonder Woman, everyone else just feels so blah. This movie did not get the best out of the talent they were presented with.

I feel like I could go on and on about what I didn't like about this movie and why I didn't enjoy it, but I think I've said enough. I went in with low expectations and this film met that. I just hope they get their act together in future movies.