Justice League

Here I am sitting in the cinema. My favourite super-team is finally going to be on the big screen. Since the first animated Justice League cartoon in 1967, then the Super Friends TV series (1973-1985) and Justice League animated (2001-2005) I have been waiting for a full fledged movie at the cinemas. On TV there were attempts at live-action, the two-part The Legends of the Super-Heroes 1979, Justice League Pilot 1997 and Smallville 2007.

Sure some of the founding members from the comics are not there such as J'onn J'onzz and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) from the original 1960 story, but, I understand current trends and all influence changes. Again the founding members of the Justice League never appeared in live-action or animated form ever. The true roster were: Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern and J'onn J'onzz (The Martian Manhunter). The 1967 cartoon did not have Wonder Woman and Batman as they were tied up with TV properties at the time. The 1973 Super Friends were based on the Justice League and substituted Flash and Green Lantern as guest stars in favour of younger heroes more relatable for children (so they thought) and J'onn J'onzz was nowhere to be seen until 2001. 2001 was the closet founding team appearance but Aquaman became a guest while Hawkgirl took his place. The current movie only five of the founding members appeared with the addition of Cyborg from The New Teen Titans.

Over the the last decade many Justice League animated movies were made with faithful attention to characters personalities, powers and the way they work as a team. Justice League Versus The Teen Titans would be the top of that list. Unfortunately the live-action blockbuster Justice League is not one of the best DC Films with that approach. Something seriously went wrong here and it may have been the change in directors. If not the directors then the story as well. Well yes it was a bit of both and the casting choices as well. The problem here is a mess. A mix of established actors, some with awards, story tellers who think their ideas are fresh and unique and the execution to make the best possible film, but ultimately it's the story itself that suffers.

The interaction with gathering the heroes is fine, but nothing new here. I can forgive the traditional story telling that audiences will respond and understand quickly as this film seems to be more geared as 'action' rather than heart. The heart part would have required a much needed facelift so that audiences can care about the characters, but struggled to do so because of the messy delivery and inconsistent display of powers and abilities of these characters.

Wonder Woman is a major problem with me and it is as if I was watching an android trying to be her as the real Wonder Woman would have behaved so different. Gal Gadot was superb as Wonder Woman. She has the correct mix of power and compassion that we saw in her own solo movie, but in Justice League her direction was sabotaged way too much. We saw Wonder Woman having no problem at moving at super speed during the bank robbery, deflecting a machine gun stopping every single bullet in a blur of motion. Sure she may not be as fast as The Flash, but she should be able to see his speed pattern as she is also faster than a speeding bullet. Later in the film she did not acknowledge the speed battle with Superman and Flash as if she suddenly lost her power. While not as strong as Superman, she is very close. While she was able to repel the head boulder and head butt him, the lasso toss was poorly executed. Even if Superman managed to tug her toward him, her warrior training could react quick enough where she can take advantage of that and spin the rest of the rope around him binding him in an unbreakable bind. With the added strength of Aquaman and Cyborg Superman would have been compromised. Wonder Woman should have been presented as an equal and what I saw on the screen tried to stretch my suspension of disbelief, but failed. This was NOT the true potential of Wonder Woman and they need to rectify the poor choices made in a future film. Her battle with Steppenwolf was just as ridiculous. While she was able to execute the final blow in the end, it took her the entire movie to do so. It was if her warrior skills were again diminished. She can move fast enough to avoid Steppenwolf as we could see in the comparatively Superman's arrogant performance to upstage everyone, so Wonder Woman can as well. The battle between them should have been on par with neither accomplishing anything in strength alone.

All the film told us is Superman is insanely powerful and does not need to be in a team like the Justice League. I think audiences who do not understand the true characters will simply leave with wrong messages. If the whole deal was to try to make Superman popular once again then that may happen and it also will 'tick' people off with hating Superman. Cavill struggled to perform the character with heart and conviction. He had innocence and power, but not much else. The problem was the way he has been directed and his performance. Both were a hit and miss, and mostly a miss. His arrogant performance is what I saw and that has been a mighty turn off for me. I will not support any film like this or pay to watch it if he is in it. i will en devour to watch it for free until I am satisfied.

Steppenwolf was not too bad in appearance, but that voice??? Does not suit for obvious reasons. It was comical. We neither loved nor hated the character. there was just nothing there except for a power hungry nothing. The back flash seemed to mirror elements of the film, The Lord of The rings. Even the power sources sounded very Lord of The Rings. Again nothing fresh, nothing new. Ordinary.

I can explain many many more things wrong with this movie and I can not stress that the film I have waited a life time to see was such a disappointment. It has opened my eyes though that I should not waste any more time into this heroism and to search for something else in my life. IFor the first time ever I will sell my collection, comics and all and be happy forgetting this nonsense that I was so passionate about. A passion that has been ruined because no-one cares how to tell it the best way possible. I am sure the original creators will spin in their graves with the way this movie has insulted their creations. if they were alive things would certainly be different from this crap.