JUSTICE LEAGUE REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

I remember, back in late 2015, I was really excited when I discovered there was going to be a Batman v Superman film coming out in March of 2016. I was a little disappointed that Christian Bale wasn't going to be portraying Batman as I thought that he was great in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy. However, I still wanted to see it. Come March and Batman v Superman is critically panned which put me off watching it. I wasn't expecting it to be received so negatively. Despite the criticism of BvS, I watched the following film in the franchise, Suicide Squad. Like BvS, it too received a lot of criticism, however, I think I enjoyed it more than most, purely because of the characters, including Will Smith's Deadshot and Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn. So far, the DC franchise wasn't doing too well, fortunately, the release of Wonder Woman restored hope and is the only film in the franchise, so far, to receive a 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Because of the success of Wonder Woman, there was potentially a chance that Justice League might actually be good.

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of meta-humans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes - Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) - it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League isn't without its faults, there are a lot of them, including a weak villain and the CGI does need improving as it looks artificial, however, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I was expecting to be disappointed but Justice League beat my expectations. Critics have been attacking the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) since the release of the first film, Man of Steel, which was released in 2013. In my opinion, I think that Man of Steel introduced us to Cavill's Superman really well. What I've noticed is that, with critics, if the films in the DCEU aren't as good as the ones in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), they're 'bad'. I'm going to be honest here and say that I'm not a huge fan of the Marvel superhero films. I studied a few of them for my Film Studies GCSEs a few years and ago and they've gotten a bit boring for me now. I remember watching Captain America: The First Avenger and being disappointed. I enjoyed The Avengers on my first watch but, after the release of Age Of Ultron, the sequel to The Avengers, I'm no longer interested. I do understand why everyone loves them. This is majorly controversial I know but I've always been more of a DC fan, especially with Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy. I think that the characters in Justice League are more likable and the chemistry between them is effectively shown. 

With only two of the characters having solo films, Superman and Wonder Woman, they're the only ones with a background. Sure, Affleck's Batman appeared in BvS but that wasn't an origins story. He just turned up and we just had to accept that this was Batman. A Batman solo film has been planned, titled The Batman, but it is unclear when it'll be released. It's because of this, that the writers of Justice League, have to quickly give each of the characters, including Aquaman (who is due to get his solo feature next year), The Flash and Cyborg background. The Flash, also known as Barry Allen, is a young adult whose father, Henry (Billy Crudup), is in prison. Cyborg, also known as Victor Stone, has been hiding away in his apartment after his father used an experiment on him in order to save his life. 

After being persuaded by Batman and Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg all team up to defeat the evil that is Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) who, thousands of years ago, attempted to conquer and remake Earth through the combined energies of the three Mother Boxes before they were foiled by an army of Olympian Gods. After repelling Steppenwolf's army, the Mother Boxes are separated and hidden in locations around the world. After the events of Batman V Superman, Steppenwolf comes back after sensing the humans' fear and becomes even more determined to find the three Mother Boxes and destroy Earth. Like I said earlier, the villain is one of Justice League's weakest aspects, however, I don't think that it ruins the film. Because of his strength, the five members of the Justice League are struggling to defeat him and his army. This leads to them reawakening Superman using one of the Mother Boxes. It's not really a spoiler to say that he comes back to life as it really wouldn't be a Justice League film without him. Unfortunately, the plan doesn't work out as expected with Superman having lost his mind and fights against the other superheros. This leads to his true love, Lois Lane (Amy Adams), reuniting with him and bringing him back to reality. After returning to his home and reuniting with mother, Martha (Diana Lane), Superman becomes his old self, joins the Justice League and helps them defeat Steppenwolf and his army.

Like most superhero-based features, there's a lot of action throughout. A favourite includes a sequence near the beginning when Wonder Woman stops a bomb from going off in a bank. Justice League shows off her fighting skills and strength really well. Gadot further proves why she's the perfect choice to portray Wonder Woman. 

I was expecting to be disappointed by Affleck's performance as Batman, but he wasn't as bad as I thought he was going to be. Both Momoa and Fisher are great as Aquaman and Cyborg, however, Miller stands out as The Flash. He brings comic relief to the role why also proving why he's one of the most diverse actors working today. Since his breakthrough performance in We Need To Talk About Kevin, he has given memorable roles in films such as The Perks Of Being a Wallflower and last year's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Solid supporting roles come from Jeremy Irons as Wayne's trusty butler, Alfred, and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.

I think that those who have enjoyed the previous installments in the DCEU franchise won't be disappointed with Justice League. Those who didn't enjoy Batman v Superman should give this a miss as it has the same tone and style, due to it being directed by Zack Snyder, who is known for his darker tones in his films. Justice League is far from perfect but it's definitely a highly entertaining feature that is full of action and interesting characters, all of whom I can't wait to see more of in future installments.

7/10