*Sigh*
Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg are just some of the names that bedeck this super hero team up, taking down anything that stands in the way of earth and the safety of all her people. As our heroes and heroine take on Steppenwolf, a multi-dimensional villain staunchly set on bringing the destruction of earth and the prosperity of he and his masters world, their ability to save the world will be tested not only by strength but by their ability to work together (Which has been the plot for all superhero team up’s… ever).
Here at Lobby Rumble, we try to see all films from an unbiased perspective so that our position on a film is based solely on story and film elements and not on feelings and uninformed opinions. This generally means that we try to find the good in a film and not singularly fixate on the bad. Yet, I find myself in a malady of sorts in regards to Justice League. After exiting the theater, I could not find a single meritorious opinion about this film whether elemental or emotional. But for the sake of neutrality and credibility, I like the direction they took with Aquaman.
Now that that’s out of the way, the film begins and ends the same, in a terrible CGI frenzy. It not only fails to hide its blemishes but shoves them in the audience's face. I like Cyborg, he’s not only holding it down as one of the few popular African American superheroes in the DC universe, but his powers and origins are interesting as well. The fact that he was completely CGI and that it was incredibly noticeable, made it an unpleasant sight. Everytime he was on screen I would cringe at how irreverentially dreadful the CGI looked. I don’t mean to disparage any of the thousands of hours that it took to bring Cyborg to life, let alone the rest of the film, but this proves to be a lesson that DC has failed to learn from. We witnessed it with BvS and Man of Steel and audiences actively displayed their displeasure.
Let me ask a few questions. What is the point in casting an actor to play the role when you can just create the perfect looking villain? Isn’t the point of casting real people to have a live action, real version of a comic or cartoon? How do you achieve this by using so much CGI? Can this film even be said to be a live action version if it is mostly computerized? Now don’t get me wrong, CGI is important and has a place in film, especially superhero films, but when filmmakers are completely reliant on CGI, they deprive us of story. They analyze the possibilities of adapting CGI to their film simultaneously and quite possibly, unconsciously allow atrophy to set into the story; Which in my opinion is the the solution to the woes of not only DC but Marvel as well. And let’s be honest here, as much as we love Marvel, some of theirthier films have also fallen victim to the “below expectations” trend that DC is starting (*Cough, Dr. Strange, Cough*).
The plot was another significant element of the film that took a tumble down inadequate hill. Superman is lame. I’m sorry, It needs to be said. The reason we like the superheroes we like is because we can relate to them. We have similar conflicts in our lives, loss, fitting in, villains etc. Especially for characters like Batman and Iron Man, who don’t have traditional powers. The stakes are incredibly high for them because they are more susceptible to death. Yet a character who essentially cannot die (no spoilers) and has infinite strength and speed, who gives nothing up in terms of stakes and conflict is and presumably by definition, is boring. Will Superman save the world? Yes, Yes he will. Will he overcome this villain? Yes, yYes he will. The best part about Superman in the DC Universe is the allegory of religion. His reflection of Jesus and giving hope. That has some significance to it because it begs for the analyzation of humanity and our connection/ relation to theism and dogma.
To make Superman an integral component to an already weak plot was a huge judgment mistake. It was almost as if the writers who by the way are some of Hollywood’s best right now, Joss Whedon (Avengers I & II) Chris Terrio (Argo), used superman to weasel their way out of a huge hole they dug themselves in by not setting the parameter on a villain's power. Granted this may have been all according to plan, raising the conflict of failure, but this doesn’t suffice. We are longing for the day a superhero team-up doesn’t revolve around a giant beam in the sky toting the destruction of earth. Overall I think the film focused too much on superman which not only causes a loss of attention but drags the film down, while it tries to kick and scream, to flop hell.
The overarching plot of JL was simply generic and cliched. The same beats and sequences that we’ve seen a plethora of times in its predecessors forced their way into what had the potential to be a solid film. What happened to creativity? What happened to imagination? We happened. I blame us for the reason why superhero films have been lackluster since Cap III: Civil War. Since the world is completely connected now, we meaning fanboys, nerds, critics, bloggers and youtubers (many of us having the privilege of being all five) have a massive, volcanic voice and we exercise that voice. When we are happy with a film, we let it be known (Guardians of the Galaxy) by our many blogs, annotations and reviews then the studios attempt to give us more of what what made the first one successful and we end up not liking it as much (Guardians of the Galaxy II). I know GOTG II was a box office success but it was definitely slated to make a billion dollars which it failed to do.
Studios continue to make superhero films from an old formula curated by the Avengers which is the reason why we keep getting beam-in-the-sky, lazily written, underdeveloped (Suicide Squad) superhero films. They attempt to cater to us by making a film that they think we might like, drawing from what works instead of a trulye mastered story. The fathers of the art of storytelling, Shakespeare, Hemingway, Dickens and others have all laid a beautiful foundation of story form, structure and element that transcend time. All of which is disregarded in lieu of visually and auditorily stimulating stories that lack in everything except. I find itn interesting in the wake of technological advancements, there is a schism being created between directing. The visionary, and the artist. But despite what may be happening in the directing world, we can still use our voice in a solid collective and let the studios know that we will not stand for middle-of-the-road, formulaic superhero films any longer. If they want our money and our time, they have to earn it!
In summation, JL was not very good. It was an incredibly disappointing film that will leave you unsatisfied and irritated. There’s not much to salvage from the film besides how cool they were able to make Aquaman seem, and we all know he’s the least favorite (jk). They even made Batman seem fragile and he’s
Recap
+Aquaman
-Formulaic Plot
-Bad Overall Story
-Cliche and Overpowered Villain
-Underdeveloped Characters
-CGI S*** Show
-No Classic Snyder-Vision
[2/5]
Edited by Robert Olarte