Justice League is the same old storyline we see in superhero films and does not do itself justice
I DON’T mean to damn with faint praise but Justice League is not as bad as Batman V Superman.
A dreadfully scripted mess at times, there are still enough glimmers of hope for it to be a worthwhile exercise.
We pick up pretty much after BvS. The death of Superman has sent signals to evil powers in space that Earth is vulnerable once more.
Knackered old Bruce Wayne needs to gather a crew to battle Steppenwolf, a creature looking for three boxes of power that, if brought together, could spell disaster. See, that’s the problem.
The peril is one we’ve already seen a billion times. A group of heroes must somehow stop a vengeful creature from finding a powerful object which, if in the wrong hands, will be bad for all. But the heroes must first overcome their own issues, or issues with working as a team, or both. Familiar? It should be. We have seen Guardians Of The Galaxy and Spider-Man do it already this year — and better.
So it is down to the characters to make these kind of films enjoyable. Do we care? Well for us to care, they have to seem to care, too.
With the exception of Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s genuinely great Flash, not a single person looks like they want to be there. Ben Affleck is not brooding Batman here, he is barely awake, behaving as if he’s just realised he’s left the iron on.
The only time the cast do not look like they are going through the motions is when they are just shooting the breeze and taking the mick out of each other. But there is far too little breathing room for that to happen much.
One issue is that DC, in just four movies, is trying to snap at the heels of Marvel, which has nearly 20 under its belt and has had time to find its feet, make mistakes, evolve and expand.
This is not the god awful sacrilege of BvS or Suicide Squad, but it is only saved by the skin of its teeth and a few nifty edits.
There are some great moments. A couple of cameos to delight buffs, a great Prince/Bowie gag and Wonder Woman continuing to own things, but there is too much to confuse. Aquaman’s back story is a whole load of WTF and “Riddle me this”, Batman.
Superman comes back from the dead, fine. He is an alien — these things happen. But how the hell can Clark Kent go back to Smallville where his grave is and not one person says a word?
Treat it as the first ten minutes of a Grand Designs episode where they pour 30 tons of concrete into a hillside during a downpour while the couple go bankrupt and fall pregnant. It is messy and clunky but a necessary foundation.
Let’s hope the forthcoming Cyborg and Aquaman movies are the bits where Kevin McCloud cannot contain his glee at the staircase and view.
Justice League
(12A) 120mins
★★★☆☆
