Justice League Review(ish)

I have been debating whether or not I would write about Justice League, and I have been in just enough arguments about it that I have to say something.

I really liked Justice League, and quite honestly I don’t get most of the grumbling about it.  One person I know (I won’t use names to protect the “innocent;” let’s call him Jean-Luc Picard) said that it’s worse than every Marvel movie.  This is just plain absurd.  I assume he meant the MCU, so not the Spider-man and X-Men movies (since it’s definitely better than at least Spider-man 3, Amazing Spider-man 2, X-Men Last Stand, Origins: Wolverine, Days of Futures Past, and Apocalypse).  So I figured I’d come up with a quick summation of how it compares to the MCU movies (yes means JL is better, no means the MCU movie is better):

Iron Man (maybe the best of the MCU, so no)

The Incredible Hulk (yes)

Iron Man 2 (absolutely)

Thor (yes)

Captain America (yes)

The Avengers (it’s pretty close, but slightly no; then again I’m not a huge fan of this movie)

Iron Man 3 (yes)

Thor: The Dark World (definitely)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (solid no)

Guardians of the Galaxy (no)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (easily yes)

Ant-Man (probably not)

Captain America: Civil War (definitely not)

Doctor Strange (no, but close)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (heck yes)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (no)

Thor: Ragnarok (since I saw these within a week, I can definitively say yes.  Many will disagree, but here’s my difference: I feel like MCU movies are now “an episode in a show I like” as someone else said, so I felt coming out of it like “eh, ok;” whereas I came out of JL excited)

At the same time I’m really tired of the Marvel vs. DC thing.  Can’t we like both?  So I’d rather talk about it compared to the other DC movies.  My rank of the newer DC movies, starting with the Nolan Dark Knight trilogy because, even though they aren’t technically part of the new universe, they still kicked off the whole thing and are close in tone.

1.      Wonder Woman

2.      The Dark Knight

3.      Justice League

4.      Batman v. Superman

5.      Batman Begins

6.      Man of Steel

7.      The Dark Knight Rises

8.      Suicide Squad

Obviously I rate it pretty highly.  Why did I like it?  I’ll try to make this brief.

First, the casting was perfect.  I really liked each of the characters and thought the actors portrayed them very well.  Probably the weakest was Cyborg, but even then Ray Fisher was very good.  They worked well together, too.  It seemed as though they were enjoying each other.  Ezra Miller and Jason Momoa were great additions.  As we have already seen, Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot continued to be great as Batman and Wonder Woman.

The action was great.  The first Wonder Woman scene was as good as anything in her movie, and she continues to be the biggest surprise to me (I did not follow WW before BvS, but since she has become one of my favorite superheroes.  The flashback scene was fantastic (spoiler alert: with the Green Lantern we did have the whole crew in the movie!).  The fight scene on Themyscira was great.  And the fight scenes with the whole league together was great to see them fighting together.  I even liked the whole Flash not wanting to fight thing.  It was also great to see Aquaman showing how he can even kick butt on land (and smile the whole time).

I loved how Danny Elfman integrated his Batman and Williams’ Superman themes, plus the Wonder Woman theme making it more orchestral.  One of my biggest complaints with the Nolan trilogy was how they got away from heroic music for a more atmospheric tone, and I hated that they extended that into Man of Steel and BvS.  Elfman has not done much great in the past decade, but this was like riding a bike for him.

Speaking of tone, I am glad that they have moved away from taking it too seriously.  My biggest complaint about Man of Steel was that they made Superman dour.  It was completely against character.  Batman, please go dark, Superman, he is supposed to be hopeful.  They trend started with Wonder Woman and was thankfully kept in Justice League.  Some of the comedy was a little off, but overall it was a welcome change.

There are some others, but I’ll stop there.  To deal with a couple of problems:

There’s the distinct tension between what Zack Snyder did and what Joss Whedon did.  It is unfortunate what happened in real life with Snyder and why he had to step down.  Whedon’s stamp was maybe a little too strong (see my comment about comedy falling flat).  That being said, I hope this is the end of Snyder in the DC movies.  He does some things very well (graphics, action) but these movies need more well-rounded directors.

Ok, Steppenwolf was a bit of a throw away.  I have two counters to that.  First, he was not as bad/forgettable as virtually every Marvel villain not named Loki.  Second, in a way I am glad he took a back seat since the focus was rightly on the league and how they came together.

Some people say it was a bit too rushed, and I slightly agree.  When I heard this was to be the shortest DC movie, I was hopeful.  They all have been a bit too long.  Unfortunately, the two hour mandate from the studio was too restrictive.  There seems to be a number of important scenes, mostly character development, that was cut.  I have heard that they are planning to release a much longer “Snyder-cut,” and I am very interested to see that.  Like BvS, I think it will only help make it better.

I know that there are other issues with the movie people have brought up, but I think they aren’t the big or other people have addressed them better.  Regarding the CGI’ed out mustache, I didn’t really notice it.  Overall, I thought the movie was fun, the actors were great, and they looked like they were having fun (ok, maybe not Affleck, but whatever).  I loved seeing the league working together.  I am very hopeful with what the final scene after the credits seems to be setting up.  I really hope Warner Brothers won’t nuke the whole thing because it’s “a bomb.”

My grade: 8/10

Batman v Superman

I finally saw Batman v Superman.  I've been waiting a long time for this.  I almost went on opening day, but since it was Good Friday I thought that wasn't the most appropriate thing.  Since then I have been waiting for a chance, and finally got it.

I went into the movie with mixed feelings.  At first I was very excited at the chance to see the two biggest superheroes on screen together.  Add Wonder Woman and you've got a very compelling opportunity.  I was not the biggest fan of Man of Steel, and certainly not of the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight series, but I still had hope.  Then the reviews came out, and I got worried.  So I went with a mixture of high anticipation and weariness.

I am not an expert of the comics, but I am a big fan.  Batman has always been my favorite major character, and DC much more than Marvel.  I have read most of the major stories for both Batman and Superman, so I think I have a pretty good idea of what the characters should be.  In short: I love Batman: The Animated Series, really like Michael Keaton, think Val Kilmer was better than his movie, George Clooney was a joke, and Christian Bale was more Bruce Wayne than Batman (the complete opposite from the way it should be and a critical miss).

Let me start with the good, and there will be spoilers.

Ben Affleck was great.  I was not one of the those who feared his casting.  He has been great recently, and I liked the idea of an older Batman.  He was miles better than Christian Bale, though his Batman was pretty bad.  Of the live action versions, I'd say he fell just short of Michael Keaton, but better than the rest.  He was definitely more gritty, brutal, and was Batman more than Bruce Wayne, fixing the problem with the Dark Knight series.

Gal Gadot was very good.  I do not know Wonder Woman nearly as well as the other two, but it was very cool to finally see her on the big screen.  I very much look forward to seeing more of her in the future.

Overall the casting has been great.  Henry Cavill has a very good Superman in him, I just think the way he has been written has been a little off.  Jesse Eisenberg was fine for how they went with Lex Jr., but he was definitely the weakest link.

I am ashamed to admit it, but I never realized Martha was the name of both their moms.  That was an interesting bit, and was a smart way to turn Batman to realize Superman's humanity.  Great job there.

Now, some problems.

I thought the "can we trust Superman?" part of the story was great, which only left me wanting more.  I guess my biggest problem with the movie is they tried to bite off more than they could chew.  As someone else said, there were about five potentially great movies crammed into one.  If they would have focused on the big question about Superman, and the distrust between Batman and Superman, it probably would have been a better picture.  Keep in Lex pulling the strings, keep Wonder Woman doing her thing, all that is fine.

Adding to my biggest problem was the ending.  The fight between Batman and Superman was fantastic.  You could really feel the two titans beating each other up.  Either one could win.  It was balanced very well.  Then, they added one of the greatest Superman villains, and it all seemed rushed.  They fell prey to the problems of Venom in Spider-Man 3 and Two-Face in The Dark Knight.  Throw in one of the great villains at the end and use him up.  That should have been a movie all on its own.  Then they could have properly introduced the entire Justice League to band together to take him down (which I suppose they are waiting to do for Darkseid).

Speaking of the Justice League, what about those non-cameos.  You hype the heroes, especially Aquaman, and then show them for about thirty seconds total?  It's like a worse version of Luke in The Force Awakens.  That was disappointing.

The death of Superman.  Look, I get it, Doomsday means Superman has to die.  I just thought it was a little weak, which comes out of the rushed feeling of that final fight.  Again, it should have been a movie unto itself.  And please do not get me started on the completely cliched bagpipes for the funeral.  I literally rolled my eyes when they started up.

The score.  I have learned to temper my expectations any time I see Hans Zimmer's name attached to a superhero movie.  Clearly the best parts of the Dark Knight series came from James Newton Howard.  He completely botched Man of Steel.  The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was a travesty.  Here, we get more of the same.  It's basically just noise.  There's a reason Danny Elfman's Batman and John Williams' Superman remain the best superhero scores.  They were epic, with instantly recognizable themes.  The Superman theme, like the Batman theme before it, is minimalist and underused.  I will admit I liked what I'm guessing is the Wonder Woman theme that kicked in when she showed up, though again it pretty much devolved into electric guitar noise.  I could not be more happy with his announcement that he is "quitting superhero films."  Someday I will rank the superhero scores just to show how bad his have been.

End rant.

All that being said, I liked the movie.  Similar to The Force Awakens, it made me excited to see more from the universe.  I cannot wait to see more Batman and Wonder Woman in particular.  If they want to, the DCU can be immensely better than Marvel.  I just hope they can tighten the stories a little more.

7.5/10

The Greatest Movie Trilogies

As mentioned before, I love movies and lists.  Here's another one.  Listed worst to best.  Note: does not include "trilogies" with a fourth movie (i.e. Indiana Jones)

The Matrix

            An iconic science fiction movie is destroyed by two terribly scattered and overdone sequels.

            Best: The Matrix

            Worst: The Matrix Revolutions

Alex Cross

            Two good detective movies with Morgan Freeman followed by a wreck of  movie with Tyler Perry.  Does that surprise anyone?

            Best: Kiss the Girls

            Worst: Alex Cross

The Hobbit

            Should have been at most two movies, instead they are unnecessarily stretched into a trilogy that are essentially boring scenes of walking intermixed with overly long action pieces.

            Best: An Unexpected Journey

            Worst: Desolation of Smaug

Madagascar

            A good first movie followed by two lackluster sequels that rely too much on the penguins, who get old very quickly.

            Best: Madagascar

            Worst: Europe's Most Wanted

The Chronicles of Narnia

            Again, a solid opening movie and two lackluster sequels.  Prince Caspain adds an unnecessary love story and Voyage of the Dawn Treader looks like a made-for-TV movie.

            Best: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

            Worst: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Ocean's Trilogy

            A great heist movie followed by a mess and an afterthought.

            Best: Ocean's Eleven

            Worst: Ocean's Twelve

Star Wars Prequels

            Of course they pale in comparison to the originals, but they are still fun and have some spectacular action pieces.

            Best: Revenge of the Sith

            Worst: Phantom Menace

Spider-Man

            The cast never quite felt right, and the final movie is one of the worst in history.

            Best: Spider-Man 2

            Worst: Spider-Man 3

Austin Powers

            Funny, but definitely dated.  Even better if you're a Bond fan, which means since I saw these long before the Bond movies it probably damaged them more for me.

            Best: Austin Powers

            Worst: Goldmember

Iron Man

            The first is one of the best superhero movies, the others are significantly weaker.

            Best: Iron Man

            Worst: Iron Man 2

Predator

            My favorite movie alien by far, so the second movie gets a bit of a pass for me.

            Best: Predator

            Worst: Predator 2

Blade

            The series that actually began the Marvel movement, though many people forget that for some reason.

            Best: Blade

            Worst: Blade Trinity

Men In Black

            These movies are quite fun, so they do basically what they need to do.

            Best: Men In Black

            Worst: Men In Black II

The Dark Knight Trilogy

            As a huge Batman fan, I am very opinionated about these movies.  They get worse with each viewing as you realize how little Batman is actually in them and how far away from the source material they are.

            Best: The Dark Knight

            Worst: The Dark Knight Rises

The Man with No Name

            Solid westerns all around.

            Best: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

            Worst: For a Few Dollars More

Back to the Future

            We're getting into the best of the best, with no less than great movies.  These are great mixtures of drama, romance, comedy, and science fiction.  Just plain fun.

            Best: Back to the Future

            Worst: Back to the Future Part II

The Bourne Trilogy

            These movies are so go they forced the Bond movies to complete change tempo.  Yes, too much shaky cam, but the awesome car chases more than make up for that.

            Best: Bourne Supremacy

            Worst: Bourne Ultimatum

The Lord of the Rings

            These movies are so well made people don't care about the length.  They single-handedly made fantasy cool.  My only complaint was the added scenes and characters (especially with Two Towers) when they left out others.

            Best: Fellowship of the Ring

            Worst: Two Towers

Toy Story

            The final two was actually a very difficult choice.  The Toy Story movies are nearly flawless, and they completed changed the landscape of animated movies.

            Best: Toy Story 3

            Worst: None.  Toy Story?

Star Wars

            The most influential movies in history, not only due to the number of movie people they inspired but also things like marketing, toys, expanded universes, etc.  The prequels do not tarnish them at all.

            Best: Empire Strikes Back

            Worst: HA!