Justice League: Surprisingly Watchable

My brother dragged me to see Justice League, the new DC superhero movie, last Thursday for its early premiere. Technically, it’s the fifth movie in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), DC’s answer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Of course, Marvel has had 17 successful movies compared to DC’s five movies, which have been critically panned with the sole exception of Wonder Woman.

This review, by Paul Tassi, is about the most accurate I’ve seen. He does an excellent job of summarizing what was good and bad about the film.

My own brief summary:

• The character interactions mostly feel right, and are primarily what makes the film work as well as it does. The humor is a huge plus for the film.
• The villain is just a McGuffin for the team to fight. He’s even more one-dimensional than Marvel villains, which is an impressive feat, but not one that you should strive for.
• The threat used to bring the team together seems a little sketchy. Basically, it’s just a plot device to get the team formed.
• Aquaman was considerably more intriguing than I expected, despite the abbreviated introduction
• Flash was hilarious. More, please.
• The special effects weren’t quite up to the final climactic battle, but DC tried.
• It’s got some plot holes you could drive a truck through. Try not to think about them too much.

Basically, it’s an enjoyable film. I liked it. I didn’t love it. On IMDB’s 10-star scale, I’d give it about 6 stars (considerably better than the 39% from Rotten Tomatoes).

All of the previous DC movies have been financially successful, despite any beatings they taken from audiences and critics. However, Wonder Woman is the only film that has emerged with acclaim from both fans and critics, as well as being a financial powerhouse. It remains to be seen how Justice League will fare. It debuted lower than expected, 96M in the US rather than 110M+ as was expected, which is the worst of all the DCEU films. And the word is that it’s basically got to cross 600M worldwide to make a profit.

It’s got some serious problems, but it’s the first film other than Wonder Woman where they successfully captured the essence of the DC superheroes.