Welcome to my new segment of reviews! After watching Justice League, here are my in-depth thoughts on characters, action, comedy, and the elephant in the room: Snyder vs. Whedon. Major spoilers ahead!
The introduction to each new character was very strong and what was needed. With the Flash, the movie quickly establishes that he is cut off from the regular world and an awkward teen. He is the only character to quickly agree to join Batman's quest without thinking over the consequences or what the job entails. This shows his desperation, boredom, and curiosity that any typical lonely teenager would contain.
Aquaman, or Arthur Curry, lacks much substance and conflict throughout the movie, save for his reluctance to join Wayne's team. Only after Atlantis' motherbox is stolen does Curry realizes his world is being attacked does he join Batman's team. The plot device of "I won't help you unless this affects me" is understandable but was in this case lazy in execution. Without an origin story movie that explains Aquaman's underlying motives and previous internal dilemmas, he is a one-dimensional character that only contributes muscle when needed. Also, he couldn't even use his relationship with water in more than two scenes in the movie because all the action took place on land, so what was the point!?
A complete 180 degree turn from Aquaman, I thought Cyborg had a much better introduction. Cyborg is conflicted with what his father made him; he no longer knows who he is both physically and mentally. He was a kid with a promising future and is now an alien freak that has immense powers, but must confront difficult truths and conflicts that come with those powers and grow very quickly in maturity. All of this justifies his reluctance in joining the Justice League and shows us the Justice League will make him stronger and more mature over time.
Steppenwolf's introduction is as good as his overall character: meh. He's just another super-powerful villain with vague powers who was defeated thousands of years because multiple forces that didn't get along banded together to beat him. We find out through exposition that he is someone that just wants to destroy the earth because of ... because. I tend to appreciate villains that have a more intimate and personal reason for wishing to fight against our heroes, and Steppenwolf, like many other villains from the superhero movies of our time, is the antithesis to that vision. Steppenwolf takes a back seat for much of this movie, and to be honest, that makes the movie better overall - but only because he isn't the most compelling character. Obviously, they still need him in order to have a grand final battle, but other than being the plot-driver forcing the heroes to band together, he didn't add much to the movie.
Some may say that Superman's return was a cheap plot device, but I found that through its execution, I didn't mind it. First off, it made sense that Superman would be frustrated that he was brought back from the dead, and that with his new powers from General Zodd's ship + the motherbox, he would use it against the Justice League, which was trying to detain him. (It also resulted in the funniest scene and most badass scene in the movie). It was acceptable that seeing Lois Lane is the only thing that stops Superman from killing the Justice League, as it shows that what truly matters to Superman is his family. As Superman was about to kill Batman and the rest of the Justice League with ease, Lois Lane shows up and Superman is reminded of what he had to live for on Earth, that death is worth escaping for those that you love.
I found the internal conflicts of the movie to be very engaging and worthwhile. My only issue? There wasn't enough of it. There were many one-on-one scenes between the Justice League members and also "group therapy" fights as I like to call them. They didn't really feel rushed, but felt that each smaller sub-scene internal conflict could have gotten at least one or two more appearances in order to validate those conflicts. Finna Director's Extended Cut?
The action in this movie was fantastic in every scene. Even after so many iterations of superhero movies in the past decade, movies like Justice League find ways to make the action riveting and original. The best scenes were the ones where Justice League fought Superman and the very first scene of Diane stopping bullets from a man about to kill his hostages with a machine gun.
The comedy in this movie was (for the most part) on point, it was neither too overwhelming and repetitive (*ahem* Avengers *ahem*) but was more existent than in Batman vs Superman. The Flash was the driving force of all the humor, which made sense because he was a complete outsider with no friends and thus was super awkward around these superheroes. His scene where Superman follows his gaze as Flash is running at top speed was the highlight of the movie because it showed how absurdly powerful and fast Superman was, which bewildered the Flash.
Usually I don't like characters breaking the fourth wall in a way because I like to feel fully immersed in the story's world, but when all the heroes stop talking to Commissioner Gordon and silently disappear before Gordon can turn around, but Flash - ironically the fastest hero - stays behind because he didn't know heroes are supposed to just rudely leave before the conversation is even finished. I thought this was hilarious, true to the Flash's character, and is a nod to the audience that makes fun of a superhero stereotype that makes you think "yeah, wait, why do they even do that?"
Because both Snyder and Whedon directed Justice League at different points, Justice League felt like two movies - in a good way, pulling the best of each director could offer. This meant there were definitely times when the movie felt fragmented and there was a change of tone that pulled me out of the movie, but it also meant that I really enjoyed nearly every scene.
I can't help but wonder what would have happened if only Whedon or Snyder directed the movie. If Whedon directed it, the movie would be completely light hearted like many Marvel movies. But if Snyder directed all of it, it would be dark to the point where it affected some of the character development and "humanness" of some moments. It's hard to think that a scene like the one where the Lasso of Truth compels Aquaman to reveal his embarrassing thoughts to the team would have happened if Snyder directed all of the movie. And honestly, Flash's character would have also been compromised if Snyder maybe wouldn't recognize that Flash is meant to be comedic relief because of who he is - an immature, socially awkward teenager who thinks everything is slow.
Overall, I'll give Justice League a solid 7.7 for its non-distracting comedy, superb action, and solid character building for most characters. This movie makes me really excited for what DC has to offer in upcoming superhero movies.