--Steppenwolf, Justice League
The long awaited superhero movie has finally arrived--to lukewarm critical response and an estimated 100 million dollar loss. I am writing this review partly out of a desire to recognize some of the positive things about the movie so that, in recommending it, it can be as small a financial failure as possible. No, there's not a wealth of intellectual content here to dissect, but aspects of it are well-executed, and I don't want rumors of the cancellation of the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) movies to become true reports, even though I expect the series to get at least to Wonder Woman 2.
As far as production values go, a blend of the spectacular and the mediocre is on full display in Justice League. The primary actors and actresses--Gal Gadot, Jason Mamoa, Ben Affleck, Ezra Miller, and Ray Fisher--handle their roles very well, and so do the other characters. Jeremy Irons as Alfred, J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, and Connie Nelson as Hippolyta--each of these supporting characters is acted finely, despite the characters not appearing all that much, with the exception of Alfred. The script does indeed show a lot of supporting characters that are to be examined more closely in follow-up films about individual heroes, like the Atlantean Mera. Viewers get to see, briefly, Mera and some Atlantean guards in action, foreshadowing next year's Aquaman film (and according to my subjective perceptions, Jason Mamoa and Amber Heard [Mera] are very beautiful people!).
But the scriptwriters, or the producers (or maybe this was in the script but overruled?), didn't want the villain Steppenwolf to be developed. Although he has a very formidable presence as an alien warlord, practically nothing about his motivations or characterization is present, save for a single line where he says he hopes to become one of the New Gods. The problem of undeveloped villains has unfortunately appeared in almost every superhero movie since The Dark Knight series. Also, Steppwolf's CGI looks very much like CGI, meaning it doesn't actually look real. Other scenes sometimes seem subpar as far as the animation goes too.
And Steppenwolf's lack of development highlights another problem--the movie is very condensed into just two hours. It might have benefitted from a longer runtime, some of which could have been used to explore Steppenwolf more, or even show his home planet Apokalips--or even have Darkseid make a cameo. But it does have coherent plot and pacing, unlike Suicide Squad. It does further the worldbuilding in a much more natural way than Batman vs. Superman did. In Justice League the world's various factions, whether they be subaquatic Atlanteans or island-bound Amazons, truly seem to coexist in a way that has great storytelling potential--with inter-race politics, a rich mythological history, and many notable characters.
Story
(SPOILERS)
Batman lures out a Parademon servant of Steppenwolf, a scout representing alien forces that seek to invade earth while Superman's death leaves the planet vulnerable. It was searching for an object called a mother box. Bruce Wayne, rightly concerned that his Batman persona is inadequate to fend off such an invasion, and Diana Prince, Wonder Woman, plan to recruit a handful of other powerful beings and metahumans (humans with special superhuman powers [1]) to help them oppose the coming invaders. Their targets are young Barry Allen, otherwise known as the Flash, Arthur Curry, called Aquaman, and Victor Stone, or Cyborg.
The urgency increases when Steppenwolf steals a mother box from Themyscira, island of the Amazons. Millennia ago, Diana says, Steppenwolf assaulted the earth with his Parademons and sought to combine three mother boxes on the planet in order to unleash their power by forming the Unity with them, transforming Earth into the likeness of his homeworld Apokalips. An alliance of Amazons, gods, Atlanteans, humans, and the Green Lantern Corps repelled him, but he said he would return and claim the earth.
Victor is thought dead by all except his father and the duo who want his help and doesn't have interest in working with others, Aquaman is initially unwilling to assist Bruce and Diana, and at first only Barry Allen agrees to fight with them. Aquaman changes his mind when Steppenwolf takes a mother box from Atlantis. Victor changes his when his father becomes the ninth kidnapping victim of the Parademons. Arthur joins the group as they fight Steppenwolf under Gotham Harbor, Steppenwolf proving more powerful than even their combined efforts. In an attempt to bring more power to their side, the Justice League resurrects Superman using the pool where Luther created Doomsday.
They do bring Superman back to life. But they barely tame him. His resurrection temporarily altered his mind, leaving him hostile to the League members. In the aftermath of the fight, Steppenwolf obtains the third mother box. He forms the Unity and begins "terraforming" the planet, starting in Russia. With Superman's help once his mind is restored, Steppenwolf is defeated and seemingly brought back to Apokalips.
Intellectual Content
One thing this movie deprived itself of philosophically was an examination of the values of Steppenwolf's planet Apokalips. Apokalips, according to what I've read online (I haven't read the comics), is governed by an extremely egoistic fascist dictator called Darkseid, a name only mentioned once in the movie. Darkseid seeks a thing called the Anti-Life Equation, which will erase all free will in the universe besides his own. Although a few interesting comments about the nature of power and how different individuals respond to it were tossed around in Justice League, showing Darkseid and exploring his personal philosophy, even a little, could have greatly tapped into this theme. After all, a planetary dictator hoping to bring all minds into submission to his own could be a very effective story springboard into a depiction of the nature of tyranny, lust for power, selfishness, and psychopathy (or sociopathy).
Conclusion
Justice League could have been a more thoroughly quality film than it turned out to be, and maybe the reshoots and director change have to do with that. I would love to see Zach Snyder's original cut. But it really wasn't as rushed as some people make it seem. The DCEU isn't as desperately accelerated as some sites claim! The Avengers came out in 2012, four years after the MCU was kicked off by Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. Justice League entered theaters in late 2017, with the first DCEU movie, Man of Steel, coming out in 2013. DC really hasn't rushed the movies as much as some people seem to think, though some of the installments (Suicide Squad) have elements that are very poor in quality. If you like superhero movies, watch this movie despite the lack of critical acclaim! It still has some great action and showcases some major comics figures. Let's show DC some support!
Content:
1. Violence: Plenty of brawls, but the only blood is green CGI Parademon blood. It has the kind of mild violence one might expect from a PG-13 superhero movie.
2. Profanity: There are multiple uses of "mild" to "medium" profanity throughout.
[1]. I realize that Diana herself is not, strictly speaking, actually a metahuman, since she is an Amazon, because though Amazons look identical to humans from the outside, they are a race of humanoid female warriors created by Zeus and imbued with superhuman strength. Batman doesn't actually possess any superpower; he just uses technology to overpower his opponents. Aquaman is an Atlantean and thus not a human, just like Wonder Woman and Superman, who is Kryptonian. So there are ultimately only two legitimate metahumans (Flash and Cyborg) on the Justice League by the end of the movie, as many of its members aren't even human and Batman isn't technically a superhero by the strictest definition, just a capable and technologically-fortified regular man!
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