It is no secret theaters are struggling. With the rise of Netflix, Hulu and other streaming sites, revenue and ticket sales are down. However, there still is an allure to going to the movies and experiencing the newest films the way they were supposed to be—on a multi thousand-inch screen. The experience with the large screen and the premium surround sound is great, if the movie is good. However, the sound and screen cannot make up for the terrible acting, directing and writing of the new DC Comics film “Justice League.”
This movie ruins the movie-going experience, effectively wasting two hours of your time and upwards of 15 dollars (in the 20s if you want a snack). Where should we start the criticism? How about we start with the most abhorrent feature of the movie: the directing.
Marvel and DC have a running war over the superhero market (should we even call it a war since DC is putting up no fight?). Marvel, a relatively new studio, is absolutely destroying DC in movie quality as well as economic success. Marvel’s “Spider Man,” “Iron Man,” “Avengers” and most recent movie— “Thor: Ragnarok”— have all been at the very least relative successes. Besides the surprising success of “Wonder Woman,” DC movies such as “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Justice League” and “Suicide Squad” have all been massive disappointments. A common theme in these three movies is the director, Zack Snyder. After the three-hour monstrosity of “Batman V Superman” and the blatantly awful “Suicide Squad,” I am a little surprised DC gave Snyder another opportunity on a marquee film. Snyder failed again with his film “Justice League,” opening at only $100 million while having a budget of around $300 million.
Now let’s get to why the movie was so bad. First, the plot was just unappealing and very predictable. While this is a common criticism among superhero movies, this movie just brings it to a new level. Of course the movie includes a final cliché battle scene between the heroes and the “bad guy.” Guess who wins? Movies can get away with always ending in a battle scene when the enemy is a good dynamic character. However, in “Justice League,” the enemy just screams about coming back to take over the world and is just very one dimensional and unappealing.
The forced humor and all around cheesiness is painful to watch. Humor can be a very effective weapon in superhero movies, just look at Marvel’s “Deadpool.” But this movie is riddled with terrible one-liners and cliché lines. For example, during an important argument between Batman and Wonder Woman, the Flash randomly says, “Is this a bad time to bring up my high blood sugar?” While Snyder was intending to incite a laugh from the audience, all I heard were crickets in the theater. In addition, in the middle of a fight scene, Superman returns and says, “I’m a believer of truth, but I am also a big fan of justice.” The idea that the superheroes have to give one-liners while fighting makes no sense. Instead of just defeating the enemy they talk trash, which closes the window for a surprise attack. The heroes decide to dilly dally with terrible fighting moves and save their amazing unbeatable attack until the end, which is very frustrating to watch. There is no need for cliché pauses in fight scenes or for characters to say “booyah” ever in a fight scene.
Lastly, ethically I don’t love the movie. The idea that Wonder Woman has to wear obscenely tight clothing to me is wrong. Wonder Woman is often viewed as a role model to female youth as a powerful woman among the masses of male superheroes. However, this message seems to be lost on me when Wonder Woman wears revealing and short clothing.
Save your money and your time, stay home and enjoy a great movie in your pajamas. Trekking out the theater for this movie is not worth it. If in the mood for a superhero movie, I would recommend the humorous “Thor: Ragnarok” or the one recent DC success—”Wonder Woman.”
