Movie Review - Justice League

Justice League ***½ (out of 5) (PG-13) Here’s what you need to know about this highly-anticipated adventure, uniting several superheroes from the universe of DC Comics into one evil-fighting band of brothers (plus one sister). Superman is dead, but not forgotten. A guilt-ridden Batman recruits Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash and some cyborg dude named Victor to face a new supervillain new to them; ancient to the Amazons and their previous allies that put him down for a few millennia) named Steppenwolf. He’s huge, powerful and pissed off. But once he collects three cubes of power that were buried the last time around, he and his demonic flying minions will wipe us all out. Even so, Batman finds he’s much better at inventing gadgets and vehicles than inspiring group hugs.

That makes the first hour quite a drag, with far too much talking while Batman assembles the team. Besides their resistance, we get an overdose of backstories, with everyone’s emotional baggage. (Except for Wonder Woman, every hero seems scarred by familial dysfunction or early trauma. Maybe Supershrink should be the next one we’ll meet. Have Couch; Will Travel.)

Sounds of restlessness could be heard in the house - some coming from me. But things pick up in the second half, with all the f/x mayhem and plot developments ardent fans have been salivating over. All the heroes (gender-neutral) strut their fair share of the hour upon the stage, with a truly stunning climactic battle sequence.

The pleasant surprise is that someone seems to have finally gotten the point of why the Marvel gang is doing better. Their stories embrace light-hearted, witty characters who make the movies less gloomy and more fun. Iron Man’s wisecracks; Stan Lee’s cameos; Thor’s familial conflicts; self-satirizing players like Deadpool breathe fresh air into those tales, compared to the relentless seething anger of all the gravel-voiced Batman portrayers, and the humor-impaired roster of dudes playing Krypton’s greatest export. And the Marvel posse does more fighting in daylight, allowing us to better see who’s pummeling whom. Regular readers may recall that I’ve lamented this levity gap often in previous reviews. Even so, my ego isn’t big enough to believe studio bigwigs read and heeded my thoughts. I’m just glad someone got the idea, by whatever means.

So don’t go unless you have the patience to endure the first half. After the tedium, there will be a payoff, plus two teasers flanking the interminable credits. (11/17/17)

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