The DC Universe has decided to make a full length feature film about a rogue band of supernatural misfits itching to stop an overwhelming devastating threat that can destroy mankind. Hmm….where does this sound familiar. I mean it’s on the tip of my tongue, but I just can’t picture it. Oh wait…it’s Star Wars….no? Guardians of the Galaxy….wait, I know it’s gotta be Stranger Things…..right?? Am I getting warmer? Gosh, there are so many superhero films out there, I can never tell. Oh that’s right….Justice League, how foolish am I!! This film will slap you silly and love doing it. Unfortunately, it never has the opportunity to grow and gradually integrate their story unto us unlike Marvel did with the Avengers. However, it definitely held their ground and delivered a pretty decent movie that is packed with action, humor and great special effects.
The challenge of this film is to deliver a great story to keep our interests peaked. The costumes and their unique personalities put a rather strange taste in our mouths. At first you have to get used to the fact that Aquaman looks like a biker hellhound with flowing dirty blonde hair that loves hard liquor and bad mouths Bruce Wayne every chance he gets. Next you have the scarlet speedster, the Flash, aka BarryAllen. Here is a kid who is green behind the lightning in just about everything except for his enormous speed and agility. Ezra Miller who plays Allen uses his youthful boyish charm to mask his isolation and nomadic lifestyle to run away from his painful reminder about his mother’s death and dad’s incarceration. Although his costume looks like it is made by a fashion designer with a severely bad heroin problem, it is pretty badass. Victor Stone, aka Cyborg is a walking living computer that has serious daddy issues. Despite the fact that his body is mostly covered in cybernetics, it doesn’t stop him from becoming a very important piece of the story. Ray Fisher who plays robot boy did a fine job portraying a successful high school jock to becoming a cybernetic superhero with the help from his dad. I can go on about Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman but you have already seen them in action in their respective stand alone films so I’m not going to try. Ciaran Hinds who voice Steppenwolf, the big baddie in this film, takes his extraordinary talent to this character and raises the bar to a level that is pretty awesome. The CGI drawn of Steppenwolf intensifies his megalomania and world domination persona to a very scary level. Making him ten feet tall and wielding a steroid version of an axe makes him someone you don’t want to bring home to meet your parents in fear he might eat them or beat them into submission.
The storyline continues after the death of Superman and it picks up the collateral wake of its results. Crime has risen, hope is lost, and the word is out that Earth is ripe for the taken. Enter your worst nightmare, Steppenwolf and his monkey-like flying parademons to tear the world a brand new a@#$hole!!!!. Bruce has taken it upon himself to carry the flag and unite a band of superhuman metahumans to battle this dilemma. Along with the help of Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, they unravel Steppenwolf’s nefarious mission and thwart his upcoming apocalypse……YEAH!!!!!! Is this movie predictable, yes; Is the action sequences pretty much the same, yes; Is the humor and the corny liners pretty much monotonous, yes; but all the same I kind of liked it. It’s a popcorn movie that delivers a good summer blockbuster with no extravagancy and complex plots. It is plain and simple and pretty much to the point. If the Avengers did not have all those years to build up their storyline and just opened up in theaters right now competing against the Justice League, the League would definitely put up a great fight. But unfortunately we live in the real world and are saturated with Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, and Thor merchandise and advertising that they have their hand in the proverbial cookie jar and munching on chocolate chip cookies.
If I had to compare the Avengers to the Justice League. It would be like comparing AC/DC to Michael Jackson. The League is hard, fast, gritty, messy, and it will bash your head in if you allow it. The Avengers is big, extravagant, glamorous, and has eye popping effects that will grab your senses.
Go see this film if you want to see a good summer blockbuster, but don’t expect to be surprised. If will give this film three and half out of five movie stubs.
