By Joshua H. Stulman

Justice League was an enjoyable action packed film that helped to expand the D.C. Comics cinematic universe. The film features a uniting of many of D.C.’s core heroes in an easy-to-follow adventure to prevent Steppenwolf’s invasion of Earth.

The movie contained some excellent recreation of scenes straight from the New 52 comic series as well as giving a fuller picture and hints of things to come in the franchise.

While the movie had some great scenes and moments, the film editing and added comedic re-shoots made this film feel choppy. Yes, the main story is clear and preserved but I felt like I watched a string of good scenes without any of the connective parts that helps to layer a film.

At points scenes that were glossed over, like the Atlantean/Amazon war were cool but way too short. Fun scenes like the Flash/Superman race were completely out of the blue and would have been more enjoyable if they were teased to the viewer to build expectations.

The basic “MacGuffin” plot of the film where the heroes and villains compete to collect pieces of a doomsday device is way overused in comic movies (and yeah it’s kinda like Marvel’s Infinity War). But that’s not really the point of the film, which is to assemble the Justice League.

Having this in mind, I think the movie would have been more successful as a two part film. The first part focusing on bringing the League together and culminating in Superman’s return and the second part being the League going up against Steppenwolf.

The film did a good job of balancing screen time between the heroes but unfortunately this meant that everyone got less time on screen. This is something the individual films should correct.

Favorite scenes include the Justice League vs. Superman fight and Wonder Woman’s opening fight entrance. Even though I’m not a big New 52 fan, I did enjoy Batman tracking a Parademon straight from New 52 Justice League #1.

In terms of costuming, I liked Superman light toned costume but disliked his oddly painted-in muscles. I hated Flash’s costume, which continues a comic trend of needing to explain the functionality of a costume. It’s ok to just wear a superhero costume. We don’t need it explained. I really hated Steppenwolf’s unimaginative blue grey pale CGI costume. I would have much preferred a comic version with his evil yellow skin and beady red eyes. That would have made a truly scary visage.

The characterization of the heroes was mostly fine. I enjoyed Aquaman’s portrayal, which is more 90’s influenced. I extremely disliked Flash’s portrayal as the young inexperienced, humorous member of the group a la Spider-Man in Avengers. I wish D.C. would embrace their comic characters more instead of hedging their bets by trying to copy the Marvel method.

In the end, Justice League served its purpose of introducing and widening the D.C. Comics Cinematic universe and made introductions to the upcoming solo films.

D.C. Comics has always been the home of the iconic legendary superheroes. I wish they would concern themselves less with mimicking Marvel’s movie approach and focus more on their rich history of storytelling.

Movie Grade: 8.5/10

Comic Accuracy Grade: 6.5/10

Joshua H. Stulman

Owner, BrooklynComicShop.com