Justice League
19/11/17 Filed in: Cinema
We saw Justice League on Friday, its release day here in the UK. I have mentioned previously that the whole superhero genre has started to wane a bit for me, basically because we've reached saturation. Deadpool was a refreshing change, Guardians of the Galaxy provided humour and great soundtracks and Wonder Woman was different because it at last gave us a female heroine. As for the rest, I'm afraid it's just more of the same. Which takes us to Justice League.
My take on the film is that is a group of superheroes looking for a plot; and what a plot. It appears that the super-villain in this case, Steppenwolf, does indeed hail from DC Comics, which surprised me as I thought the whole contrivance was verging on hallucinatory. We are introduced to the Mother Boxes, wrested from Steppenwolf in the past by the combined armies of the Olympian Gods, Amazons, Atlantians, ancient humans and Green Lanterns (an intergalactic police force, which was trailed but I didn't notice their representative in the film). The Mother Boxes must be kept apart, since if they are brought back together this would give Steppenwolf the power to conquer the Earth. To this end one is guarded by the Amazons, cue Diana Prince's involvement, one by Atlantis, cue Aquaman, and one by humans. The death of Superman has triggered the boxes to activate and Bruce Wayne is leading a quest to assemble a team to stop Steppenwolf taking over the Earth. In addition to those already mentioned, we have Barry Allen, the Flash, and Victor Stone, a Cyborg who is having trouble coming to terms with his cyborgness.
As if this wasn't already stretching imagination to the limits, the newly assembled team realise that they have no chance of succeeding without Superman, who's dead of course. Be prepared for another leap of fantasy.
The whole thing staggers along with no one superhero breaking through to stimulate our interest, Bruce Wayne/Batman in particular comes across as a bit burnt out and ready for retirement. Of course, the Batman v Superman episode renders the whole idea of getting Superman back on board a teeny bit speculative. But Lois Lane is there to help, providing a spot of relief in the shape of Amy Adams. And so the team sets forth on its impossible quest and it's fortunate that they all seem to be virtually indestructible, which perhaps is understandable in the case of Superman, semi-god Diana Prince, and the cyborg, but the others?
Steppenwolf is supported by squadrons of parademons, nasty super hornets that appear to be machines but my research indicates that they are in fact extraterrestrials. Their strength is in their numbers, the hornet analogy being entirely appropriate. The scene is thus set for the showdown.
The lightening up of the genre recently with the introduction of more humour, presumably to compensate for the 'sameness', has transferred to this film. But for me it seemed very much an add-on, almost an afterthought as a nod to the recent trend rather than something that had been written in from the outset.
If you like superheroes give it a go, but for me I'm afraid it reinforced an already fading interest in the genre. However, Diana and Aquaman may well have a life after Justice League.
The whole thing staggers along with no one superhero breaking through to stimulate our interest, Bruce Wayne/Batman in particular comes across as a bit burnt out and ready for retirement. Of course, the Batman v Superman episode renders the whole idea of getting Superman back on board a teeny bit speculative. But Lois Lane is there to help, providing a spot of relief in the shape of Amy Adams. And so the team sets forth on its impossible quest and it's fortunate that they all seem to be virtually indestructible, which perhaps is understandable in the case of Superman, semi-god Diana Prince, and the cyborg, but the others?
Steppenwolf is supported by squadrons of parademons, nasty super hornets that appear to be machines but my research indicates that they are in fact extraterrestrials. Their strength is in their numbers, the hornet analogy being entirely appropriate. The scene is thus set for the showdown.
The lightening up of the genre recently with the introduction of more humour, presumably to compensate for the 'sameness', has transferred to this film. But for me it seemed very much an add-on, almost an afterthought as a nod to the recent trend rather than something that had been written in from the outset.
If you like superheroes give it a go, but for me I'm afraid it reinforced an already fading interest in the genre. However, Diana and Aquaman may well have a life after Justice League.