Justice Delayed

Previously, I recounted the (possibly misguided) saga of watching past DC Universe movies to get "caught up" to watch Aquaman. I'd heard Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice wasn't very good, but I had modest hopes that maybe Justice League -- which I was watching a couple of years late -- wouldn't be a total loss. After all, Joss Whedon was brought in both as a script doctor and to direct reshoots in place of Zack Snyder. Maybe he brought a little of that Whedon special sauce with him?

A little.

On the down side, Justice League managed against the odds to have an even flimsier plot than Batman v. Superman. It's standard "villain wants to assemble some number of separate objects to enact evil" fare. But it's not a particularly compelling version of the cliche -- he doesn't seem particularly tough in a way that calls for a "superhero team-up," and he goes down rather easily in the movie's climax. (Uh... spoiler alert? I guess? Come on.)

The action throughout the film is visually noisy -- rapidly edited, unstable, and hard to parse. It's difficult to follow what's going on most of the time, which is a big problem when that's what most of the audience is there to see. Then again, perhaps the inability to lock your eye on anything and understand it is intentional, a cover-up of unconvincing CG.

Of course, if you want to talk unconvincing CG, you have to talk about Superman's face. Famously, this is the movie that had to remove Henry Cavill's mustache with digital effects after the makers of Mission: Impossible refused to let him shave it for reshoots on this movie. It's every bit as creepy as the zeitgeist claimed, turning the Man of Steel into an unsettling creature from the uncanny valley that makes "fake Tarkin" look not so bad. And the Justice League reshoots are clearly extensive; it's hard to identify a shot of Superman in this movie that isn't using "digital philtrum exposure."

But there is a little bit more to like here than in Batman v. Superman. Bruce Wayne's character arc is more interesting, driven by guilt and obligation rather than vague rage. Gal Gadot is once again, and to no one's surprise, endlessly charismatic as Wonder Woman. And yes, there are hints here and there of that trademark Joss Whedon dialogue. The characters are more pithy, legitimately funny in moments (in a way the DC movies sorely needed), and allowed at times to be undercut and look like less than unassailable paragons.

The best example of all that is the character of The Flash. This incarnation is a bit of an airhead, or at least a still-very-young kid who doesn't have it all together. He's playful in an enjoyable way, and actor Ezra Miller leans into the fun. (Unexpectedly, if you're judging only by his mirthless performances in the Fantastic Beasts franchise.) I came out of Justice League wishing for his standalone film more than anyone else's.

Justice League was marginally better than Batman v. Superman -- landing at about a C- in my book. It still probably wasn't worth watching, but it wasn't too onerous to get through.