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Laramie Movie Scope: Justice League

D.C. comics superheroes catching up with Marvel

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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November 18, 2017 – D.C. Comics superhero movies have lagged far behind the success and quality of Marvel superhero movies in recent years. Now, D.C. is catching up in terms of replicating the Marvel formula with “Wonder Woman” and “Justice League.” It also had better than anticipated success (given the reviews) with “Suicide Squad” and “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice” in 2016. But with two more back-to-back hits this year, the films are definitely looking better.

One reason the D.C. movies are looking more polished and audience friendly is better writing this year. “Justice League” is co-written by Joss Whedon, who also wrote the screenplay for “The Avengers.” I see the hand of Whedon: Interesting interactions among the characters, and a lot of humor to go with the action. This film is a lot more like the kind of escapist entertainment I'm looking for rather than the darker, more sombre D.C. films of the past (like the Batman trilogy). “Justice League” is not as light as “Thor: Ragnarok,” but pretty light.

“Justice League” features six superheroes: Superman (played by Henry Cavill of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”) Batman (played by Ben Affleck of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”) Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) The Flash (Ezra Miller of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”) Aquaman (Jason Momoa of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”). The supervillain they must defeat is Steppenwolf, a being from the ancient world who is after three cubes of power on earth. The Justice League is trying to prevent him from getting the cubes and using them to destroy life as we know it on earth.

This movie is constructed along the lines of “The Avengers.” Batman and Wonder Woman are trying to recruit a team of superheroes to defeat Steppenwolf. The team is a diverse group of personalities with different backgrounds. It takes a while to get everyone on board, despite the fact that the incentive for action is as strong as incentives can possibly get. The easiest recruit is The Flash, but he is also the least enthusiastic about fighting. He says, “It's really cool you guys seem ready to do battle and stuff, but I've never done battle. I've just pushed some people and run away.”

The movie is filled with one-liners, which are hit and miss, but most are good enough, and some are pretty funny. The mood of the film is pretty light, despite the whole destroy the world thing. This is a superhero movie that is what a superhero movie should be in these dark times. It is light entertainment, not a descent into the dark heart of the soul. I can get plenty of that darkness just by paying attention to the news of the day.

This movie went so far in copying the Marvel superhero movie formula as to include a couple of those Marvel-like mid and post credits scenes this time. The first shows the beginning of a race between Superman and The Flash. The post credits scene looks like a teaser for an upcoming film featuring Lex Luthor and a character familiar to those who have seen episodes of the CW series “Arrow,” or who have read certain DC comics.

For some people, the number of superhero movies has already passed the saturation point, but obviously, the market is still there and we'll never run out of comic book heroes. At some point, I would think there will be a point of diminishing returns, but we haven't gotten there yet. I am along for the ride so far. This film rates a B. I missed a bit of this movie due to a power outage at the movie theater, but probably not more than a few seconds.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Copyright © 2017 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)