Star Wars: The Last Jedi Review

As the year is finally ending for big blockbuster releases, it is that time of the year for another trip into a galaxy far, far away.  After the success and rebirth of the Star Wars series with the 7^th episode called The Force Awakens, it was inevitable that we would be getting an episodic film trilogy that follows the characters from the original films as well as the new cast to precede them in this latest adventure.  Well, after ending on top of a cliffhanger literally, the next chapter is finally upon us with the 8^th episode, The Last Jedi with Rian Johnson of his previous indie/unique films of crime noir Brick and the sci-fi drama Looper at the helm of directing and writing on his own.  All the cast and characters are returning from the previous film as well as new worlds, characters, creatures, and storylines to be developed in this highly anticipated sequel.  Does it satisfy not just fans but the movie going public and cynical viewers with an engaging and exciting new entry that finally carves its own path, or does it falter in its ability to introduce new elements to a proven formula as well as rehashing the other films in the series?  Let’s search for the last Jedi and discuss the story on display here.

Picking up immediately after the defeat of the First Order and the destruction of the Starkiller Base, Rey (Daisy Ridley) along with Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and R2D2 (Jimmy Vee) set off to the last location where Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) remains in exile.  She arrives to find him looking upon the horizon, to present to him the lightsaber he lost decades ago on Bespin.  However, he is reluctant to help with the Resistance’s struggle against the First Order and train Rey in the ways of the Jedi.  Despite the victory against the First Order, the Resistance has lost all support from the galaxy, thanks to the complete destruction of the Republic itself. This forces Poe Dameron (Oscar Issac) with BB-8, General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), a recovered but determined Finn (John Boyega), optimistic yet spunky mechanic Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), and the Resistance forces to retreat from their recent base with the First Order on their tail.  Then, you have Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) conflicted with his place in this war as a fallen Jedi that longs to be free from so called beliefs and ideals for his own psychopathic vanity to be his own man.  He is goaded on by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and commands General Armitage Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) to hunt the struggling Resistance forces down.  It is a desperate struggle against time and conflicts from within, for all our heroes and villains as the war rages on and everyone must confront their own purposes in this war as well as their flaws to discover what they have to accomplish to survive and win for their respective sides.

Let’s start off by writing that this is a truly grand, complex story at work here with the main plot lines being driven by the established characters and subplots that advanced them further.  Everything involving Rey’s journey and the desperate flight of the Resistance is compelling, engaging, and has a good momentum to the plot-lines at first, along with the ways in which the characters are developed.  The film does have some subversion to the usual good vs. evil story ideology that provides some truly exciting action moments and really progresses the characters in unique ways.  Even Luke and Leia have some great, defining character moments and developments that made them stand out as the highlights of the cast along with the newer ones like Rey and Kylo Ren still intriguing to watch them develop further along as opposites that are akin to each other’s strengths and weaknesses.  The beginning and ending act of the story are the big highlights and showcase how exciting and surprisingly shocking it handles these characters as well as the usual formula for space opera adventures/war stories in this universe.

However, the balance of the force resides in what is positively good but also what is negatively bad regarding certain parts of the film’s direction and script that don’t work.  The middle act of the film when it puts the focus on Finn and Rose’s side mission to find a hacker on Canto Bight, a casino/criminal socialite planet is where the film comes to a complete halt and wastes time with forced social agenda messages (with PETA animal cruelty, the wealth disparage, and Child Slavery) along with an excessive emphasis on CGI/puppetry effects for the sake of humor/gags.  While it does further the development of the characters with Finn and Rose as well as establish the society culture beyond the war, it feels like the director expressing his love for crime noir visuals for personal reasons that hurts the momentum of the whole film instead of contributing to it.  There also seem to be a lot of repetition with the three main plot lines that felt like they were repeating themselves too often, evident in the Rey/Luke and the Rebel Pursuit sections.  It also seems to have suffered the misunderstanding story troupe of Disney animated films where most of the conflict seems to occur due to not having the characters talk it out and conflict over a incriminating detail kept secret to them.  This also feels like another new beginning as if the previous film “The Force Awakens” needed a semi-reboot as it sorts of ends up right back to square one with new characters established and explored for better and worse for the next installment.

It is also beholden to the past again akin to the previous episode but this time undoing and destroying what had come before, to leave it open for the future, which is the most polarizing component of the film.  It does callbacks to the original films that are well thought out and really capture the magic of those films gracefully so, those moments did work for old and newer fans.  However, it still feels like it has to riff on different plot lines from the original trilogy such as The Empire Strikes Back and The Return Of The Jedi but remixing them in different places or cramming some notable plot/character beats into one.  At the same time, it completely reshapes the way in which the force works as it now seems to just work at convenience or for whomever gets it that is important to the story or for future installments.  It also must be mentioned that for a film that takes risks and chance, it seems it never truly commits to its end results, as if he wanted it both ways to please everyone and stumbling on those plot/character beats because of it.  Therefore, the term “unwieldy” best describes the writing and direction efforts of Rian Johnson that has created a bold but messy continuation to Episode 7 that at least starts and ends strong but getting there feels very disjointed moving from point a to b.  Despite its bold new direction for the series and the changes/risks it takes are worth praising, it does have problems being consistent with its tone and its characters at times.

The last thing that needs to be addressed before we move on, the use of humor, quips, and gags throughout this film is quite different from what we enjoyed or annoyed by in the previous episode.  There is more slapstick humor along with some quippy, self-referential gags that feel like they belong in a satirical or parody of the sci-fi space opera genre.  While a few of these humorous moments do land effectively, most of it doesn’t and sometimes undercuts the dramatic moments that needed to be played straight but throws in a jokey line that is meant to keep viewers from realizing how dark and depressing this story gets.  It feels very akin to Marvel films particularly their Sci-fi adventure series Guardians Of The Galaxy and sort of suffers the same issue with its implementation of the humor at times.  Without giving away a gag, it involves cow and milk and that should be clear as to how cringy and badly timed the jokes tend to be throughout the whole film.  

Let’s get to the cast finally as they are numerous and great in their respective roles as well as tying into the components of the story that works or problematic.   Let’s start with the lead characters, Rey played by Daisy Ridley, who continues to put in a spirted and commendably passionate performance into her character even if she tends to stay static writing wise throughout the entire story.  Her scenes with Luke are filled with genuine moments of humor and dramatic pathos regarding the themes of the film (letting the past and expectations go).  She also has some compelling and surprisingly inspired moments of conflict and character growth with Kylo Ren that expands on the idea of balance in the force and gives both characters purpose to be in their respective roles in this conflict.  They have minimized the so called “mary sue” criticism of her character and she works best with the other cast members but tends to be bit dull and uninteresting when she is left to her own devices as a character and actress.

One of the few cast members that truly shines and is fantastic in his return is none other than Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, who has exiled himself from the conflict and is the grumpy hermit from tales of old that has some strong opinions on the force and Jedi along with not wanting to train Rey in the ways of the force.  Hamill truly captures the inner turmoil and tragedy of a fallen hero who regrets his actions and creating the evil that is now causing destruction to the galaxy despite the contradictory changes made to this character from the previous films for this particularly story.  He ultimately has the most fleshed out and satisfying character arc of the whole film and is consistently amazing to watch from start to finish.  He truly fits right back into the character he made his own many years ago as well as really injecting some of the charm and magic of the original film in subtle, gratifying ways.

The hero is only as interesting as the villain and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren/Ben Solo Skywalker is turning out to be the most complex and intriguing villains to grace this series in the main film line.  His anger and temper tantrums really make him the opposite of what Darth Vader was in a good way especially in the change up regarding way the villains are handled and shifted in the middle act of the film.  Driver continues to impress in the role and impose a credible threat throughout the film despite the disappointing turns and development taken with the character around the last act of the film as well as the enforcement of the tired old light and dark troupes.  He has finally gotten comfortable with this character in this outing and is shaping Ren to be a villain that will be remembered fondly in this series especially among newer fans.

The lead characters that truly drive the story forward are in top form, but the supporting/ensemble cast is more of a mix bag regarding their performances and writing overall.  Let’s start with Finn played by John Boyega and he contributes very little to the main story, even with his own subplot to find a hacker with Rose.  He does develop further as a character from being a selfish coward to a well intention, heroic figure despite the somewhat down putting jokes about him being a janitor at times (it brought some Space Quest vibes out of the way the jokes were written).  However, they meander on his and Rose’s development in a tedious way that it lessens the more dramatic moments of the film regarding double crosses and sacrifice.  Boyega is still giving a committed and more even performance in contrast to his inconsistent one in the previous film, but he is ultimately still brushed aside for the other subplots and main narrative that makes his story along with Rose feel like extra bits that could have been condensed or cut out completely.

The character that really gets railroaded in this film from the writing and development from his actions is Poe Dameron played by Oscar Isaac.  He has an intriguing and compelling development of being the hot shot pilot that is headstrong and challenges authority constantly despite being too stubborn and prideful to learn from his mistakes.  The problem with the way his character arc is handle is that outside of one clear consequence from the beginning action set piece, he literally suffers no such punishment for his actions and it seems like he learns his lesson in a matter that feels unearned and sudden.  He is also another returning character that is underutilized again by the writer/director and relegating him for the dramatic exchanges on the capital ships, making his character journey along with that story arc really feel repetitive after the 4-5 times we see this before something does happen.  Isaac gives a great performance as always and is still charming in the role, but his character suffers from the poor timing and execution of his development and contribution to the story and characters surrounding him.

The one standout of the supporting cast is none other than Carrie Fisher as General Leia, playing the same cool and no-nonsense character, we have come to know and love from the previous films.  While her role is limited to supporting and comes into the story from time to time, she is just as likable and charismatic as she was all those years ago as well as providing the leadership of the resistance in presence and ideals.  She does have a moment in the film that might be ridiculous or amazing, but it fits with what we know of her character and a great reminder of her lineage with Luke as her sister.  She is the hero who provides a foundation for the cast of characters and story that is still felt even after the credits rolls and that is a testament to the thoughtful handling of her character in this film.

There is another supporting character that does seem annoying at first but grows into a decent character despite the unbelievable odd writing choices for her, Rose played by Kelly Marie Tran.  She is played up as the spunky, heartfelt resistance mechanic that is dealing with the lost of her sister during a bombing run against the First Order armada.  It does come across as a meta performance especially with the odd and somewhat flat-lined chemistry with Finn (Boyega) but it does seem genuine and quirky to at least follow her in their subplot together.  There is a romance they set up between her and Finn that feels disingenuous and out of place with the characters themselves that it is one of the plot lines that we can only hope will not be developed in the next installment.  She provides the social messages and commentary on society’s problems that makes her character only there to fill a status quo, rather than a necessary character that helps drive the story forward and instead, just keeping it at a standstill.

As for the rest of the cast, let’s give a brief mention to what made them great but also kind of ancillary in a detrimental way to the quality of the film.  Let’s mention Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Holdo as she seems to be playing the tough as nails, by the book enclosed tactician that dramatically conflicts with Dameron for petty reasons, but she seems out of place and not suited for this type of character archetype.  There is also the odd and ultimately plot driven character DJ played by Benicio Del Toro providing a rather strange, lisp inducing performance that makes his character unique to the series but only serves to sprout the thematic element of morals in a conflict as well as provide conflict for our heroes before exiting asap out of the film.  Captain Phasma played by Gwendoline Christie has the same purpose as the last film, to look cool and intimidating only to be underutilized and wasted in this whole film.  Even Carrie Fisher’s daughter (Billy Lourd) appears in this film to honor her mother as a communications officer that supports Poe Dameron in his plans to keep the Resistance alive and it was cool to discover that. As for Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, he is still comically over the top and just deliciously hamming it up in a British posh way of talking and acting for essentially a fascist regime and his dynamic with Ren is comically funny in both a meaningful and odd way.  The cast is fantastic in their roles and they elevate the tonally messy and disjointed writings of the director’s script overall.

Let’s finally get to the technical aspects of the film, starting with the effects themselves regarding the CGI and creature designs.  This really has some serious talent in to really shape the larger than life action set pieces in space and the creation of the Crystal Fox as well as Porgs and the Frog Nuns.  While they do exist for the sole reason to sell new toys and merchandising for it, they do provide some levity and plot movement for the characters as well as fitting with the flora and fauna of the worlds they inhabit.  There are a ton more creatures in the casino planet, but they are fleeting at best with their screen time and it feels like work squandered for only a few moments in that world.  The effects are utilized in the proper ways for the space battles and to expand on the worlds themselves.  While it is more CGI than practical especially this time around, it is of high quality and works in accordance to the settings and locations of the plot lines, be it in space or on the expansions of the worlds the characters explore.

As for the cinematography, it is downright gorgeous to look at and truly has some inspired artistic moments that will enrapture even the most jaded film viewer.  The cinematographer was Steve Yedlin and the team of camera operators that truly shot on location for most of these planets as well as the meticulous set designs of the ships themselves.  It is the best on the Ahch-To planet with a Scottish island aesthetics to it as well as the salt driven planet of Crait and the red crystal formations of the mines/tunnels.  Even the most overly drawn out part of the film of Canto Bight looks lavish in displaying the decadents of the old world through wealth and power.  The use of lighting is brilllant as well, displaying the struggles of the characters visually as well as the shifts in the atmospheres for certain narrative beats.  It must be mentioned that this is truly a gorgeous film when it is on camera and real, while the green screen scenes are a bit spotty looking here as the unfortunate drawback to the look of the film.

This leads into the action set pieces themselves as they are spread out through the film starting with the extravagantly explosive opening that kicks the film off quickly.  The battle is reminiscent to what was intended for the series, a throwback to the 1940’s world war 2 stories of struggles and victory especially in the use of the Bombers in that sequence.  There is only really 1 lightsaber battle in this whole film that is brutal and violent especially in the ways they dispatch their opponents but no Jedi/Sith struggle physically in this film.  The only action set piece that is disorienting and a sloppy CGI mess to watch is the moments in the Casino section that reeks of immaturity and tonally all over the place for a dark, seedy environment to have humor akin to a cartoon.  The space battles and chess games with the ships are handled well enough to provide the signature look of Star War, which goes for the sequences that do work on the ground especially near the exhilarating last act of the story.  The last set pieces are handled with the right amount of intensity and stakes to be the most memorable and energized finale of the series even though it took some time to get to that last act

We follow up with the costume designs and they are the traditional looks you expect but some unique ones introduced or revised for the newer films.  While the classic looks of Rebels and Empire are still present here, we have a few oddities throughout with certain characters mainly with Vice Admiral Holdo, who has this strange purple look to her that feels like it’s being strange in a forceful disingenuous way.  There is also the classic look of Crime Noir with Tuxedos, models, and the casino vibe of the extras there that feels a bit out of place with the more fantasy/war time visual styles of the series.  Most of the characters costumes and looks are distinctive to their settings in the story, as it maintains the grimy, grounded look of the original series with a mix of medieval and military.  It is appropriate to the world and characters with the costume designs, continuing the modern updates of the classic uniforms while bringing in different yet jarring genre artistic designs into the series.

The next section now revolves around editing and structure as there have been some interesting choices made here that both work and backfired throughout the whole film.  The first act is paced wonderfully, and it keeps the tension going as the Resistance struggle to fight off the First Order as they escape in retreat.  Then, we have the other plot line regarding Rey and her persistence to convince Luke Skywalker to help her and the Resistance, which actually has some powerful emotional arcs to it that are always compelling to watch despite some repetitive beats that can be redundant at times, but it does move the plot, characters, and world building for this series forward in an important way.  As for the Resistance plot lines, they are a mix bag and suffer the most from the narrative juggling act here as they have to inner cut between the storylines with Poe and Holdo along with Finn and Rose as well as Rey with Luke which causes at least the Resistance storylines to feel needlessly convoluted and bloated to the point where a ton of the problematic pacing resides in those 2 story arcs.  The fat needed to be trimmed in those sections, which could have made for a tighter and concise entry that didn’t feel thoughtlessly lengthy because Rian Johnson could not have found a creative and dramatic way to make conflicts that made sense instead of relying on the tired old toupees expected in not only space opera stories but Disney animated ones as well.

Lastly, we have the exceptionally powerful sound design and musical score done by none other than John Williams, yet again after his enjoyable yet nostalgic return to the series in The Force Awakens.  The sound design is reliably great for this series, from the use of sound drops for the Lightspeed moment to the familiar sounds of lightsabers and rifles.  It is still fantastic sound editing at work here as it works truly in tandem with the exciting visuals and gives gravitas to the emotional moments of the film.  With music, John Williams provides a suitable yet familiar sound back again with the usual heroic and villainous themes rearranged for this new yet past driven tale.  However, it suffers from yet again not really having enough unique and memorable themes to attached yourself to, besides the returning themes for Rey and Kylo Ren.  The sound design is top quality as always along with a reliably great yet moment driven music score that enhances the film’s visuals.

Now, we get to the coda for this long and rocky road by expressing what this film did right and wrong with its core themes and intentions on display here.  It is for better and worse not only a complete reboot of the whole series that tosses out what was intriguing and problematic in the previous film but a deconstruction of the series as a whole from tearing down what was the foundation of the series and rebuilding from the ground up for the future.  That might be what has caused such a strong and divisive reaction from numerous audiences at least from the screenings during the week based around the audiences’ reactions and conversations.  However, in taking a risk in telling this revisionist tale of failure through adversity and shaping the future through the past mistakes, it is all over the place in its tone (going from dramatic to comedic inconsistently) and having to not only be its own story but at the same time, still beholden to the original films (The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi are the obvious remixes and retreaded plot/character moments used here) along with the clichés, troupes, and story/character arcs and themes we have come to expected from this series.  It is has finally become another Disney style film as well and may have lost what made this series so unique and beloved for so many years and that will certainly be the way these films are going to be made in the future.

Score: *** out of ***** 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is an important change to the formula and status quo in its deconstruction of the series as a whole, but its somewhat haphazardly convoluted and messy script as well as plot structure has either developed character arcs like the lead characters or ancillary and inconsequential characters that only contribute to a plot point or force a political/social agenda in a ham-fisted way.  The film is fantastic in moments especially in its astounding visuals along with the returning characters’ development and the intriguing new directions they take with Rey and Kylo Ren (who is shaping up to be a remarkable villain for this series) despite Rey not really being an interesting character on her own and working best with other characters even though there are times when she falls into the Mary Sue issues yet again (they never really establish her improved combat skills in film besides the force reason, despite Ridley being trained by a fight/sword choreographer from China).  The middle act slows the film down to a crawl and only picks back up in the end, since the Casino planet feels not only out of place during the Resistance chase plotline but jarring as well with its goofy cartoonish humor and poor CGI throughout that sections that harken back to the bad use of green screen in the Prequel films.  There are also numerous character arcs and subplots that get lost in the shuffle or completely ancillary to the point of being wasted in this outing yet again.  It is a different kind of Star Wars film that is combination of the old, gritty war time stories, mythological heroes journey, and odd sci-fi settings that fans know and love combining with the traditional Disney film formula that is universal to everyone.  In its attempt to please and service everyone, it ended up dividing everyone regarding its quality and that middle of the road mentality kind of fits what is so great yet frustrating with this chapter of the Star Wars series.

Justice League Review

As the year comes to an end for superhero films after the supremely funny, satisfyingly entertaining return of Thor, we have one final comic book film of this year to close out 2017 with a bang.  That is the team-up, action/adventure film of DC’s mightiest heroes to form the Justice League.  This film has had an interesting journey to the cinema as it had two directors Zack Synder and Joss Whedon with Synder having to leave for personal reasons and Whedon stepping in to reshape and fix the issues the film might have had during its post-production edit.  That and the lukewarm opinions on the DC films as of late and it has an uphill battle to justify as well as revitalize the world for future installments of these iconic superheroes in cinematic form. Does this film succeed where the others have failed despite its fundamental flaws that were unavoidable due to the troubled production schedule and creative input or does it suffer the same issues as its predecessors before it with its tone-deaf storytelling or its disconnected direction on display? Let’s form up and really become heroes, just for this review by going into the story first.

It has only been a few months since Superman (Henry Cavill) gave his life to kill Doomsday and save Gotham City and Metropolis from destruction at the hands of the Kryptonian monster.  The world has spiraled back into its chaotic and violent ways with Batman (Ben Affleck) working in the shadows of Gotham City along with Wonder Woman (Gal Godot) remaining incognito from the problems of the world in Paris (with the occasional Superheroic acts from time to time).  However, that all changes when Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) invades Themysicra and defeats the Amazonians as his conquest of Earth begins, searching for the Mother Boxes.  This spurs Wonder Woman to work with Batman to recruit superheroes from all over the world with The Flash (Erza Miller) from Central City, Aquaman (Jason Momoa) who is living in exile in Iceland, and Cyborg (Ray Fisher), a Gotham varsity college student transformed into a cybernetic hybrid courtesy of his father and the Mother Box from S.T.A.R.R Labs after a tragic accident that claimed his mother’s life.  With the assault on Earth from Steppenwolf and his legion of Para demons, the superheroes from all the corners of the world must learn to work together and unite against a common enemy to form the Justice League, an organization of Superheroes united to defend the universe against all threats on a global and galactic level.

There is no easy way to write this but to be upfront, yes, this story is simplistic, straightforward and, yet it is quite a mess due to the troubled production problems that rear their ugly problems onto the big screen.  It is amazing to see a lack of narrative structure to each scene as it transitions moment to moment for each character to be developed or introduced as well as checking off the necessary clichés and troupes needed to get everyone to their starting positions before the mayhem begins.  However, it does move along briskly to allow for character moments to shine by letting the viewers really see how these characters click with each other.  It does come at the cost of plot inconsistences (to cover up for the creative choices made in previous films) and retcons to liven and present a fun, adventurous tone to the entire proceedings.  It works but it is a double-edged sword problem as well. 

To explain the consequences of simplifying the story, it lacks any form of emotional depth or the ambitious but darkly weighty themes/character arcs of the previous films before it.  This is evident to the connective tissues of each scenes absent from each cut that makes it a bit messy and nonsensical especially with the subplots being condensed into either a pointless action scene (Wonder Woman taking on European terrorists) or does not seems to matter to the plot at all (Supes and his first meeting with the Justice League, great scene but not relevant to the main plot).  There is also a stronger emphasis on a lighter, campy tone to the proceedings that it feels like it is in line with the animated efforts of the DC characters but not as compelling or memorable as those interpretations.  This clashes with the occasional grim and somber moments in the film that feels out of place with this lighter, audience friendly atmosphere of the story, unintentionally creating tonal shifts that can be felt throughout this film.

This is compounded by another aspect of the major reshoot that is evident in this film, mainly with the characters interacting as well as the quippy jokes and witty drawl dialogue writing being a trademark for Joss Whedon.  It does flesh out the characters with their own distinctive traits particularly the course correction with Batman to be less arrogant, as well as the fan favorite Flash (despite issues with the character and performance itself).  It is the moments when the heroes interact where the characters come into their own, the film really showcases what this film series should have established first especially with an organic, yet endearingly funny scene near the end involving Aquaman and a rope (enough said).  These moments are only sprinkled throughout the film in between generic, cookie cutter save the world plot with the dull villain and not so complex narrative structure and pacing on display here (as another critic pointed out, a discount version of Avengers with the cube like artifact that can destroy the world). 

There is just one more aspect to discuss regarding the story that does work, the team interactions and Superman himself (no spoilers with story elements that explains his purpose here).  These moments between the heroes are very much apparent reshoots and it adds some levity but also character personality to them, which were lacking in previous films.  When it was about the heroes themselves, the film shines brightest in what could have been with these series of films, but it is brought back down to mediocrity with its weak, generic brute of a villain and thin main plot to motivate the joining of these characters.  As for Superman, his resurrection is forced and contrived, with characters bringing up good points as to why that might be a bad idea, but the character is allowed to finally be the hopeful, powerful boy scout character that has made him endearing to fans of the comics for years.  If it seems like too few positives to establish with this film’s story, there is not much else to go on as it has literally been condensed, trimmed, and reshaped for better as well as for worse.

Let’s get into the cast of characters, starting with the Justice League themselves.  Ben Affleck returns as Batman/Bruce Wayne after his surprisingly memorable introduction in the previous film and his performance is an interesting one to explore.  He is still providing a solid portrayal of the character in his older years but there are unfortunate signs that his heart and enthusiasm is not in this as much as it was in the previous film.  It was apparent in the reshot scenes that he is phoning it in as some have mentioned, and it shows, especially when he is supposed to originally be the main center of the team (which may have shifted to another character due in part to the success of a certain DC film recently).  That is not to diminish what he has done for the character, but it really feels like he is coming to his end with the character and it matches how out of place the character is with this conflict feeling a bit out of his depth.  Anyway, a decent performance but isn’t quite as remarkable or intensely passionate as before in the previous films.

The real heroic center of the team is Wonder Woman played by Gal Godot, who is still passionate and absolutely game to be the Amazonian warrior we enjoyed watching in her origin film.  She provides a commendably solid performance and embodies that great qualities of the character once more as well as being reshaped in the reshot scenes to be the character that represents the qualities of a hero (this is evident in ADR lines that reword it for Wonder Woman instead of Superman as she was established better in her own film than even the Man of Steel).  Her moments with the characters are brief but she still has some great subdued moments with Batman, which especially her as a heroic figure that both Batman and Superman haven’t been in any of their film entries.  Her presences lift the film a bit but not enough to hide the fundamental problems with the script and tonally conflicted direction on display here in the final edit.

This brings us to the new additions to the team, starting with the speedster himself, the Flash played by Erza Miller.  He is one of the purposefully made comic relief characters brought in to liven up the proceedings and for at least most of the film, he works just fine as such.  Unfortunately, there are times when he tends to be annoying and a bit too tried hard to be cool with his personality and character, but Erza Miller is a proper fit for the role and does inspire some confidence in his solo outing in the future (when it happens).  He does provide some cool moments especially in showcasing the speed force of his powers despite the extensive use of slow motion as it is a trademark of the director’s visual style.  Barry Allen is a decent audience surrogate character despite being a bit obnoxious at times and the humor/quips being hit and miss from him.

Now with Aquaman played by Jason Momoa, this will be this character’s first ever live action debut in film form and it is certainly a unique yet a pleasantly fun addition to this series.  It must be said that he is clearly have a blast playing the Atlantean King that is tore between being a human and royalty.  He is another cast member that can bring some lively energy to the film and it clearly shows in his performance, making his scenes fun to watch for sure.  While his development is limited and condensed due in part to the studio mandate for the editing, he makes his character pop out and at least inspire interest in his upcoming solo outing at the end of next year.  Jason Momoa provides a good interpretation of the character for Aquaman’s first film outing and has the most fun out of the whole cast. 

The same can be said for Ray Fisher as Cyborg but it is the opposite as his performance and character development suffered the most from the reshoot and change in direction.  He is the moody, cynical new cybernetic hero that has difficulty conforming and accepting his rebirth after a tragic accident.  He kind of becomes the McGuffin of the story as well as just a techie of the team, as well as feeling like the least developed or interesting character in the team.  The actor is perfectly fine in the role and his character was liven up from the reshoot by injecting more snark to his personality.  Just about ok but not memorable or noteworthy to be a part of this team despite the adequate but bland performance from Ray Fisher.

To close out the cast of superheroes, we finally look at the Man of Steel himself, Superman played by Henry Cavill.  He finally gets the chance to play the character the way he was intended to be in the comics and other interpretations, but it feels like too little, too late in this case especially when he only factors into the last act of the film.  His performance is still adequate and is finally given the chance to have some semblance of a personality to his character for once.  However, his time is limited and is more of a Deus Ex Machina to resolve the conflict and act as a plot point that just brings the story to a close.  He finally showcases how he was a great choice for the character but he is still squandered in a shortened appearance in this film.

The next set of performers are clearly wasted or just generic to be forgettable and kind of pointless to the story at hand.  Many of the same actors from previous films like Lois Lane played by Amy Adams and Martha Kent played by Diane Lane return for brief roles and add very little to the characters we are focusing on this time around.  Even Commissioner Gordan played by J.K. Simmons is given only a brief time to set up an action sequence and that is it.  This is made worse with one of the dullest and cookie-cutter villain to ever grace superhero films so far Steppenwolf played by Ciarán Hinds and it really undercuts the motivation for this team-up to take place.  It really is the superheroes’ film and the supporting cast along with the average human being in these films are nothing but afterthoughts to its typical beat-em-up nature of the story itself.

Let’s get to the technical aspects of the film, starting with the action set pieces themselves which the film has plenty of throughout its runtime.  The film kicks off with Batman tracking down ParaDemons and it ends with one big, chaotic battle with the big baddie and his generic CGI army, making for a film that really gets weigh down by the action itself.  This is an interesting point to make but the film shows it promise when the characters interact with each other regarding the team building and developing their trust with one another.  The typical big superhero action sequences are rather pedestrian in contrast to the other films in this genre outside of the brief moments of creative energy with Superman’s return and the individual characters’ fights (Aquaman taking on Steppenwolf and Wonder Woman taking on terrorists in the opening act).  So, the film is at its most engaging when the punching and explosions don’t take place and that is a sign of how familiar and repetitive the action in these films have become in this sub-genre.

When it comes to CGI effects, this is where the film’s problematic post production work is put on display especially in the weightless, washed out quality of these effects throughout the entirety of the film.  It does look fine during the big battles in the beginning and displaying the character’s powers especially with the Flash’s speed force ability (which does look cool).  However, it does seem to have a rollercoaster rhythm of quality going from decent to just completely odd and fake looking especially with the controversial reshoot for Cavill and his removal of the mustache along with the floaty and rather dull finale when our heroes take on Steppenwolf and his para demons.  It really feels out of place at times as well with the actors being superimposed into the CGI environments along with dodgy character CGI especially with Cyborg feeling a bit overly designed at times, highlighting the effects too much.  The CGI is somewhat okay when it is just big battles but becomes questionably lackluster and lacks polish up close on certain characters and as the climax takes place.

This leads into the editing as it also suffers the woes of the rushed, shortened post production schedule as well.  The film would seem to be a byproduct of both directors, but it really is not as it feels more like a studio mandated film through and through.  To explain this further, it feels like it is both grim and serious, yet it is offset by the light, campy adventurous tone that seems to be evidence of the reshoot and change in direction for the film.  It also feels like studio executives influenced the edit by making sure there were jokes galore from Flash and everyone in the cast as well as rectifying all the criticized and problematic elements of previous films.  There is also a lack of connective tissues to critical scenes that are missing throughout the film, creating a bit of a mess in the narrative flow, making the scenes feel like moments that are unrelated to each other.  This has the unfortunate result of creating a disjointed rhythm to the whole edit that at times shines through when it gives the characters time to develop but becomes messy as it devolves into action set pieces especially for the majority of the second half.

Finally, we get to the musical score as it has also had problems behind the scene as well with Junkie XL leaving the production upon the start of post-production work and Danny Elfman stepping into start from scratch.  He brings back the iconic themes of Batman and Superman (composed by John William) in subtle but notable musical motifs that you can hear in different parts of the film featuring these characters.  Otherwise, the score is kind of background noise that really feels like typical epic soundscapes that does not leave much of an impression on its own.  It feels like the composer just recycling typical themes from his previous work, other composer’s themes, and even just what to expect from a superhero film along with lacking any distinctive main theme to be considered the music for Justice League.

There is a reason for the delays and struggle to convey the positives and negatives of this film and it is because Justice League is just an average, mediocre superhero film that checks off all the traits needed in this type of film as well as playing it safe to the genre’s troupes and clichés.  That is why this is painful but also frustrating in writing and discussing this film as it is just average, and this is a team up of all the iconic and remarkable superheroes of DC, but it was unable to inspire confidence, passion, and excitement for more adventures with characters we have not gotten used to besides Wonder Woman.  While it does steer the series into a more hopeful and fun tone/outlook for future films, it feels already dated by its similar yet tired plot of finding McGuffins to stop baddie from destroying the world along with been tone deaf and uncaring about the characters when the action kicks in.  The worst part of all this is that it may be fun and enjoyable on the surface, but it is a messy yet simplistic film that is good enough for a viewing but for fans that were excited to see this team-up in live action, it should not have been this forgettable.

Score *** out of *****

Justice League is the team-up of DC’s Mightiest Heroes teaming up to fight the dullest, bland villain to grace cinema in a long time while the entire film is quite a mess in its action, CGI and editing, it shines at its best when it takes time to develop the heroes as well as their interactions with each other.  There is a lighter tone and shorter run-time that at least feels like it has some form of narrative to follow easily but it comes at the cost of being too simplistic and lacking of emotional/character substance as well as trimming out necessary character development that might have been used to set up certain characters (Cyborg, Aquaman, and Flash suffered the most from the editing down of individual story elements).  It doesn’t help that the effects are rather inconsistent throughout and really shows clearly the effects of the reshoots in a negative light, along with the disjointed nature of the editing.  This could have been special and iconic like Marvel’s The Avengers, but it ended up being nothing more than a harmless, fun yet unremarkable superhero adventure film that leaves the series in limbo creatively as to where these DC characters can go next.