Justice "Josstice" League (2017)

This movie is the prime example of why Marvel’s formula of solo characters, then a team-up works so well. If you don’t follow that formula, you are stuck with 2 options: spend a lot of runtime on your new characters or have 2-dimensional characters. Aquaman and Cyborg were very flat versions of their characters. Barry was at least endearing and felt like a kid/the audience going through the experience. They nerfed the hell out of Batman. He is a man going up against gods and he is used like a human rather than a smart man with the tools to go toe to toe with these gods. Cheap nostalgia for Superman by using the OG theme twice but never really using the Man of Steel theme. Wonder Woman was there to look pretty and throw a few punches. The worst crime of all was it tried way too damn hard to be the Avengers. Yes, you need the money shots and set pieces. However, this whole thing was Elmer’s glue attempt to make a generic team-up movie. It moved too far away from the style that made up the DCEU up to that point. DC had the darker tones literally and metaphorically to separate themselves, which gave it a more raw feel. This is not a horrible movie on its own merits, but surrounded by its DCEU counterparts, it just feels off. You can have humor but don’t do it at the expense of your characters. Zack Snyder’s version obviously had the benefit of removing everything wrong with this movie and adding his own style to it. This was a studio cash cow desperation attempt and they tarnished a brand that was still technically young. You can have hiccups when you are growing, but you can’t 180 to play catch up to someone else that was already ⅔ through their first marathon. All that to say, it’s not a bad movie. It’s just a bad DCEU movie.

Story - 14%

Characters - 16%

Pacing - 16%

Spectacle - 17%

Entertainment - 15%

Total score: 78%

Grade scale:

90%-100% = must watch

80%-89% = solid, but could be better

70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you

60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons

0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here