After the death of Superman, Batman, with the help of Wonder Woman takes responsibility in building a team to protect the planet from a threat to Earth from space...
The signs weren't good; reports of disastrous early screenings, the director stepping down due to a family tragedy, a second director brought in for additional shooting. A finished film reportedly running to nearly three hours depending on other reports, that is cut to a two hour film.
When I was a child and reading comic books, I was always a DC fan. Like most, my favourite hero was Batman. That was simply because I saw the 1960's TV series starring Adam West and loved it. I still do for that matter. So when I read comics, it was to DC and Batman I went for. But while Batman was my favourite hero, my favourite comic book was Justice League. As a child, it was simple really, why buy a Batman comic book when you could get one that had Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc all together. I've always preferred team-up books, crossovers and such. It will also explain why I have a great fondness for films where people are brought together for assorted reasons, criminals (the Ocean trilogy), soldiers (The Dirty Dozen), cowboys (The Magnificent Seven) and Samurai (Seven Samurai). In effect, this film, more than any other superhero film is the one I've waited over forty years for.
When Marvel began their Cinematic Universe (MCU), they took their time, building up their heroes in individual films before bringing them together in Avengers Assemble (or The Avengers in the U.S.) The gamble paid off and Avengers Assemble was a massive success. Since then, Marvel have gone from strength to strength (at least at the box office) with this universe building. I may have some issues with their planning and how the films fit together, but you can't help admire the strategy overall.
Warner Bros, after Christopher Nolan finished his Dark Knight trilogy, decided they wanted to have something similar. The first film, Man Of Steel, married Christopher Nolan's ideas ( he is credited as one of the story originators) with the visual style of Zack Snyder. Personally, I don't think Snyder is a bad director. He has a visual style that can give some truly stunning shots and he stages action well indeed. But he needs good material to work with. It is perhaps interesting to note that what might be his best films, Dawn Of The Dead and Watchmen have strong material to work from. His weaker films, like Sucker Punch can show what happens when left on his own; visually stunning, terrible story. Man Of Steel is a film I like a lot, but when it was released it divided fans and critics, something of a regular occurrence with every film WB/DC have released since (with one exception), who thought this too serious, sombre take on Superman was wrong for the character, especially events in the final act, including THAT moment with Zod.
When it was announced that was going to be Man Of Steel 2 was actually going to be Batman v Superman instead, fans went wild for the idea. That somewhat cooled when it was announced that Ben Affleck would be playing Bruce Wayne/Batman. However, with talk that the film would address the controversy over events in Man Of Steel, but also expand the DC Cinematic Universe (DCU).
And then the film was released.
If anything, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice (BvS) divided fans and critics even more sharply than Man Of Steel did. It's easy to see why. I loved it, but I can concede it is a flawed film. It is a film trying to do too much, with the result it never does anything. It had the task of introducing an new take on Batman, a Wonder Woman, other DC heroes, being a continuation of events from Man Of Steel, build the DC cinematic universe and also somehow find a way of setting up a confrontation between Batman v Superman. The film runs for around 150 minutes, but even before it reached cinemas Snyder was talking about an extended version of the film on Blu-Ray. However even with an additional 30 minutes of footage restored the film was still trying to do too much. Allegedly in its original version it ran to nearly four hours. If this is true, you do wonder what that version has in it. It might have taken that long to really resolve all the story strands BvS had.
After the reception to BvS, WB/DC unleashed its next film, Suicide Squad, basically a comic book take on The Dirty Dozen. However, with talk of reshoots and studio interference to 'lighten up' the tone after BvS, it too divided audiences and critics. Again, personally I enjoyed it.
But it was clear something was not working. Financially, the films were a hit, but nowhere near the success Marvel had been having. Critics and film audiences were not embracing the films. WB/DC needed to do something.
So, they unleashed Wonder Woman, and audiences and critics went wild.
The tone of Wonder Woman changed compared to the films that came before it. It was lighter, brighter and it had the one thing the previous films didn't have, a bit more fun. Crucially too perhaps, is that it beat Marvel to the punch with regards to having a female lead in a big superhero film. As an aside by the way, this puts DC/WB 2-0 up on Marvel, having released Supergirl in the 1980's. It's also the first Superhero since, I think, Punisher: War Zone that was directed by a woman.
Making a star of Gal Gadot, who shines as Diana/Wonder Woman, this film did suffer a problem that most superhero films have, in that the last act turned into a CGI-fest. But up till then, it is a wonderful film.
With Justice League, WB/DC have again tried to keep the tone lighter. In some ways, what made their earlier films different to Marvel was a darker, perhaps more serious take on superheroes, but with this and Wonder Woman, they do have a feel closer to Marvel. This in some ways might cause issues, as if you make your films similar to those others are making, you will get comparisons that may be unfair, but may also be valid.
So, what have they done here?
Well, this is perhaps the funniest film WB/DC have released. Not that it's a comedy, far from it, but some of the exchanges have a sense of fun that their films have lacked. The, admittedly overblown, running time has been trimmed. Gone are the 150 minute films that came before, instead the film runs to 120 minutes.
But there is a price to be paid for that. It is clear, based on the trailers that a bit of footage has been edited out of the film. I would not be surprised if when the film is released on Blu-Ray, there is an extended version of the film released. But until then, does the film in cinemas work? Has the subtle shift in what WB/DC are doing work its magic like it did with Wonder Woman?
Well there are still issues, there's no doubt about that. Like pretty much every superhero film, the last act relies far too much on CGI. I long for the days when action involved two people knocking lumps out of each other, rather than have a CGI creation being involved. It has to be said too that despite the budget for the film, which one would imagine is substantial and despite the reshoots, some of the CGI is rather poor. It's not the worst I've seen, but I would expect so much better from a big studio film.
The big issue in this film is actually the change in director. Zack Snyder directed the principal shoot, but after family tragedy, left the film, resulting in Joss Whedon being brought in. Now, Whedon is someone who knows superhero team films, after all he did direct both Avengers films so far. According to Warners themselves, the released film has between 15-20% footage shot by Whedon, in alleged extensive reshoots, but the vast majority of the film is still Snyder's. This could be why Whedon only gets a writing credit along with Chris Terrio (who also co-wrote Batman v Superman) but not a co-directing one. But this change is noticeable. The action looks and feels like a Snyder film, but some of the character dialogue exchanges do have Whedon's fingerprints on them.
Yet, the film does work. The story, bringing a team together is not original at all. But at least they are not overdoing it here. The sequence in BvS that gave us a glimpse of Cyborg, Flash and Aquaman may have ground that film to a halt then, but it does allow, to a degree the chance for the film to just get on with telling its story. But, like any film that involves the team formation story, you do get the tension between each member at times, before they overcome differences to work as a team.
But the most important issue with this film is the return of Superman. It has to get this right. If this had gone wrong or didn't work, the film will collapse. It needed that moment to be a success and I think it is. It too, in bringing back Superman changes the character a bit. Up till now in both Man Of Steel and BvS, Superman has been too dark, sombre, serious. But here, Henry Cavill, brings a bit of lightness to his performance that has been missing before. It may still not be the Superman fans and audiences want to see, but it is closer than the previous DCU takes on the character.
Ben Affleck, one of the standouts in BvS is back as Batman, though he too is lighter than he was there. He's not gone full Adam West, or George Clooney but he's not the violent psychopath from before. Gal Gadot returns as Wonder Woman and is one of the best things about the film. She stole the few moments she had in BvS, was superb in Wonder Woman (WW) and here develops the character more, as Justice League deals with, to a degree events from the end of WW, but perhaps also hinting to where the announced sequel is heading.
Of the three new heroes, Ezra Miller's take on the Flash is the comic relief of the film, probably closer to the Wally West Flash than Barry Allen one (though he is the Allen one here). Jason Momoa plays Aquaman and it's clear he's having fun with the role. He might not be the 'funny' one of the team, but he does get some humorous moments. Ray Fisher plays Cyborg and while his back story is the one needing more screen time to develop it properly, it's the one that seems the most cut. But Fisher does well with the role.
Of the returning characters, Amy Adam's return as Lois Lane and Diane Lane's role as Martha Kent are really cameos more than anything else. Jeremy Irons gets some more screen time, but his role is cut back too. Connie Neilsen reprises her role as Queen Hippolyta from Wonder Woman, for an impressive scene on Thermiscyra. J.K. Simmons gets a little screen time as Commissioner Gordon and looks the part, while Amber Heard has a blink and you will miss it role as Mera, As I said before, with such a big and impressive cast, you can't help but feel there is a lot of footage cut from the released film.
Ciaran Hinds voices Steppenwolf the villain of the film, but the onscreen version is CGI. He voices the character well, but as a villain he's not that impressive.
But, perhaps that's a deliberate choice. It could be that the film wanted to focus more on the formation of the League and its characters, but as a result Steppenwolf does feel forgotten in the mix.
Danny Elfman does the music, which I really liked, bringing in his Batman theme from the Tim Burton film and also the John Williams Superman theme. Whedon brought him in, after getting rid of Junkie XL who worked on BvS. Personally, I like his and Hans Zimmer's work on that film, but I like Elfman's work here.
The design of the film has shifted too. If you look at the early trailers they looked much darker in tone, but in the final one, it is lighter, the sky a more colourful red than dark. It has to be a decision that was made late in the day, again perhaps Joss Whedon's decision.
But for the budget, the behind the scenes changes, additional shooting, apparently heavily edited final film, have WB/DC managed to continue the trend of Wonder Woman to evolve the DCU and make it lighter and, yes, more fun?
The answer is yes, somewhat.
It's clear this film is closer in tone to Wonder Woman than BvS. WB/DC are clearly moving away from the dark sombre tone of the early films. However, there is a danger that they will get too close to what Marvel are doing. If that is the case, then WB/DC will always be unfavourably compared. Marvel spent years and numerous films planing and building their film universe. WB/DC are trying to do the same in less time and films. It's a risky strategy, but might work for them. What WB/DC need is someone like a David Heyman who oversaw the Harry Potter films to take charge of the DCU. Let them have overall control, plan and build the characters and stories for them. In essence, as with Marvel, WB should step back and leave the films to DC, who can continue the work of WW and JL and build up their film universe.
As for Justice League itself, I loved it. The humour worked, the return of Superman was well done, the team interactions were great. It's flawed certainly, but it is another step in the right direction. Note too, there are mid and post credit scenes with the film, both of which I liked.
I've been waiting since childhood for this film, nearly 40 years. I'm glad the wait was worth it.
I put in the headline, about Justice League helping save the WB/DC universe. Perhaps that is a bit harsh. If anything Wonder Woman probably did that. But Justice League is another step in the righting of the DCU.
And I look forward to what follows.
No comments:
Post a Comment