Justice League **Spoilers from post 980 onward**

pixelburp

It's not that Synder lacks a sense of style or a unique vision - he's clearly an auteur who possesses a genuine, creatives eye - the problem is simply that as a storyteller his films are almost always tone-deaf or a hot mess. And while plenty of directors can get away with being only purveyors of stirring images & nothing else (After all, Kubrick was hardly a director who made particularly humane films), Synder's own visual style sometimes comes off as deeply repetitive and one-trick.

At worst, he seems not to 'get' the tone or message of the original material. Watchmen was a good example of this IMO: he lifted the comic straight from the pages and many moments were beautiful recreations of what Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons put together, but the meaning and tone was way off, coming off as fetishising vigilante superheroes, rather than deconstructing them as the book intended. It looked great, but under the surface it felt all wrong.

Equally, Man of Steel could have been amazing; there was clearly an avenue being explored here that had real value - Superman as Messiah is hardly an original concept - but it was put in the hands of a man who doesn't seem to be able to translate emotion or empathic characterisation into something that resonates on the screen.

pixelburp

pixelburp wrote: »

Equally, Man of Steel could have been amazing; there was clearly an avenue being explored here that had real value - Superman as Messiah is hardly an original concept - but it was put in the hands of a man who doesn't seem to be able to translate emotion or empathic characterisation into something that resonates on the screen.

Totally agree with you about MoS. The earlier sections were so intriguing and seemed to be going somewhere great. Then Kevin Costner died and Superman became Space Jesus and it sorta all went to pot.

HandsomeBob

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Oh he's definitely nowhere near as disgusting as Michael Bay, but Sucker Punch was an absolute mess of a movie. Very flashy, yes, but with a terrible and story you just couldn't engage with at all. I switched it off before the halfway point, because it just wasn't worth it.

Don't get me wrong - I still hold his Dawn of the Dead as one of the best action/horror movies of all time and Watchmen was pretty well done, but 300 was definitely style over substance (the story/acting/everything else was pants, but the fight scenes were visually stunning).

Then we have Man of Steel, which tried to be something more, but ultimately failed and became a cliche in the last half. Same as Dawn of Justice.

He very much is a director that seems to bend easily to studio pressures.

I've been meaning to go back and watch Sucker Punch. From what I remember, the cast was Good, while the story was unsure of itself. I didn't feel like I was watching the same abomination that I had read others decry, and I feel the problem may have been people choosing to take what they were watching in a literal sense.

I'll quote a guy who posts elsewhere, I think he puts it eloquently enough and better than I can;

Originally Posted by jfurioso View Post
I enjoyed Sucker Punch a lot.

It has amazing visuals and an intriguing story. The problem is that it sets out to challenge and criticize fanboy stereotypes by shoving them up into the open and inviting us to think about them and re-framing the problematic elements as empowering elements instead, much the way some language is reclaimed by the disfranchised to instead become significant self-expression.
But the candy/bling parts are so glossy and out there that they overwhelm the layer of questioning, and for many it seems like trying to have your cake and eat, too. So I can see why others do not like it, even while becoming more convinced of why I do.

Regardless of anything else, the Mark Kermode review is great -

mickoneill31

I saw it last night.
The first scene with an obviously problematic lip added nothing to the movie and could have been left out.
Some of the humour was childish. The first couple of Flash jokes were cringe worthy.

Buuut. I enjoyed the movie.
I was really disappointed over Man Of Steel
I thought Batman V Superman was pathetic. The directors cut made the movie from a disasterr to just a very bad one.

I was dragged to this. All the way through I found myself wondering when it was going to get ****e.
Steppenwolf was poor. But poor in the similar way that a lot of marvel villains are bad.

At the end of the movie I didn't feel I'd wasted my money. And actually enjoyed it.

Don't bother staying for the past credits scene. You will miss nothing.

Avatar MIA

Miller apparently got good reviews for Barry Allen, I think they were going for the Avengers Spider man, but I thought this character badly marred an already poor movie.

And what was the point of Aquaman away from water for the entire end sequence.

I'm finding with the DC movies I forget them very soon afterwards. And that's probably a very good thing.

Cyborg was also as dull as any super human being could be. Batman was phoning it in. Gal Gadot seemed to be still energised by the success of WW and gave it socks.

Incredibly poor movie.

D'Agger

I thought Man of Steel was very, very good in parts but ultimately a bit wayward in the direction it took - got a good chuckle off seeing a post here refer to him as 'Space Jesus'

Batman vs. Superman was just awful, so poor in multiple areas.

And yet...I enjoyed Justice League. I can see how people mightn't have liked it, particularly the Flash, who was the character I had most interest in. From the trailers I thought he'd be poor, I think Miller did his best and actually did well enough, faults with that character lie in the script and the lines he was delivering imo.

It's a saturated movie, but one whereby you know WonderWoman, Superman, Batman who anchor it, and bring in Cyborg, Aquaman, Flash. I'm going to see the Flash movie anyway I really can't wait to see my first Flash movie and for anybody who's seen the TV show, they'll surely improve upon that heap of shít. I'll be interested to see more of the background and story of the others. You can say they were forgettable in this, they were to an extent, but so far as I'm concerned I can't wait to see the individual stories that stem from it.

Everybody seems to be saying that Avengers did it far, far better and I don't really agree - it's as though the latest trailer has forced people to forget that Avengers at times was pretty shít too. I'm sure that comment will irk some people here but for me, coming out of Justice League, I had the same sense of enjoyment that I did from Avengers which was a step up from the utter desolation and anger I felt after Batman vs. Superman. Considering there were more plates to spin here, I'll take that as decent progress. Hopefully it continues.

expectationlost

*cuts to Wonder Woman smiling*

Lucas Hood

Thought it was a poor film.

Ben Affleck worst Batman ever.

Bacchus

Lucas Hood wrote: »

Thought it was a poor film.

Ben Affleck worst Batman ever.

Really? Kilmer... Clooney... I'm not a fan of the DCU movies but Ben Affleck was a highlight of BvS (and not in the "everything else was bad so he looked good" way, in the "he was actually really good despite everything else being bad" way). I wouldn't lay the whole "guns" thing on Affleck either, that was a script/direction choice. In JL, there is a sense of phoning it in, but I blame movie politics (Affleck seems to want out) and a rushed script for a weak Batman here.

Tilikum17

Was it just me or did Bruce Wayne (Affleck) look fat as ****?

techdiver

Tilikum17 wrote: »

Was it just me or did Bruce Wayne (Affleck) look fat as ****?

In the scenes that were reshoots he did indeed. There was a good deal of time past before the reshoots started and as such he wasn't in the same shape.

CramCycle

I liked Affleck as BW, just the script was not great. After seeing it, I can't believe the main criticisms of the CGI were Supes tache. The CGI in the final fight was beyond awful. I mean, truly, truly, terrible. I have seen plenty of TV shows on the BBC, SyFy and others which just really put this to shame.

pixelburp

Oh the CGI throughout the film was universally terrible, and like you said CramCycle the final battle was almost "Wolverine: Origins" level of bad - but Superman's 'tache became somewhat emblematic of the film as a whole: shoddy, slapdash and a bit of a joke really.

Mr Freeze

This film has some of the worst CGI, Steffanwolf didn't even look to have fully rendered in some of those scenes at the end.

I am no fan of Snyder, but the reshot scenes that were badly edited in did not improve anything, just made it worse.

IncognitoMan

I'd imagine most of the terrible CGI came from the fact that the reshoots would have eaten up a lot of the time the visual effects team would have had to work on the final product. That's WB's fault, they probably should have pushed back the release date in truth. With Aquaman not coming out until December I'm sure they could have found a new date somewhere in between.

Or you know, let Snyder release the film WB hired him to make in the first place.

david75

Saw this last night. I enjoyed it. I don’t know anything about the canon or established universe so I’d be interested to know if the hardcore fans are on board. Cg heavy, story light, popcorn film. Nothing wrong with that. I’m wondering was I seeing Wayne being tired of being Batman. Or Affleck being tired of Batman?
It was hard to tell.

IncognitoMan

Affleck phoned it in imo. It seems like he's just running down his deal now, which I think has 1 more film.

david75

IncognitoMan wrote: »

Affleck phoned it in imo. It seems like he's just running down his deal now, which I think has 1 more film.

He’s not directing the standalone batman film now is he?

Mitch Connor

david75 wrote: »

He’s not directing the standalone batman film now is he?

Nope, Matt Reaves is.

No official word on if Affleck is going to be in it at all either. Speculation goes both ways on it. Seems to be be Reaves wants to set it in the 80s or 90s with a younger batman and there is some speculation that it could be a younger version of the Afflect Batman, with Affleck having some sort of role setting the story up.

david75

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Nope, Matt Reaves is.

No official word on if Affleck is going to be in it at all either. Speculation goes both ways on it. Seems to be be Reaves wants to set it in the 80s or 90s with a younger batman and there is some speculation that it could be a younger version of the Afflect Batman, with Affleck having some sort of role setting the story up.

That sounds cool.
Like I said. I couldn’t tell if he was playing Wayne being tired of Batman or if he himself was. WW says to him you can’t do this forever. But even apart from that he seemed tired.

expectationlost

superman lip weirdness in the very first scene?

SuprSi

Mr Freeze wrote: »

This film has some of the worst CGI, Steffanwolf didn't even look to have fully rendered in some of those scenes at the end.

I am no fan of Snyder, but the reshot scenes that were badly edited in did not improve anything, just made it worse.

100% agree about the CGI for Steppenwolf, it was really poor throughout, particularly if compared to Snoke in TLJ, which I thought was superb.

Also, why does the Flash have to run like he does, with those stupid elongated strides? It looks ridiculous. Could he not just have the running style of a normal person, but sped up? Unless that's how the comic books depict him.

Mitch Connor

SuprSi wrote: »

100% agree about the CGI for Steppenwolf, it was really poor throughout, particularly if compared to Snoke in TLJ, which I thought was superb.

Also, why does the Flash have to run like he does, with those stupid elongated strides? It looks ridiculous. Could he not just have the running style of a normal person, but sped up? Unless that's how the comic books depict him.

His running style would be exaggerated in the comics too.

HandsomeBob

IncognitoMan wrote: »

Affleck phoned it in imo. It seems like he's just running down his deal now, which I think has 1 more film.

Here's hoping.

dublinman1990

The Digital HD release of JL will be out on iTunes from the 23rd of January. Pre-orders are now up for the movie.

https://itunes.apple.com/ie/movie/justice-league/id1305325242

https://batman-news.com/2018/01/02/justice-league-digital-hd-january-30-itunes/

We might get some indication on that date from WB about what will be included in the Blu-ray including looking at the release date, extended cuts or deleted scenes etc.

FunLover18

Mitch Connor wrote: »

david75 wrote: »

He’s not directing the standalone batman film now is he?

Nope, Matt Reaves is.

No official word on if Affleck is going to be in it at all either. Speculation goes both ways on it. Seems to be be Reaves wants to set it in the 80s or 90s with a younger batman and there is some speculation that it could be a younger version of the Afflect Batman, with Affleck having some sort of role setting the story up.

99% sure it was confirmed Affleck won't be in it.

dublinman1990

Ok; I did not expect to read this at all. A peaceful protest about the release of Snyder's cut for JL on home video will take place outside WB studios on Saturday.

https://cinemacure.wordpress.com/2018/01/04/dc-fans-will-peacefully-protest-for-the-snyder-cut-in-front-of-wb-at-l-a-on-jan-6/

dublinman1990

dublinman1990 wrote: »

Ok; I did not expect to read this at all. A peaceful protest about the release of Snyder's cut for JL on home video will take place outside WB studios on Saturday.

https://cinemacure.wordpress.com/2018/01/04/dc-fans-will-peacefully-protest-for-the-snyder-cut-in-front-of-wb-at-l-a-on-jan-6/

Edit: The Youtuber Itzmoe who organised this event with her fellow cosplayers, held outside WB Studios in California on Saturday, has now said that the event was a photo op not a peaceful protest. She did say that the group did not have a protest march outside the studio as they only took a group photograph.



Sorry Itzmoe for the mix-up. That was the wrong word to use for this type of event. I will mind my words next time.

I heard some more news about JL earlier tonight.

There is now going to be apparently an extra 15 minute cut available on Blu-ray. On reading this; I'm glad that WB are now trying to do something about the cut of the movie. But I wished that it could have been a little bit longer as 15 minutes is too short to try & tell the plot of this movie in a proper way. Maybe an extra 25 or 30 minutes to add to the movie like what we have seen in BvS UE could have been more do-able to allow the movie make more sense for the fans.

https://batman-news.com/2018/01/07/justice-league-extended-cut-hinted-at-by-amazon-listing/

JamboMac

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Nope, Matt Reaves is.

No official word on if Affleck is going to be in it at all either. Speculation goes both ways on it. Seems to be be Reaves wants to set it in the 80s or 90s with a younger batman and there is some speculation that it could be a younger version of the Afflect Batman, with Affleck having some sort of role setting the story up.

Who could play a young batman? Can't think of any young actor in his 20's that could do it.