One of the biggest stories out of the summer and into the later stages of fall was whether or not DC Comics and Warner Brothers could follow the success of this past summers Wonder Woman with their own superhero team up movie Justice League. The one thing the company wanted to avoid was another mishap like Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, but I decided to check out the film and present it as this week’s Movie Of The Week. The film seems to take place a year or so after the events of BVS with the world mourning the death of their beloved Superman (Henry Cavill). The world will soon be under distress once again when mysterious madman Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) comes to Earth to try and collect three boxes that will surely usher the end of the world. Batman (Ben Affleck) has to find a way to unite all these interesting beings that Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) had unveiled to try and fight against Steppenwolf before it’s too late. The film also stars Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa (Game Of Thrones) as Aquaman, Ezra Miller (Trainwreck) as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Amy Adams (Nocturnal Animals) as Lois Lane, Jeremy Irons (The Lion King) as Alfred, Connie Nielsen (Wonder Woman) as Queen Hippolyta, J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man) as Commissioner Gordon, Amber Heard (Pineapple Express) as Mera, and the film was directed by Zack Snyder (300).
I have over the last week or so have heard some mixed emotions about the film itself and whether it lives up to the billing or not and while some of it may be frustrating to you at least hear me out. I had a couple of concerns heading into the film with one being how are they going to work all of them together in one film and what was the overall feel of the film going to be. Is this the greatest film in the whole DC Universe? While in the end I truly believe now that BVS was good, this was a better film than that, but not better than Wonder Woman. I thought the way they presented all of the characters certainly worked for them because it felt sort of natural to me. The film in my opinion had the right amount of humor to go along with what DC’s overall look is and the chemistry feel natural to me as well. The action scenes were great and I even loved some of the sets they visit like Atlantis, etc. The one thing I sort of had an issue with was some of the CGI in the film because some of it was kind of cheesy at times. Other than that, it was a fun film to go in and watch without trying to be to analytical and judgmental. I was just super excited because my favorite superhero finally made an onscreen appearance in Aquaman. You don’t have to take my word for it, but I would at least give it a watch or two especially if you love some of these characters as I do. I am going to give Justice League an B+ for a final grade.
I am doing something new as I am reviewing all of the reviews that I did for the 365 Movies in 365 Days Challenge. There are some reviews that I look back on and I say to myself, what in the hell was I thinking? So, I am doing a segment on here called I’m Taking It Back which means I re-review the film and take my grade back. Before we get into why I am taking my grade I gave the film back, here is the synopsis of the film. After the death of Superman, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has been trying to sell the government on the idea of project X. The idea of project x is to take the worst of the worst, give them an incentive, and have them do the missions no one else will do to protect the world. After Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) betrays Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) the government, the team now known as the Suicide Squad is commissioned and sent on a mission to save the world from the terror she brings. The Suicide Squad is made up of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Deadshot (Will Smith), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Diablo (Jay Hernandez), and Katana (Karen Fukuhara). The film also stars Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) as The Joker, Adam Beach (Flags Of Our Fathers) as Slipknot, Ben Affleck (The Town) as Batman, Scott Eastwood (Fury) as Lieutenant GQ Edwards, Alain Chanoine (Immortals) as Incubus, Ike Barinholtz (Neighbors) as Griggs, David Harbour (Black Mass) as Dexter Tolliver, and the film was directed by David Ayer (Fury).
So, I looked back at the film and then looked at my review and thought what in the hell was I thinking when I wrote that. I didn’t hate Suicide Squad by any means because I left the theater happy with it, but looking back on it how great was the film really? The film really did end up being the Will Smith show for the most part as he put no effort literally into his portrayal of Deadshot. I was OK with it at the time because I loved Will Smith, but looking back, he just made the film about him. Jared Leto was a pretty decent Joker as he tried to do what many before him did with their versions of the iconic character. I think the fact that David Ayer cut so much of his performance back really hurt his perception to the audience. The Joker is not a nice guy who is fun and loving, he is abusive to Harley and very sadistic and David Ayer screwed it all up by cutting out important moments out of the film. Now again, I thought this was a pretty decent film, but then Wonder Woman came out and made this look like amateur night. I also went back and rewatched BVS (Batman V Superman) and my opinion on rankings have changed as well. The best film so far is Wonder Woman, Man Of Steel, BVS, and then Suicide Squad last. I still love all of the action in the film and a lot of the characters, but let’s be honest here. In the end, I am going to give this film an B- for a final grade
365moviesin365dayschallenge 