‘Justice League’ Does No Justice to DC Universe

Hopes were high when DC’s newest attempt, Justice League, hit theaters on November 17th. But as reviews have trickled in, it seems DC has let down fans yet again.

The comic book empire has not had much luck with film adaptations (besides the Batman series and Wonder Woman). Suicide Squad was laughed out of the theaters by some reviewers and fans and Batman vs Superman followed with the same low reviews with its “brooding” atmosphere. Justice League was supposed to keep the good vibes going after the praise Wonder Woman received.

The official plot of the film already had fans worried, “In the wake of Clark Kent/Superman’s (Cavill) death at the hands of Doomsday in BvS, vigilante Bruce Wayne/Batman (Affleck) reevaluates his extreme methods and begins reaching out to extraordinary heroes to assemble a team of crime-fighters to defend earth from all kinds of threats.” The plot sounds like your typical cliché first film in a franchise. It’s usually a fun time and reveals all the personalities of our beloved characters. But since this film is one of many DC movies directed by Zack Snyder, “brooding” is once again the main atmosphere.

Rotten Tomatoes (a sworn enemy of DC fans) has rated the film at only 39%. One review breaks down the possible problem with the movie: “The result is a dazzling, lawless spectacle, pumped so full of origin stories, redemption arcs, heroic introductions, orange villain flares, and blue lightning that it buckles under the weight of trying to cram around four hours’ worth of storytelling into two hours of celluloid.” Cramming too much into a short period of time is not the only problem the film faced, though.

Thor: Ragnarok was released only a few days prior to Justice League. Marvel has a much better history with film adaptations than DC. Thor was not the only Marvel release either, as Punisher hit Netflix the same day as Justice League. It is almost like DC can’t catch a break with all these other releases spilling out at the same time. Most DC fans are saying the film is not as bad as the reviews, of course. But when it comes down to it, DC just can’t seem to get the formula right.