I learned about comic books through cartoons, through VHS tapes we would rent from the gas station and reruns of Super Friends during early Saturday mornings on Cartoon Network. Episodes of Batman: The Animated Series paved the way for Teen Titans, leading me to comic shops and trade paperbacks, collecting key issues and going to conventions. But 2001’s Justice League series is what really kickstarted my nine-year-old imagination, remaining my personal, “defining” portrayals of these characters for years.
A Justice League movie has been teased and speculated as long as there has been an internet. I remember pouring through PDFs of tossed scripts (JJ Abrams’ Superman: Flyby and Darren Aronofsky’ Batman: Year One) and bad photoshops of Brandon Routh and Christian Bale standing side-by-side. “We are definitely getting World’s Finest by 2007” promised fellow forum posters, tossing around rumors and teases of Green Lanterns and Amazons.
It’s been a long wait for just that one, inevitable “money shot” near the end of Justice League. But it has been worth it.
Contrary to popular belief, I have never actively rooted for the DC Extended Universe of movies to fail. It has definitely been … frustrating, to say the least, sitting through the method acting of Jared Leto, a tonally-deaf Killer Croc and, of course, the much-maligned (and much-memed) “Martha”. But while watching Wonder Woman, I felt a strange feeling of … hope: hope that this upcoming Justice League movie would be watchable, personable and, even at times, brilliant.
It succeeds more often than it fails, successfully introducing a combined cast of characters that, yes, may have rushed through four movies to get all on screen at once. But the highest compliment I can give Justice League is that it reminds me of Bruce Timm and his animated television show.
There is a natural desire to immediately compare this movie to the latest Marvel offerings. And, surprisingly, it keeps up. Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 are definitely in the same category of quality, falling short only of its DC’s own now-lofty standards as set by Wonder Woman.
But that is not to say they didn’t have to first take a page out of the Marvel playbook for this movie to really work.
Co-directors Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon have definitely been perusing the same superhero subreddits I visit, responding to Batman V. Superman critiques by injecting a newfound sense of playfulness and, besides the last act’s suffocating shades of red, literally lightening their color palette. The heroes smile and fist bump, scared and motivated and learning. In fact, it is the small character moments, whether between Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) and his dad (Dr. Manhattan himself, Billy Crudup) or Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Alfred (Jeremy Irons) making jokes about exploding penguins.
Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, as well as the aforementioned Miller are welcome additions to the cast, breathing life into characters who simply enjoy being superheroes. As a fan of Teen Titans, it was really great to see Victor Stone on screen, his arc one of the most defined of any of the Leaguers. His internal struggle, the daily fight between the man he was and the machine he is becoming, is understated, visually represented throughout the movie as he plugs into Macguffins and downloads into bat-gadgets.
(It also goes without saying that Wonder Woman remains a stand-out and I am a huge fan of Gal Gadot. She should be in every movie, DCEU or not.)
Yes, there are (significant) problems, whether in pacing of the first act or the CG-heavy villain and his blob of cronies that have remained consistent in almost every superhero movie since The Avengers. Ben Affleck’s Batman remains a welcome presence, but the script’s attempts at giving the Caped Crusader some comedy beats almost consistently fell flat. It’s OK for the Dark Knight to be, well, dark.
The movie ends rather abruptly but (of course) gives great teases for future installments. These characters really do work best when they’re on a team, whether for the sake of the story or for the sake of the actor’s tangible enjoyment.
I hope this marks a step in the right direction for DC because now there is now nothing more that I want besides a live action movie for Teen Titans. Enjoy Justice League for what it represents and what it means for formerly-disillusioned DC fanboys live me: hope.
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