Go Easy on Justice League, Critics, The Superfriends have been through enough.
By Thomas Hoffman
Bill Maher once commented that movies were being ruined because the majority of movie profits currently come from DVD sales. The DVD audience is a younger audience. Maher pointed out and rightfully so that this means in order to appeal to this younger market, movies mostly consist of “loud noises and things getting blown up.”
Justice League made a disappointing debut this November. Critics are often too hard on films and this is one of those times. It is astonishing that so many people dislike this movie. It is not perfect by any means, but it deserves a better reception than this. In the past two movies (and the majority of superhero movies these days), there was a major problem with the script. There was not enough of it.
My biggest complaint with Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice was there was too much fighting (i.e. the movie is a giant video game commercial). Unlike a lot of other current superhero movies like Spiderman Homecoming, it is easy to get attached to the characters in Justice League. Unlike Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice, Justice League features enough (or almost enough) dialogue to actually get emotionally invested in the characters. There are few “movie- is-two–hour-video –game- commercial” scenes.
It is surprising that so many people dislike the movie, as it features a lot more character and less fighting. However, it is possible that many critics and viewers may in fact dislike Justice League for just that reason. As Bill Maher pointed out, the “loud noises and things getting blown up” movies exist to serve a certain market. The Flash provides a Jewish comic relief that many superhero movies sorely lack.
However, many of the “action-seekers” may view this as a negative quality. Are action superhero movies supposed to have a Jewish comic relief?
What’s interesting about movies like this is they (like shows like Smallville or Arrow) are not really about superpowers. They are about family, friends or super friends dealing with the supernatural. Idealistically, in a movie like this, you should be able to strip away all the explosions and superpowers and the story should still work perfectly. That’s how you can tell how strong the character connection is. Justice League doesn’t quite pass this test. However, once again the “too much action not enough dialogue” problem is not as present as the previous two movies. Unfortunately, it may have been too much chatter, not enough “video-game moments” for some critics.
Spoiler Alert:
The end of the movie felt rather rushed, as if the story had to wrap up quickly. As this was a two part movie that had to be condensed into a single movie, this may be the reason. The post-credit scenes contribute to the character development. If Justice League was in fact a two parter, we may well have had to wait until the second movie to see Superman and the Flash race.
