Justice League

Zack Snyder finally hits rock bottom with this absolutely interminable trainwreck of a blockbuster, with the movie following several superheroes (Ben Affleck’s Batman, Henry Cavill’s Superman, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, etc) as they team up to battle a vicious villain named Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds). Justice League‘s complete and total failure is somewhat disappointing given an opening stretch that actually does hold some promise, as scripters Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon deliver a light and surprisingly fun first act detailing Batman’s efforts at recruiting for the title organization. From there, though, Justice League segues into a plodding midsection that’s rife with entirely uninteresting and downright pointless sequences – with the far-from-engrossing vibe compounded by a hopelessly bland antagonist and a series of aggressively generic action sequences. There’s virtually no momentum to the narrative, ultimately, and it feels as though the whole thing were cobbled together piecemeal out of other installments, with the movie’s pervasively shoddy atmosphere never more apparent than in the hilariously chintzy CGI used to digitally remove Cavill’s moustache (ie it’s an effect that wouldn’t pass muster on even the most low-rent, low-grade superhero television series). The underwhelming vibe prevents the various actors from making much of an impact, positive or otherwise, on the narrative, although there’s no denying that Ezra Miller manages to periodically elevate the proceedings with his charismatic, agreeable turn as Barry Allen/The Flash. Any positive attributes are rendered entirely moot by an absolutely disastrous third act, however, as Justice League climaxes with a protracted action sequence that’s endlessly incoherent even by the standards of these movies – which certainly confirms the film’s place as a total debacle that, one hopes, marks the low-water-mark for the comic-book genre.

* out of ****