Justice League

10 years and $300 million dollars in the making, ‘Justice League’ hits the screens with a giant “meh”.  I’m not going to go so far to say that I didn’t enjoy it or thought it was bad, rather I’ll just say it was just ‘okay’.  Director Zack Snyder has been a controversial figure whose vision has been the core of the DC movie universe.  Critically unsuccessful, but financially viable, many had trepidations when it was announced that Zack Snyder was once again called upon to assemble the League.  There was a glimmer of hope as last summer’s ‘Wonder Woman’ (ironically directed by Patti Jenkins and not Zack Snyder) that seemed to finally get the formula right.  However, a lot of behind the scenes drama, including extensive re-shoots and another Director being brought in to finish ‘Justice League’, caused everyone to hold their collective breaths as release date approached.  The result was a respectable $90 million opening weekend, but given the immense budget and mixed reviews, it has to be yet another disappointment for the Warner Bros executives.

If it sounds like I am beating up on this film, well…I am.  That doesn’t mean there weren’t many things that I admired and even liked from a fanboy perspective.  I am actually a fan of Zack Snyder’s video noir style (can I coin that term?).  The opening montage of the world post-Superman was beautifully shot with the haunting melody of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Everybody Knows’ sung by Sigrid.  It set the tone for the movie and actually made me quite hopeful at the beginning.  The introduction of the villain Steppenwolf (an unrecognizable Claran Hinds) is where it started to go south for me.  I was actually quite excited when I heard the lesser known villain from Jack Kirby’s Fourth World would be in the Justice League (a warm up to Darkseid), but the CGi was so extensive and the evil was so generic that it overwhelmed any real connection to the him.  The secret of a great villain is that he/she has to be somewhat sympathetic, otherwise it is a fairly boring good vs evil which has been seen countless times before.

The goal of Steppenwolf is to gather three Mother Boxes (objects that weren’t very well explained unless you know the story from the comics)  and unite them into one earth dominating force.  He failed at this mission millennia ago because o the combined forces of Earth and the Gods united against him and drove him away. Now with the death of Superman, Steppenwolf believes the Earth is unprotected and seeks to conquer the planet once again.  Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) uncovers clues to the upcoming invasion and uses his new found friendship with Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) to seek out other individuals of “extraordinary abilities”.  Superheroes are loners by nature so it is no easy task to gather the others (with the exception of The Flash who is eager to join right away).  Both Aquaman (Jason Mamoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) are powerful additions, but it doesn’t take long for Batman to realize that they are still hopelessly out powered by Steppenwolf and his army of para-demons.  They need Superman.

The plot holes are many and the pseudo science is head scratching, but they do manage to effectively bring the team together despite an overall cartoonish feel.  There are a lot of awkward political themes shoehorned into the story, but conversely a lot of easter eggs for the comic book readers of things that are to come.  The most exciting of which is the first glimpse of a Green Lantern in this version of the DCU.  All this being said, I’m not going to list this film as another DC failure, however, it is not the victory that the WB execs were hoping to score riding on the momentum of the highly successful Wonder Woman movie of last summer.  It’s a fun time at the movies for sure, but it will also be a highly forgettable time at the movies as well where I’m not really looking forward what’s next.  A skill that Marvel mastered from film one.

I give this film **1/2 stars out of five.

Justice League Trailer

Thor: Ragnarok

         In ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, New Zealand Director Taika Waititi gives us a version of Thor that is much more brightly colored, loud, retro, and overall just a lot of fun.  I’m not jumping on the bandwagon and saying this is the best Marvel movie to date, but I will say it is a thoroughly enjoyable time at the movies.  The Thor franchise has been critically the weakest in the Marvel stable, so I’m glad that Marvel was willing to take a chance in this third outing and change the tone and direction of the series.  Taika Waititi is an inspired choice as his comedic background wouldn’t, at first glance, seem to be a fit for the Shakespearean tones of the mythological world of Thor.  For me, the key to Marvel’s success in the superhero genre was the ability to balance the humor and the gravitas in the preposterous world of super-heroes. If ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ makes any mistakes is that the pendulum swings too far to the absurd, but given the nature of Norse gods in space, one can’t complain too much for the attempt.

While Wapiti’s retro 80’s feel and comedic overtones are unique to the Marvel cinematic Universe, the story he tells in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ is less so.  During the eighties, legendary comic writer/artist Walter Simonson’s stint on Thor was considered the gold standard and to this day considered some of the most definitive Thor stories ever.  The whole Ragnarok storyline is directly influenced by many of Simonson’s story arcs as well as many of the characters he introduced.  In addition, one of Marvel’s most popular storylines; ‘Planet Hulk’ was shoehorned into this film to combine two classic story arcs into one geek spasm inducing film script. The film works, but only if you don’t take it too seriously.  It’s fun and comedic and an adventure ride in outer space, but don’t expect to much literal drama which balances many Marvel films.

The story in a nutshell revolves around the Norse myth of Ragnarok, which is the Scandinavian version of Armageddon where Asgard is destroyed and all it’s warriors are sent to Valhalla.  The film opens with Thor wresting control of Asgard from Loki and then setting off to Earth in search of the All Father Odin.  On Earth, Odin reveals that the All Powerful Hela: Goddess of Death (played with relish by Cate Blanchet) will return from her confinement in the underworld to destroy Asgard.  Despite his power, Thor is unable to stop Hela and is banished to a gladiator planet of Sakkar to fight for his survival.  Sakar is ruled by an Elder of the universe named The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum channeling his best Jeff Goldblum impersonation).  Thor is captured by an exiled Valkyrie from Asgard (the beautiful Tessa Thompson) who hands Thor over to The Grandmaster who recognizes Thor’s talent as a “contender”.  Thor is pitted against Sakkar’s champion who just so happens to be “a friend from work”, the long missing Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).  We finally get the long awaited rematch to the Hulk/Thor fight from the first Avenger’s film.

Taika Waititi creates a planet that reminds one of a Star Wars bar scene and mixes his film's canvas with the bright colors and synthesized music of eighties B-movies.  I never thought that would be an effective mix, but it is.  Waititi himself voices a CGI rock character named Korg and gives him an amusingly gentle demeanor along with a comedic kiwi accent. Korg is Thor’s sidekick and comedic relief in the Gladiator pits, but soon proves his value.  As all our characters reluctantly come to together, Thor convinces Valkyrie, Hulk, and even Loki that they must escape Sakkar and return to what’s left of Asgard to prevent the ultimate Ragnarok.  

I’m not saying there are no thoughtful or dramatic moments in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.  Odin’s passing of the torch to his children as well as Thor and Loki’s realization that the All Father was not perfect are truly moving.  Even Thor and Loki coming to a fraternal reconciliation, no matter how tenuous, all help keep the film from becoming just a slapstick comedy.  I think one could still label it a comedy, but as I stated earlier, I applaud Marvel’s willingness take the franchise in a different direction when they didn’t have to.  

As always, stay for the ending credits (I’m always amazed when people leave before that) as it sets up the up coming mega movie event; ‘Avengers: Infinity War’.  One more film before that as all geeks await the arrival of ‘The Black Panther’ in February.  Kudos to Marvel for keeping their films fresh and producing an action film that the whole family can see and enjoy.  Go and have a good time.

I give this film *** 1/2 stars

Thor: Ragnarok trailer