'Justice League' does nothing but injustice to DC Universe

With very few captivating or even enjoyable moments (apart from numerous shots of beefy shirtless men), it is easy to see why “Justice League” (2017) was a significant disappointment at the box office. After Marvel released “The Avengers” in 2012, DC fans have long awaited the opportunity to see their comic book superheroes fight evil on the big screen.  Unfortunately for director Zack Snyder, however, “Justice League” might simply be a case of too little, too late.

Indeed, if the highest praise one can give to “Justice League” is “some scenes are neat,” it truly must be a terrible movie.

The premise is quite shaky. The antagonist of the film, Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), desires three Mother Boxes, which he lost in an ancient war against a Lord of the Rings-esque battalion of unified armies, including the Amazons. The possession of these Mother Boxes will lead to eternal enslavement for all creatures of Earth. To prevent Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons from achieving total annihilation of the planet, Batman (Ben Affleck) must recruit other heroes, namely Cyborg (Ray Fisher), the Flash (Ezra Miller), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Aquaman (Jason Momoa), to combat alongside him.

Straightforward, right?

Well, perhaps too straightforward. With a runtime of two hours, “Justice League” is short compared to other superhero films from both DC and Marvel. Yet the writers struggle to fill even this (much) smaller amount of time with interesting sequences.

Too selfish to help save the world for the sake of others, each of the four supers is given a predictable and seemingly identical fight scene, and thus the personal reason necessary for accepting Batman’s request. As a result, Batman spends a large portion of the movie returning again and again to each of the other four, pleading with them to reconsider and join the team, like a child on the playground begging other kids to play with him. Additionally, so much backstory is supplied for the characters that I began to think the movie was nothing more than a random assortment of snippets from various prequels. If the writers had devoted more of the script to plot or character development, one significant problem could have been easily avoided.

Even more disastrous, however, was the complete lack of chemistry among the cast. Individually, there were no major flaws; Ezra Miller’s Flash was adorably geeky and awkward, and Gal Gadot once again proved that women can be just as fierce and heroic as men. Even so, every character interaction felt forced. Much of the blame goes to Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill. Since Superman’s death in “Batman v Superman” (2016), his resurrection and reacquaintance with Batman have been long in the making. But when this moment finally arrives, it is palpably anticlimactic; after another unnecessary fight scene between the two, neither seems particularly interested in the other. After all, what with Ben Affleck’s yawn of a performance, it’s no wonder why everyone initially refuses to join him, even with the looming threat of global destruction. Moreover, it is clear that Cavill would rather cut off his arm than reprise his role as Superman. His obvious boredom and restlessness rendered Amy Adams’ Lois Lane practically superfluous — why give him a love interest when the only thing he really loves is hearing Snyder say, “That’s a wrap"?

Everything about the film, from the writing to the acting to the directing, requires serious improvement. To satisfy the calories he burns by constantly running, Barry Allen (the Flash) must “eat a lot of snacks to fill this black hole.” “Justice League” will remain a black hole, two hours we will never get back, and there aren’t enough snacks in the world to fill it.