Justice League

First, let me say I pity Zack Snyder, who killed his potential quite thoroughly with DC Comics for several years to come. At the same time, however, I feel that the whole DC Comics universe made a significant step forward with this movie. It still looks like a Marvel movie from six years ago, but there is the occasional hint of a joke; for every two awkward ones, there is a quite funny one. This is a fair improvement when compared to the last battle between Batman and Superman. Story-wise, there is a lot of work to be done if they wish to pull themselves together because it is one big mess. And that says a lot considering the number of movie stars who star in the movie. Henry Cavill, together with Amy Adams and also surprisingly Ezra Miller made the strongest impression on me; we will see where they are standing in the years to come… (03.01.2019)

No. I've got nothing to hold on to and nothing to praise. It may look good and you can see that a lot of money has been poured into it, but that's about it. What didn't work in Batman vs Superman is repeated here, so the characters are woefully flat, the action is digitally overwrought and the characters, however usually interesting, come across as incredibly boring and there is zero chemistry between the heroes. And the fact that there are six of them this time around makes the situation worse rather than better. The dull Cyborg, the childishly cool Aquaman and the downright awkward Flash are heroes that are hard to spend two hours with, and to be honest, I can't imagine how I'll handle their solos. Zack Snyder's style wore out and stopped being interesting about halfway through the last film. So those two hours in the cinema were downright physical torture for me, and I was just waiting for the whole thing to be over so I could forget about it. I want to like this movie at least a little bit, but I can't. Nothing works. Throw it out, burn it, and try to start over in a few years. Something different. Completely different. (27.07.2018)

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice suffered from beginner's mistakes, but I was able to forgive it many things for its grandeur and its almost comical desire to encompass or touch an entire generation of stories with one film. However, Justice League does not learn any lessons from its predecessor and, on the contrary, is worse in every way. Special effects either get lost in the darkness or appear embarrassingly unfinished in the final battle, the dialogue between Clark and Lois seems like it came from the most awkwardly written fan fiction, and the introductions of Aquaman and Cyborg through summarizing dialogue confuse the viewer more than they clarify anything. A few added lines from Joss Whedon cannot hide the fact that this team movie feels loud and almost obnoxious on all fronts, and if it weren't for the genius of Ezra Miller and the unwavering messiah-like presence of Henry Cavill, the disaster would be complete. When I think about the criticism towards the villains in most of the Marvel movies and then look at the embarrassingly generic development of Steppenwolf, I feel quite ashamed of the barrage of criticism that has been dumped on DC's head after years of effort. The only way forward from here is through solo films, assuming that this path has not already come to an end. (15.11.2017)

It’s not so bad as everyone was saying it would be, but it’s not … well… that great either. Two directors, reshoots, digital waxing of Cavill’s porno-moustache from M:I-6 and studio politics. I’m disappointed that after the promising serious tone of Man of Steel and the beginning of BvS, DC decided on generic action scenes, simple side-plots and dumb twists. So it’s good not to think too much when watching. Even so, the movie flows by merrily, despite not making much sense and most of what is worth seeing appearing just out of duty. Just the scene with the resurrection really impacts on the viewer and that idea would evidently be enough to carry the entire movie, if only they weren’t always in such a hurry. As for the new characters, Cyborg was a pleasant surprise and Aquaman certainly has greater potential even though he starts making dumb faces in the second half. The humorous correspondence is a plus, the villain is one-dimensional and uninteresting. On one hand I’m glad it was just two hours long and it was a good watch, on the other I would appreciate greater sophistication and explanations of the motivation driving members of the league. Restart please, this time without the studio bosses involved. So far, everything is subordinate to promotion. You’re an exception man. Confident, just and fair. You like luxury and know how to appreciate it. As one of a very few, treat yourself to a limited edition Police watch. (02.12.2017)

Wenn Sie es geschafft haben, sich auf die früheren Snyder-Visionen einzustimmen und den Einzelfilm Wonder Woman in vollen Zügen genossen haben, dann ist es keine Frage. Die Liga ist einfache Popcorn-Unterhaltung. Alles, worauf wir schon so lange gewartet haben, ist da: ein Team-up mit Gal Gadot und ihrem Lasso der Wahrheit in der Hauptrolle. Und das nächste Mal wird es ein Solo mit Mera (und Aquaman an ihrer Seite) geben. Also gut. Flash ist witzig, Sups und Bat sind nur in dem Maße knallhart, wie Diana oder Alfred es zulassen. Das ist natürlich nichts, was in der Paperversion einen Pulitzer-Preis bekommen würde, aber darum geht es bei diesen Filmen auch nicht, und das sollen sie auch gar nicht sein. So sehr ich Gadot anfangs auch gefürchtet habe, sehe ich jetzt (und schaue mit einigem Enthusiasmus zu), dass es ihr süßes Gesicht ist, das das gesamte DC-Filmuniversum rettet (und es sogar dort aufwertet, wo die meisten aufgegeben hätten). Ich bin neugierig auf Nachschub. (28.05.2018)

We all know that Batman vs Superman wasn’t great, but it was spectacular, broad in plot and ambitious in scope – that's where Marvel is not even close. Unfortunately, the second time around, instead of a peak, there is a fall. Not only did Snyder ease off the gas, both the darkness and the climactic action are gone, but halfway through, the film seamlessly switches to Whedon’s style, goofing around like in Avengers, which feels stupid for a dark comic book that often takes itself deadly serious. Straight up skip the main CGI villain with zero charisma and the whole thing about saving the world. Yes, really, someone wanted to destroy the world with a magic artefact, again, a cube this time. That leaves only the main characters, who are fine separately and together, but the screenwriting pile of shit around them doesn't give them much room to stand out and instead brings out the secondary roles of the not-so-important characters (Lane, Crudup, Nielsen). Compared to "first one", it's a downgrade in quality and, nothing against Joss Whedon, but when a joke-cap director takes on a pompous and properly dark intergalactic drama-material, it turns out to be exactly the kind of CGI mess we have here. (20.11.2017)

Ich hatte nie den Eindruck, dass DC-Filme versucht hätten, den Stil von Marvel tu kopieren. Auch nicht bei Wonder Woman, die mit Captain America verglichen wird. Diesmal kommt es mir aber so vor, weil Justice League eigentlich Avengers ohne Humor um jeden Preis sind. Im Film passiert (wenigstens auf den ersten Blick) nichts, was das Filmuniversum irgendwie erschüttern würde. Ja, es geht zwar um die Auferstehung von Superman, sie wurde aber ein bisschen schlampig gemacht. Superman ist auch wegen des Drehbuchs anders als früher (der Spruch, dass es gejuckt hat, kann getrost dem Sand konkurrieren, der bei Anakin Skywalker überall hinkommt). Außerdem habe ich die Handschrift von Zack Snyder irgendwie nicht erkannt. Im Vergleich zum ausgezeichneten Man of Steel oder dem noch besseren Film Batman V Superman machte Justice League einen bescheidenen, unauffälligen und sogar verdufteten Eindruck. Trotzdem waren es keine vergeudeten zwei Stunden, weil der Film schon ein paar richtig gute Momente hat. Es gefiel mir die Musik von Danny Elfman (die Rückkehr vom Batman-Motiv aus Burton-Filmen und vom ursprünglichen Superman-Motiv von John Williams!) und Ben Affleck ist ein wirklich toller Batman. (17.11.2017)

It looks like DC wanted to make another team-up film. Which is exactly what happened. A comic book team-up that features a lot of familiar characters, but which works as a team-up for about the last five or ten minutes. The plot is extremely predictable and the villain is very boring, and unfortunately, so is the team of heroes. Flash is at least entertaining. And that is all. (21.11.2017)

There are so many things wrong with this movie that I don't even feel like going into much detail. A total mess that makes absolutely no sense, with a plot that has been seen a million times before (and practically never works) and a completely generic villain. It was all edited by a lunatic who managed to cut it down to a two-hour runtime but gave up on any kind of continuity, leaving gaping holes in the story. The whole screenplay is synonymous with stupidity. Even good actors give poor performances, as those idiotic dialogues really don’t leave them much of a choice. Moreover, the lack of previous solo movies led to a large number of superfluous supporting characters. Despite an insanely big budget, it’s overloaded with some terrible CGI. You can also tell that everything was filmed in a studio (there is a total absence of extras, so even though it’s about saving the world, there are altogether 30 people in this movie). I could go on. I would highlight some good jokes and (the visual aspect of) Gal Gadot, otherwise it’s a complete waste of potential, the result being an undisputed flop. (11.02.2018)