My heart left soaring while the critics are roaring

On Nov. 17, I was one of the few others that went and saw Justice League, the newest instalment of the DCEU movie series.

When I say “few others”, I mean that. The theatre wasn’t nearly as packed as compared to when I saw Thor, the week previous.

And by now, we’ve all heard how poorly Justice League has done in box office sales — only 94 million dollars in revenue. Which sounds like a lot, until you hear that the movies production budget totalled to an estimated 300 million dollars.

We also all know the gospel site that is Rotten Tomatoes 40 per cent for critic review, while fan’s have granted the film an 85 per cent. In short, the film has been labeled a resounding dumpster fire.

I, however, fall into the positive 85 per cent. Of course there are things I would’ve liked to see done differently, and things I would’ve liked to never have seen period. But still, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

So, without further ado, here’s my review of Justice League — spoiler alert for anyone still interested in seeing the movie.

I’m not going to criticize Zach Snyder for stepping down from the film half-way through production, as it was his daughter’s death that took him away. However, I will openly and vocally criticize Joss Whedon, who — in my humble opinion — hasn’t done anything noteworthy since Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

If you haven’t read his script for what would have been his version of Wonder Woman, do yourself a favour and check it out. I honestly don’t understand how someone who made a character as iconic as Buffy Summers turned Diana Prince into such travesty.

But I digress. There are two introductory scenes in the movie that I adore. I’ll first focus on Batman’s scene, wherein on a rooftop he stalks an unnamed criminal. I loved this scene purely for how it demonstrated how—for lack of a better word—cool Batman can be. Instead of turning Batman into a glorified battering ram, they actually utilized the stealth aspect of his character.

When he dangles the criminal off the roof and this weird, disgusting creature shoots up I had a moment of dread. I thought that somehow they were working in man-bats — such as the reference in Batman vs. Superman — and I was ready to just walk out of the theatre.

The fight scene that ensued was underwhelming— all fight scenes are underwhelming. Which is disappointing, because as much as I hate when it’s endless fight scenes in action films I also think that well done ones are worth the watch. The scene ends with the criminal commenting how the world has fallen apart since the death of Superman.

Like any movies, there’s going to be flaws. But I don’t agree with people who say it’s the worst movie yet, I mean Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was just an embarrassment.

Then it switches to a series of scenes that demonstrate how lost the world is. What I loved was how it was a mirror to our world, the islamophobia that was shown, bombings and gun violence. Just when someone is about to commit a mass murder via shooting, Wonder Woman comes and saves the day.

That was the moment I fell in love with the movie, because it reminded me what it was I loved about super-heroes. It isn’t the zany adventures in space, or even their internal conflicts that give us enough angst to last a life time.

Most superheroes were created in times of conflict, The Shadow — a major character inspiration for Batman — was created during the Great Depression when people couldn’t depend on the police.

Captain America was created during World War II to literally punch Hitler in the face. So, rather than shying away from all our problems in our terrifying world, I loved that they had Wonder Woman stepping in to save would-be victims.

The characters shown in the movie were so accurate to those that I’ve read in the comics; Clark Kent was a dork, Bruce Wayne was sarcastic and wholly aware of his mortality, Arthur Curry was still a dickhead, Diana Prince was exhausted with the men she works with and Barry Allen was awkward and out of place. Victor Stone, who technically doesn’t join the Justice League but instead leads the Teen Titans, was obviously too young for the group  — and in turn for the business of saving the world.

But there are flaws, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention them.

There are way too many — frankly unnecessary — shots of Wonder Woman’s underwear. Also, the CGI that covered Clark’s moustache was weird — like I don’t know how hard it is to grow a moustache but you’d think they could just shave it off.

Like any movies, there’s going to be flaws. But I don’t agree with people who say it’s the worst movie yet, I mean Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was just an embarrassment. I’m excited to see how DC plans to move forward in light of the scathing reviews, but I hope they don’t turn to the exhausting and tried formula that Marvel has adopted.

DC and Marvel have always been different, the former always leaning toward the darker side of things.

If DC keeps utilizing these inherent differences and carves out a way to stand apart, I think they’re going to be okay.