Superhero Media: Justice League (2017)

I like it. I don't *love* it, it has a lot of problems, but Justice League is probably my third favourite DC film in the current run, even more so than Wonder Woman, which I'll get to below. I've watched the second half of the film a number of times now and my enjoyment hasn't really dipped at all. Note that I mentioned the second half of the film specifically, the half that is notably lighter in tone and actually works in a few jokes. As regular readers will know, I'm not much of a fan of the "Snyder Aesthetic" that characterised Man of Steel and subsequent films, so the steady lightening of tone in Justice League gave me some hope for what may come if the DCU had gone on in a similar direction. I'm very much of the opinion that bad films can have certain, "shining moments" that I want to see again and again, and watching Justice League feels like a succession of these and waiting for the next "good bit". And there are plenty to be had, even if the full effect of the film is lacking. 

The compartmentalisation of the DC film and television productions is really intriguing because we end up with interesting situations like Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot being excellent casts for their characters, but fans preferring Grant Gustin and Tyler Hoechlin for other parts. Now, the MCU has issues with casting, as Agents of SHIELD and Inhumans have eaten up good roles that won't be in the, much better, films now, so there doesn't appear to be a "better" solution, but with Batwoman and Green Arrow already being established, it feels odd to have Cyborg and a new Flash appear out of nowhere for Justice League. To put my postmodernist literature hat on for a minute, Justice League is something of a bricolage of ideas and themes, being a kind of creative gumbo with input not only from Snyder and Whedon, but also from Affleck, the internet fan culture and a studio fixated on no longer being the second biggest game in town. For all the flaws there is plenty to like though, the scene where a resurrected Superman goes on a rampage is masterfully directed, and the fight against Steppenwolf at the end is spectacular, even if the character looks terrible. 

I'll get into this more in a later "Thinking Out Loud", but the DC films have a real problem with their music selection. During the above-mentioned Superman resurrection scene, the music is a minor-key version of the John Williams "Superman Theme", and when Superman turns up again in the finale, the score is from Man of Steel. Doesn't that seem the wrong way around? Like, if the intent was to ensure the audience that Superman was moving in a direction closer to how he has been traditionally portrayed (which is the meta-text of the moment), wouldn't it make more sense to have the dour, grim, Man of Steel theme be used with "bad" Superman and the heroic, uplifting John Williams score used for "good" Superman? When Batman stops being the pastiche he was in Dawn of Justice and becomes recognisable as himself again, the 1989 film theme cuts in and it's awesome. I really believe that Justice League needs to be experienced and judged by the individual, there's so much going on that there is no real way to reduce it to a unified conclusion.