Kidzworld saw the Justice League film on a big IMAX screen. Is it great to see a bunch of DC comics heroes in one movie? Does the film succeed in creating a new super-hero force? Check our review!
By: Lynn Barker
In Justice League, the world is depressed and still mourning the death of Superman (Henry Cavill). Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck) knows a massive attack from outside Earth is coming. He and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) start to assemble a team of metahumans with powers to stand together against the coming threat. When everybody isn’t gung-ho to join the party, it’s a race against time to convince the gang to get together. Could the “dead” Superman be one of the heroic League?
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Business as Usual
Batman is busy stopping crime and confronting a weird, flying robot-like being (later to be found to be a parademon, part of baddie Steppenwolf’s (Ciaran Hinds) army) while Wonder Woman fights terrorists and frees hostages. Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is still mourning her man and isn’t able to be the crack reporter she once was. She’s also sad when Clark Kent’s mom Martha (Diane Lane) loses her farm in a bank foreclosure.
Lois Lane mourns Clark/Superman and has trouble workingCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
On a Mission
Convinced that a major threat is coming to Earth, Bruce Wayne is determined to form a league of superheroes to fight it. He’s off to the far north where he hopes to convince Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Jason Momoa) to sign on. He offers money but Curry is not having any. Bruce reminds him that yes, with world destruction, seas could rise but they could also boil! Bruce goes after Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller) who is impressed that Bruce is Batman and will join the group.
Barry Allen/The Flash is impressed that Batman visitsCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Meanwhile, Cyborg and Amazons
Former football player Victor Stone/Cyborg (Ray Fisher) is more machine than man and very depressed about it. He feels like a monster with an alien voice in his head. Is he being controlled? On Wonder Woman’s Themyscira island, a strange Mother Box long dormant, comes alive with amazing power. This calls alien warrior Steppenwolf who is determined to unite the three boxes left on Earth. Evidently, when this happens, our planet will be re-formed into one much like his own world, on which humans could not survive. His giant army of flying parademons attacks getting the box away from Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), Wonder Woman’s mom. She then lights a warning fire which Diana Prince sees and recognizes from afar.
Aquaman fights SteppenwolfCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Diana, Bruce and Aquaman
Diana and Bruce meet and she tells him about the three Mother Boxes and what they would do in Steppenwolf’s hands. His parademon army lives on fear and they’ll get plenty of it. He already has one box, the Atlanteans have another. Nobody knows where the third is. Cyborg overhears this conversation. Diana later meets with him “We need you and maybe you need us”. Meanwhile, Steppenwolf fights Queen of the sea Mera (Amber Heard) underwater and gains the second Mother Box. She reminds Aquaman that he must fulfill his destiny, get it back and stop Steppenwolf.
Underwater Queen Mera tells Aquaman to fight SteppenwolfCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
The Gang’s All Here!
Meanwhile various scientists around Metropolis are being kidnapped so Commissioner Gordon (J.K. Simmons) turns on the bat signal and imagine his surprise when not only Batman but Wonder Woman, Flash and Cyborg show up. Out on an island, Steppenwolf is torturing the kidnapped scientists to find out where the final Box is hidden. The new League has to fight. Aquaman joins them. The hostages are freed and the group meets inside the Bat Cave where Cyborg explains that these Mother Boxes are a perpetual energy source. His dad used it to “create” him. It can reshape a planet but it might also bring Superman back to life!! Bruce and Diana argue over this. It’s not moral. Would Bruce/Batman do this because of his guilt over Superman’s death?
Commissioner Gordon calls Batman and gets a teamCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Final Outcome?
Will Superman come back and join the League? If he does, will there be enough good guys to stop Steppenwolf before it’s too late for Earth? Will the League stick together permanently? Who or what will the new team face next?
Batman swings into actionCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Wrapping Up
The Justice League film is full of pros and cons. It’s definitely cool to see all these superheroes together but we have to learn backstories of the newer team members quickly as well as keep track of a weird, hard to trace plot and a villain that is under-developed, especially for fans who don’t read the comics. Who is Steppenwolf really? Who is the Darkseid guy he refers to? Why does he call these Boxes “Mother”? Don’t know if DC comics fans will or won’t be satisfied with his presentation here or not but for the rest of us, he’s rather confusing. There is a nice Russian family that appears in the story for no reason other than to represent innocent Mankind to be destroyed by Steppenwolf and exactly why Batman seems to know, early on, a lot about what is coming isn’t all that clear either .
Wonder Woman believes in JusticeCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
In the final battle scenes, some of the action went by too fast for me. I couldn’t tell which superhero was doing what with whom. However, the seeds are sown for fun relationships among the League members. There is finally so much boy bonding that a frustrated Wonder Woman exclaims “I’m working with children”! Good humor is provided by Ezra Miller as Barry/The Flash. His gung-ho inexperience and the humor that comes from it is much like that of the newest version of Spider-Man. Much of the welcomed humor in the film comes from him or Jason Momoa’s Aquaman who accidentally sits on Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth and wonders why he’s spilling his emotional guts to his teammates. Funny! There are some touching scenes involving Superman that are a welcomed break from the rest of the story.
Cyborg joins the teamCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Be sure to stick around through the credits for two extra scenes. One is light-hearted involving Flash and Superman and the other brings back Lex Luthor and another of the DC Universe characters.
The Flash whips up an electric stormCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
There is certainly enough here to make the film enjoyable whether you are a fan of the comics or you see the movie as more of a novice. We had fun so we can go four stars.
Justice League Movie Rating: 
Justice League PosterCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Justice League is in theaters now!
Have Your Say
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