News feed
Even an all-star cast – whose characters are capable of saving an entire planet – can’t save a bad script. While the new Justice League film is more watchable than the last Batman DC disaster, credit is 80% due to Gal Gadot and 20% eye-candy that is Jason Momoa’s hair and tattoos. For this season, Wonder Woman has more than just a character introduction – in fact, she plays mum to Ben Affleck’s Batman dad – and the pair choose an all-star army of superheroes to save the world from villain Steppenwolf.
From the first minute, it’s obvious Warner Bros. knew it was important for Diana Prince to have equal air time as the mundane Bruce Wayne – she did, after all, record box office sales history with her own spin-off, a sure-fire win over competitor comic book company Marvel.
Along with a resurrected Superman (played by Henry Cavill), comic relief in Flash (Ezra Miller), half-human, half-robot Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and the aforementioned mer-man Aquaman (Jason Momoa), the consensus from critics across the globe is this is a pretty bad movie with a really great ensemble.
The problem lies in the characterization (or the lack of cohesion and chemistry between the central characters) and a script that only acquires sporadic half-laughs. Unlike Patty Jenkin’s WW film the fight scenes a CGI yawn, the oogling of Diana Prince from her male companions is a little less subtle and the Amazon warrior costumes a wee bit smaller.
Yes, it’s worth watching. But for a film that had such a long-lead time, you’ll find more interesting things to talk about in the Uber home. For the most part, the superheroes will need to be ready to defend themselves against the critics but one things for certain: It could have been a bigger mess without Gadot.
Justice League is in Australian cinemas now.
