Justice League is a superhero movie and the newest instalment in the DC Extended Universe directed by Zack Snyder (and Joss Whedon, however he isn't given a director credit) and stars Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher and Henry Cavill. It details the formation of the Justice League, a team of superheroes, to defeat and save the planet from the villainous Steppenwolf. The DC Extended Universe has had a very bumpy start to its road, with the unbelievably dumb Batman vs Superman and the flaming hot mess that was Suicide Squad, however things seemed to be on the upturn following the overwhelming critical success of Wonder Woman. However despite this demonstrated potential, Justice League still manages to fall flat. The film underwent a very messy production, which could've contributed to its failure, due to the fact that Snyder had to leave directing duties halfway through production and pass them onto established director Joss Whedon. The biggest issue with Justice League is undoubtedly its script and character (or lack thereof). The film follows a very paint-by-numbers plot, which tends to be the case with most big-budget blockbusters these days. Steppenwolf is also incredibly far from menacing or threatening, as he looks like he's pulled from a video game cutscene and his character design is awfully bland and uninspired. He also has no depth to make him interesting at all, he just wants to destroy everyone and take over the world, which has been done so many times and is just boring, as it has been for many years now. The CGI as a whole is more miss than hit, with the majority really pulling you out of each scene as none of it looks real at all, especially during the final act and whenever Cyborg is on screen as his suit is 90% CGI. On the subject of Cyborg, he is very much pushed to the sidelines and given relatively nothing to do, a bit like Killer Croc in Suicide Squad (although nowhere near that bad because not very much is). Many characters have also undergone changes since their previous appearances, most notably Batman who isn't the dark and brooding character we saw in BvS, but instead is full of jokes and one-liners. Whenever Henry Cavill is on screen is very distracting as well, due to the fact that he was filming Mission Impossible 6 whilst reshoots were being done for Justice League and he grew a moustache for a role, and so Paramount wouldn't allow him to shave, resulting in it having to be digitally removed in the film - and my goodness it's noticeable as he looks like some sort of waxwork figure or another video game character and so whenever he was visible I just kept getting pulled out of each scene and being distracted by his facade of a face. Around 50 minutes of the film was also cut due to Warner Bros. not allowing the film to be longer than 2 hours, and this really hurts the film as there's no room for character building or development, and so many introductions are very rushed - most notably those of Cyborg and Aquaman, who don't even really feel like characters at all, and the fact that they will be explored in a later film isn't a valid excuse, as they are here in this movie, and so I should expect to be given actual characters. This further proves the point that the solo films should've come first, and that was one of the positives of The Avengers, as they didn't need to spend time to build characters as they were already established, and so they could focus on the plot, which Justice League is very restricted by. There were some scenes that should've been cut though to make room for development, as there are many in the film that halt the plot from moving forward, and in the grand scheme of things there's really no need for them at all. They also seemed to aim for a more comedic approach in comparison to the darker tone that we've been seeing up to this point, but many of the jokes fall flat, as I think I laughed probably about twice (discounting the times I laughed when I wasn't supposed to). There are also many questionable bits of dialogue in the film, however the majority of it is decent. There are positives to be had from Justice League though, albeit very few. For one, the majority of the performances are really good - most notably those from Gal Gadot, who is great as usual, and Ezra Miller, who gives a fun performance as Barry Allen. Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill are also very solid as Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent as expected, and newcomers to the franchise Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher do adequate jobs in their roles as Aquaman and Cyborg as well, despite the fact that Aquaman is presented as quite an unlikable character, which I found quite an odd decision and Fisher's performance is quite bland but he isn't bad in anyway, he's just fine. Some fight sequences were really great and entertaining as well, with one being better than some that Marvel have put to screen. But that really is one of my main problems with the film - the fact that there are really good moments throughout the film, but I can't think of a whole scene that was really great, and so it seems like a load of wasted potential. It also looks a lot nicer than the other films in the franchise, as the standard grey filter that's used in the other films isn't featured here, which was definitely a decision made by Whedon (and most certainly a right one). Justice League also provides an incredibly accurate portrayal of Superman, as opposed to the darker one Zack Snyder has given us which is very unfaithful to the comic version, and so this incarnation manages to provide charisma and charm, along with Ezra Miller's portrayal of The Flash, who really is the comic relief and most joyous to watch, despite the fact that most of his comedy isn't very funny whatsoever. In conclusion, Justice League doesn't manage to get its feet of the ground and is yet another failure for the DC franchise due to its uninspired plot, very noticeable CGI, terrible, unimposing villain and lack of any real character, albeit despite a few positive changes in direction. Its better than Suicide Squad and a slight upgrade from Man of Steel, however its far weaker than Wonder Woman and is probably on par with Batman vs Superman - which shows there is still plenty of room for improvement with this franchise.
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'The Big Lebowski' is one of my all time favourite films and is a comedy crime film from 1998, and is written and directed by The Coen Brothers, who have made other critically successful films such as Fargo and Raising Arizona. It stars Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore and Steve Buscemi. It depicts the story of Jeffrey Lebowski or, as he calls himself, 'The Dude' who is thrown into a world of crime due to a case of mistaken identity. The narrative of The Big Lebowski is interesting as there are many events that happen throughout the event, which are full of both action and humour, however by the end of the film there isn't an awful a lot of change. The only change to the story is the death of a character, however the lives of all the other characters remain exactly the same, with the only difference being just the absence of one person. The characters don't really grow, learn or gain anything from the events of the story but instead just go back to their normal, everyday lives. We also don't get to see a lot of the resolutions to several of the plot threads that are set up and expanded on throughout the film, instead they are just left unresolved, however this is only because it shouldn't matter to the audience as it doesn't matter to our central protagonist, as all he cares about in life is bowling and drinking white russians, and he is really the glue that ties the whole film together. The lack of resolution and change is due to the whole message of the film, which is also just the general goal of The Dude - to live life comfortably and not care what others think, even if you are just a jobless slacker, and be satisfied with life as a whole and be happy, even if you've nothing to offer the world. While The Dude is quite a terrible hero, he still presents aspects of a good role model - that you should appreciate and be proud of whatever you've managed to accomplish, even if it's very little. Many of the theories of narrative are present in The Big Lebowski. For example, Propp's idea of character roles can be assigned to at least one of the characters in the film. It also follows Todorov's theory, however there isn't really a 'new' equilibrium, instead everything just returns to how it was at the beginning, with the notable absence of one character. The idea of the 'Hero's Journey' isn't really present, however. This is mainly due to the fact that there is no transformation or change with the characters, all that really happens is an adventure for the characters, and then they go home and go bowling. Obviously the characters deal with the idea of death, however they don't really grieve too much - all that happens is they spread his ashes and then move on, mainly due to the message of the film, which is to live life contently and be content with yourself. In terms of the film as a whole, it features some truly fantastic and memorable performances from Jeff Bridges and John Goodman. It is undeniably Bridges' most iconic role to date and perhaps even his best. Goodman is absolutely hilarious as well and is definitely the film's funniest character. It's also fantastically written, with some truly quotable lines of dialogue throughout the script. The film also looks gorgeous, with some really wondrous cinematography and lighting to give the film a wonderful aesthetic. In conclusion, The Big Lebowski is one of my favourite films due to its uniqueness, hilarious moments, as well as the incredibly funny performances from the likes of Jeff Bridges and John Goodman and its wonderful and gorgeous aesthetic. It follows a very simple narrative, however everything that happens in the story is rendered almost pointless as there is little resolution and no growth in the characters - which makes complete sense as none of it matters to The Dude, and without him then there would be no film, it's him and his reactions that really make the film what it is. |
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December 2017
My Favourite Films:
The Breakfast Club (1989) Drive (2011) The Social Network (2010) The Dark Knight (2008) Empire Strikes Back (1980) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Taxi Driver (1976) Dr Strangelove (1964) Trainspotting (1996) |