Justice League

The off-screen turmoil that's beset the DC film universe franchise (box office disappointment, critical lashings, seemingly endless second-guessing of the dark and brooding tone) has mostly overshadowed what's on the screen. But on this movie, things took a turn into the tragic. Credited director Zach Snyder left after shooting was finished due to the loss of his daughter, and two-time Avengers director Joss Whedon was brought in for post-production. And also, rewrites and reshoots, as Warner Bros. apparently had second thoughts about Snyder’s take on the DC universe after the brutal reception of last year's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

So just when DC finally seemed to connect with a wide audience, Justice League—the big screen motion picture debut for the iconic superhero team, a film built toward as a major (at one-point, two-part) event—arrives as another big mess. It’s not only the worse one yet in this particular continuity, but probably the worst film ever starring these characters (that’s including the Joel Schumacher Batman movies and the one Superman sequel with Richard Pryor).

There are two mains reasons this is rock bottom. One is that it has no bearing on what it wants to be, due to the late-stage change of course and director. Most often it resembles the first Avengers movie with DC characters, from the attempts at humor and clever pop culture references, to the very plot being almost identical but for the costumes. Other times, it’s merely an exposition dump, like one of the middle episodes of a continuing series between the ones that people remember. Said exposition is mostly pointless, too, offering little context for events involving returning characters, letting new ones go unidentified to viewers who aren’t intimately familiar with DC lore or watching with a cast list on hand, and dropping a few leftover details of Snyder’s proposed vision that we now might never see.

Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher aren’t especially bad as, respectively, Aquaman and Cyborg, but since we haven’t spent any time with them until now, it’s impossible to get invested in them enough to care in the amount of time they have here. Then again, Ben Affleck’s Batman and even Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, who we have seen before, don’t manage to muster much interest or charisma, either.

Ezra Miller’s Flash takes on the Marvel-esque joke-cracking wiseass role decently well, for what little help comic relief does. But shockingly, the one who manages to really light up the screen is…Henry Cavil as Superman (I’m not spoiling anything, am I?). Yes, after two movies of failing to even grasp the basics of the character, Cavil finally seems to get the hang of it. In scenes here, resolutely projecting squared-jawed righteousness and authority, he’s—dare I say?—almost Reeve-like. Sadly, this comes too late, when it seems most are starting to give up on this series, including its own studio.

That leads me to the second reason Justice League is the worst DC picture: it doesn’t even try, and it shows. It plays like a total burnoff, as if the studio chose to cut their losses and told Whedon to turn the footage they had into something halfway watchable and at least get some of their money back. And it doesn’t even clear that low bar. It’s a dark, murky, ugly picture, made even more garish by the obviously-after-the-fact color accentuation. The action is incoherent. The locations look like empty beta versions of video game levels, and Ciarán Hinds’ villain Steppenwolf looks like a game cutscene from last century.

The Snyderverse may ultimately go down in comic book movie history as a failure. But though I didn’t care for Snyder’s super-dark interpretation of the DC universe (mainly Superman), I don’t get the feeling that his narrative and aesthetic decisions were out of some profound dislike for the material. This studio-altered Justice League, however, takes no pride in these classic characters and shows nothing but contempt for the audience.

Thor: Ragnarok

For a corner of the Marvel Universe full of gods, Vikings, and magical worlds and beings, the Thor movies are rather…small. The first Thor seemed more like a tie-in for The Avengers than a complete picture. The sequel The Dark World gave him a proper whole film, but only just so, and seems to be regarded as one of the lesser Marvel movies. Chris Hemsworth’s thunder god gets to participate in The Avengers movies, at least, but still has yet to experience as strong a character arc as some of his fellow heroes.

Now the series is a trilogy is with Ragnarok, hardly as epic as the name suggests. Oh, it’s as still big and technically solid as the rest of the Marvel films, and as bright and colorful and full of visual delights as the Guardians of the Galaxy entries. But the stakes of the picture never seem high, even if they are a lot of fun.

The picture catches up with Thor at the onset of Ragnarok, the apocalyptic event in which his long-banished sister, the goddess of death Hela (Cate Blanchett), returns to destroy the realm of Asgard. But our hero is cast away early and spends most of the running time on the planet Sakaar, enslaved and forced to fight as a gladiator by the ruling Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum). From here he must escape with the aid of his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the Asgardian exile Valkyrie (Tess Thompson), and a surprising old acquaintance: The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), who made his way to the planet since we last saw him.

The best part of the Thor series has been its humor, so knowing what works, this one gives the audience what they want. The scenes on Sakaar are never too serious, making jokes out of everything from plot exposition to the (standard Marvel exciting) action scenes. The interplay between the Marvel veterans is as charming as ever, and new players—particularly Goldblum and a minor character one might described as “Drax-lite”—fit right in. Also, the cameo game is on point, one-upping the last Marvel film yet again.

Back on Asgard it’s a different story. Surprisingly, the dark storyline here and the lighter one following the title character don’t clash too starkly. But despite what the narrative tells us is happening, none of what plays out onscreen ever seems like an apocalyptic event that earns the name “Ragnarok.” It all seems much smaller, rather insignificant. And Blanchett never gets enough screen time or scenery to chew. When her plotline merges once again with Thor’s in the final act, it results in an anticlimactic final battle and denouement.

Ragnarok is still a great time, probably the most entertaining of the Thor movies. Just…still kind of small, when the title suggests something so big. And Thor is still yet to have a great, gripping emotional moment we’ve seen for Iron Man, Captain America, and even Star-Lord in the tenderer moments of the Guardians series. Hope Infinity War has room for him.