THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER –“Fatigue, repetition, and a laborious approach to exposition are the keynotes of this affair, which is also notable for how Ben Affleck looks like he’d rather be almost anywhere else but here. [Justice League is] a chore to sit through” 3/10
VARIETY – “The film is the definition of an adequate high-spirited studio lark: no more, no less. It’s superior to ‘Batman V Superman’ but it’s also about as close to generic as a sharp-witted high-octane comic-book movie can get. There’s hardly a trope in it you haven’t seen before”
VANITY FAIR –”Justice League is a big ugly mess. The lighting is not good, the script is not interesting, the costumes are not fun. The film is, plainly stated, terrible, and I’m sorry that everyone wasted their time and money making it—and that people are being asked to waste their time and money seeing it”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY – [Justice League] is a placeholder in a franchise that’s already had too many placeholders. It feels like the film’s overarching plot was a second or third priority. Some day, hopefully soon, DC might get the recipe right but today isn’t that day, and Justice League isn’t that film” C+
EMPIRE MAGAZINE – “[Justice League]dives headlong into a scrappy, Swiss-cheese plot which clumsily slaps together its disparate elements. None of which is helped by sub-par VFX, which reach their nadir with an overblown final conflict, plus a lead baddie who’s so unnecessarily and sloppily computer-rendered he should be renamed Missteppenwolf”2/5
ROLLING STONE – “The League members together, bickering and bonding, spike the film with humor and genuine feeling, creating a rooting interest in the audience. Without it, the film would crumble. Steppenwolf is a CGI yawn, the action sequences are a digital blur, and the soundtrack defaults to loud whenever inspiration wanes” 6/10
NEW YORK TIMES – “The story is a confusion of noise, visual clutter and murderous digital gnats, [but] it’s more watchable than the last one. Mr Snyder remains regrettably committed to a dark, desaturated palette that borders on the murky, and this movie’s chaotic, unimaginative action scenes can drag on forever”
COLLIDER – [Justice League] is beyond saving. Sure it’s better than ‘Batman v Superman’, but that doesn’t make it good. It is a largely bland, forgettable affair. There’s no time or effort put towards character building, giving the team a personality, crafting themes, or challenging expectations. Justice League’s most impressive feat is that it doesn’t completely fall apart before your eyes”
IGN –“Justice League is messy and flawed but still offers entertainment value. It seldom delivers any truly “wow!” moments of finally seeing these awesome superheroes assembled together onscreen. It’s marred by a very choppy story, a run-of-the-mill villain, some shoddy visual effects, and an overall haphazard execution” 7/10
US WEEKLY – “Not even Wonder Woman can rescue this uninspiring superhero flick. The straightforward narrative and the special effects-heavy set pieces are all disappointedly derivative. [Justice league] should be an exciting event, not a mildly fun, noticeably flawed vehicle that leaves the consciousness as soon as the closing credits roll”
TOTAL FILM – “Justice League’s most significant shortcoming is how forgettable it all is. There’s barely a moment that sticks, not a single sequence to rival the stand-out superhero set-pieces of recent years” 4/10
SCREENCRUSH –“Another DC disappointment, Justice League is a collection of missed opportunities and flubbed ideas. Steppenwolf is maybe the worst villain in a superhero movie since that yellow cloud of evil in ‘Green Lantern’ and overall the film looks unusually bad for a movie of it’s size and budget” 4/10
INDIEWIRE – “Justice League hums along as a pure assault of archetypes and sprawling set pieces. The resulting 119-minute pileup of showdowns and one-liners is a tired, conventional attempt to play by the rules, with “hold for laughs” moments shoehorned between rapid-fire action that’s nothing we haven’t seen before” 2/5
UPROXX – “Justice League is a drag and a big step backwards for DC. The plot is barely comprehensible. Justice League is a bit better than Batman v Superman, in that it at least moves along at an okay pace, but somehow it’s not as interesting”
THE VERGE – Justice League has something for everyone and no way to fit it all together. It often feels fractured and sometimes the reshoots are painfully obvious. There are also a disconcerting number of Wonder Woman upskirt shots for the disrespectful horndogs in the audience”
TELEGRAPH – DC’s superhero embarrassment is beyond saving. It’s consistently embarrassing to watch, and features plot holes so yawningly vast they have a kind of Grand Canyon-like splendour. Justice League is a mess in ways cheaper productions could only dream about” 1/5
Hmmm. It’s horrible but better than “Batman v Superman”? Oh, okay. Well, I love “BvS” so… *shrugs* I’m no professional critic, but I am a DC fan who reads the comics, as well as a fan of movies in general. And I’ve been happy with the DCEU since “Man of Steel”. But that’s just me. So, yeah. Still excited to watch “Justice League”. I don’t think I’ll need to overanalyze or nitpick, too, because I just want to see my superheroes get together.
I’m already tired of everybody shitting all over this movie just to try and outdo each other on how hard they can shit on a movie. I enjoyed BvS and I’m sure I”ll enjoy this too. I don’t give a shit what critics say because more than 90% of the time I disagree with them. I also don’t give a rat’s ass what Rotten Tomatoes gives it because those are the same turds that gave Sharknado an 82%.
^^^^^^ thank you both @a-wayne-at-heart and @batfam-blacksheep ‘cause that criticism made me kind of sad and I was already upset to go and see it. Really thank you for remind me that there ARE fans like me, like us, who really enjoy seeing his heros together no matter what the others say
Same to you, @sophiartstart! Members of the cast have said it best themselves. These movies are made for the fans, not for the critics. Clearly, as with ANYTHING in fandom, “Justice League” can’t possibly please every fan – doesn’t mean it’s not good or worth watching.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER –“Fatigue, repetition, and a laborious approach to exposition are the keynotes of this affair, which is also notable for how Ben Affleck looks like he’d rather be almost anywhere else but here. [Justice League is] a chore to sit through” 3/10
VARIETY – “The film is the definition of an adequate high-spirited studio lark: no more, no less. It’s superior to ‘Batman V Superman’ but it’s also about as close to generic as a sharp-witted high-octane comic-book movie can get. There’s hardly a trope in it you haven’t seen before”
VANITY FAIR –”Justice League is a big ugly mess. The lighting is not good, the script is not interesting, the costumes are not fun. The film is, plainly stated, terrible, and I’m sorry that everyone wasted their time and money making it—and that people are being asked to waste their time and money seeing it”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY – [Justice League] is a placeholder in a franchise that’s already had too many placeholders. It feels like the film’s overarching plot was a second or third priority. Some day, hopefully soon, DC might get the recipe right but today isn’t that day, and Justice League isn’t that film” C+
EMPIRE MAGAZINE – “[Justice League]dives headlong into a scrappy, Swiss-cheese plot which clumsily slaps together its disparate elements. None of which is helped by sub-par VFX, which reach their nadir with an overblown final conflict, plus a lead baddie who’s so unnecessarily and sloppily computer-rendered he should be renamed Missteppenwolf”2/5
ROLLING STONE – “The League members together, bickering and bonding, spike the film with humor and genuine feeling, creating a rooting interest in the audience. Without it, the film would crumble. Steppenwolf is a CGI yawn, the action sequences are a digital blur, and the soundtrack defaults to loud whenever inspiration wanes” 6/10
NEW YORK TIMES – “The story is a confusion of noise, visual clutter and murderous digital gnats, [but] it’s more watchable than the last one. Mr Snyder remains regrettably committed to a dark, desaturated palette that borders on the murky, and this movie’s chaotic, unimaginative action scenes can drag on forever”
COLLIDER – [Justice League] is beyond saving. Sure it’s better than ‘Batman v Superman’, but that doesn’t make it good. It is a largely bland, forgettable affair. There’s no time or effort put towards character building, giving the team a personality, crafting themes, or challenging expectations. Justice League’s most impressive feat is that it doesn’t completely fall apart before your eyes”
IGN –“Justice League is messy and flawed but still offers entertainment value. It seldom delivers any truly “wow!” moments of finally seeing these awesome superheroes assembled together onscreen. It’s marred by a very choppy story, a run-of-the-mill villain, some shoddy visual effects, and an overall haphazard execution” 7/10
US WEEKLY – “Not even Wonder Woman can rescue this uninspiring superhero flick. The straightforward narrative and the special effects-heavy set pieces are all disappointedly derivative. [Justice league] should be an exciting event, not a mildly fun, noticeably flawed vehicle that leaves the consciousness as soon as the closing credits roll”
TOTAL FILM – “Justice League’s most significant shortcoming is how forgettable it all is. There’s barely a moment that sticks, not a single sequence to rival the stand-out superhero set-pieces of recent years” 4/10
SCREENCRUSH –“Another DC disappointment, Justice League is a collection of missed opportunities and flubbed ideas. Steppenwolf is maybe the worst villain in a superhero movie since that yellow cloud of evil in ‘Green Lantern’ and overall the film looks unusually bad for a movie of it’s size and budget” 4/10
INDIEWIRE – “Justice League hums along as a pure assault of archetypes and sprawling set pieces. The resulting 119-minute pileup of showdowns and one-liners is a tired, conventional attempt to play by the rules, with “hold for laughs” moments shoehorned between rapid-fire action that’s nothing we haven’t seen before” 2/5
UPROXX – “Justice League is a drag and a big step backwards for DC. The plot is barely comprehensible. Justice League is a bit better than Batman v Superman, in that it at least moves along at an okay pace, but somehow it’s not as interesting”
THE VERGE – Justice League has something for everyone and no way to fit it all together. It often feels fractured and sometimes the reshoots are painfully obvious. There are also a disconcerting number of Wonder Woman upskirt shots for the disrespectful horndogs in the audience”
TELEGRAPH – DC’s superhero embarrassment is beyond saving. It’s consistently embarrassing to watch, and features plot holes so yawningly vast they have a kind of Grand Canyon-like splendour. Justice League is a mess in ways cheaper productions could only dream about” 1/5
Hmmm. It’s horrible but better than “Batman v Superman”? Oh, okay. Well, I love “BvS” so… *shrugs* I’m no professional critic, but I am a DC fan who reads the comics, as well as a fan of movies in general. And I’ve been happy with the DCEU since “Man of Steel”. But that’s just me. So, yeah. Still excited to watch “Justice League”. I don’t think I’ll need to overanalyze or nitpick, too, because I just want to see my superheroes get together.
“I just don’t understand why Clark wouldn’t just say, ‘Save my mother’ instead of ‘Save Martha.’ The whole thing is just silly.”
Luthor: Martha, Martha, Martha. Well, the mother of a flying demon must be a witch. And the punishment for witches – what is that? That’s right. Death by fire.
Luthor: If you kill me, Martha dies. And if you fly away, Martha also dies. But if you kill the Bat, Martha lives.
Bruce: [with disgust] I bet your parents taught you that you mean something, that you’re here for a reason. My parents taught me a different lesson. Dying in the gutter. For no reason at all.
Clark: Save Martha.
Bruce: Why did you say that name?
Lois: It’s his mother’s name.
These six lines demonstrate the layers needed to get Bruce to his realization. He knows Superman has parents. He is not interested. Luthor knows Superman has a mother and uses her against him, dehumanizing her completely as he does so. Clark begs for Martha to be saved for who she is, not for her relationship to him, since Luthor and Bruce have both made it quite clear that the mother of a flying demon doesn’t matter. Bruce realizes Martha is his mother. Lois – a human, a woman throwing herself in front of a gun/spear to save someone she loves – says “It’s his mother’s name” like it’s the most important thing in the world. And it is. And Bruce is wrong. And he crumples.
You cannot watch BVS and think you can just forget all the dialogue that’s come before and then turn around and claim it doesn’t make sense. It is all right there, you lazybones.
Let’s be honest, if a real life Superman came to our planet and illustrated his amazing abilities and willingness to help people, we as humans would treat him just like people did in BvS.
Totally! Let’s not also forget the fact that, even if some of us hailed him as a hero, we would grow ridiculously demanding of him too.
I mean, let’s be real, people would start demanding him stop every single disaster and conflict. And when he failed, we would blame him.
^^^^
this is already how critics talk about superman in bvs and its ironic af. “he didnt inspire hope” or “he should have heard his mother with his superhearing and saved her” or “he should have stayed and stopped people in the vilage from being killed after he saved lois”
he can’t be everywhere and he isn’t the god everyone expects him to be
I said that and it’s been kind of amplified. I said it in addition to saying that everyone’s is valid and that I like Michael Keaton, I like Christian Bale…I like them all! The one thing Ben Affleck did better than anyone is he got the balance between Batman and Bruce Wayne. There were two personas there and each of the actors have gotten one or the other really good; some people are better as Bruce Wayne, some are better as Batman. Ben Affleck, uniquely I think, was good at both and he did a really good job of it. I just think Ben Affleck got the balance of both characters better than any of them.
Kevin Conroy
That feel when you get approval from the true batman
incorrect-batfamily-quotes 