Review: 'Justice League' makes for a satisfying supergroup effort despite some bumps

Brian Truitt | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption 'Justice League' unites the A-list DC superheroes Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman and Ben Affleck's Batman head up the superhero group of 'Justice League.'

Justice League is as solid an outing as any superhero fan could hope, with a clear family vibe: Wonder Woman and Batman prove to be a dynamic mom-and-dad duo while the fastest kid around steals the show.

A better effort than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and a worthy follow-up to runaway hit Wonder Woman, Justice League (*** out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters Thursday night) does the DC icons proud with some high-profile additions and a strong if unspectacular effort full of fun character moments.

It’s also a product of two rather different filmmakers that, for the most part, ends up decently coherent. Director Zack Snyder (BvS, Man of Steel) again views his main characters through a way-dark palette and stylized lens, credited co-writer Joss Whedon (Avengers) — brought in to finish after Snyder stepped back due to a death in the family — adds his signature clever wit, and the result is an enjoyable romp with underlying emotion.

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A direct continuation of 2016's Dawn of Justice, Justice League begins with the continued global mourning for Superman (Henry Cavill). His mom, Martha Kent (Diane Lane), is dealing with the foreclosure of the family farm, and his love, Lois Lane (Amy Adams), needs to regain her journalistic mojo. Meanwhile, fellow heroes are inspired by the loss: Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) takes out European terrorists on the regular, while Batman (Ben Affleck) is investigating winged menaces plaguing Gotham City.

They soon figure out that a really bad alien named Steppenwolf (voiced by Ciarán Hinds) is hunting for three powerful Mother Boxes that, when united, will turn Earth into a disaster area. To stop the assault, Wonder Woman and Batman recruit — and play sort of parental figures — to three new heroes. The Flash (Ezra Miller) doesn’t need much convincing — the jittery speedster has no idea how to “do battle” but he’s all about having super friends and his is one of the film’s strongest arcs. Wonder Woman finds a connection with Cyborg (Ray Fisher), a young guy learning to live with a partly mechanized body. The hardest sell is Aquaman (Jason Momoa), a tattooed malcontent who rebuffs Batman at first but later figures out the enormity of the situation.

And then there’s Superman. It’s best to just say Cavill’s Kryptonian dude has an integral role to play and leave it at that for now — what unfolds with him is one of the film's biggest joys.

Justice League is a lighter answer to the tonal issues of both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, though it's saddled with an uneven narrative and not as much character development as you'd want in trying to shoehorn ancient mythology and setup for future movies.

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Bad CGI villains also continue to plague the DC superhero lineup. Doomsday was a huge miss in BvS, Ares was atrocious in Wonder Woman, and Steppenwolf is another large fail. Cate Blanchett, currently vamping it up in Thor: Ragnarok, is a reminder that there’s something special about a tangible villain.

But Justice League does more right than wrong. Instead of having its heroes punch each other a lot, most of the tension comes from philosophical differences on what it means to serve the greater good, and the movie also pays homage to what’s come before, with Danny Elfman’s phenomenal score successfully weaving and twisting Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman themes.

From sounds to characters, Justice is indeed served.