Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015) – Recontextualizing Heroes

“Justice League: Gods and Monsters” is a Justice League film that doesn’t feel like a Justice League Film. “Batman v. Superman” is a Justice League film by this films logic as we only have this version of Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman and even knowing that, this film still works. I wasn’t a fan of the villain plot but anything with the Justice League is a lot of fun and it is worth checking out to see this version of the Main 3.

The film was directed by Sam Liu and the screenplay by Alan Burnett (though Bruce Timm did co-write the original story with him).

The story follows an alternate universe version of the Justice League as they face mixed public opinion and work on solving the mystery of who is killing all of the world’s scientists.

SPOILERS ahead

The Pros:

The Animation – The animation is once again beautiful. I don’t think I’ve seen a bad looking DC animated project but that same standard of quality animation is on display here. The action also feels fluid as do the characters in motion and flight.

The Premise – The premise of an alternate universe Justice League the world doesn’t trust with a murder mystery is compelling. I like how these aren’t Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne or Diana Prince either as it lets these characters fully be who they are as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman versus being a reaction to the identities, which often happens in alternate universe takes.

Lex Luthor – Lex Luthor is a good guy in this! He starts out as an an enemy but in the end he saves Superman and Wonder Woman from the army and reveals who the real threat is. This is all in the context of his body being broken by Superman possibly prior but he still sees the bigger picture. Jason Isaacs really added a lot of nuance and empathy to the role.

Hernan Guerra / Superman – This Superman is General Zod’s son (he discovers later) and raised by immigrants who were escaping to a better world on the border of the United States. This shaped his perspective in ways that I found compelling as he faced a harsh world from the government that wants him to work for them when they wanted to use him as a weapon and cared nothing about his parents. His arc is accepting Lex Luthor and forming the Justice League as a force that doesn’t kill and it works in the context of the film though the film never having us meet and interact with his parents is a travesty. Martha and Jonathan are so key to every version of Superman and we get to know them, even if it is only a little. Here in this film we don’t get that.

Bekka / Wonder Woman – This version of Wonder Woman is an New God who was betrothed to Darkseid’s son but is betrayed by her people when the Highfather (her grandfather) executes all the Old Gods. It is a powerful scene and we get why she doesn’t allow herself to get close to others after everything she lost. In the end she leaves with Lex Luthor to confront her people for the wrongs she did as her arc ends after her people betrayed Darkseid and his family and she escaped to Earth.

Kirk Langstrom / Batman – Kirk Langstrom is originally Man-Bat in the main universe but here we get vampire Batman. This is such a cool concept and I like how driven he is. He is still very much Batman in personality in how disconnected he is from humanity. The investigator is still there and he is the one to figure out the plot as in the end his friend Dr. Magnus is the one behind the killings and the one responsible for making him a vampire in the first place. I’d read and watch more stories with this Batman as I feel there is potential in the vampire Batman premise.

The Cons:

Missing Parents – We never meet the Guerra’s beyond them recovering Superman and they are only told to be a drive for Hernan we never see the reality of why. This was a shame as said before Jonathan and Martha are core to Clark’s development in other versions of Superman.

The Villain – Dr. Magnus is a selfish prick and I never got his friendship with Kirk. He does eventually regret all he did with trying to make the world one mind through nano-technology but this anime cliche and his personal relationship to a character doesn’t save how badly he is written. He’s just a selfish murder.

Lack of other Meta-Humans / Justice League Members – There are only 3 Justice League members, which given how powerful Superman is and the threat he knows he is under it makes zero sense for him not to recruit. This lack of other members made the world feel much smaller than it should have.

“Justice League: Gods and Monsters” is a cool concept that mostly works. What would have made it a great film would have been giving us the story of Superman’s parents or at least have him interact with them and having Superman having recruited more members. Having only 3 members of the Justice League makes it difficult for me to even consider them the Justice League as 3 is a trio not a league. This is still worth checking out though and like the “Crisis on Two Earths” film needed more time to explore the ideas to make the most of the premise.

Final Score: 8.2 / 10

Man of Steel (2013): Great Villain, Bland Leads and a World Worth Exploring

   “Man of Steel” is a controversial film, and after seeing it I get why. This is a film that isn’t a favorite, but I didn’t hate it either. I found the main leads boring but I found the world they inhabited fascinating, and I did enjoy the villain a lot. I found the writing clunky but the cinematography and score helped counter that in some ways…this is film that I’m torn over a little bit and at the end of the day, I did enjoy…even if I’m not likely to see it again anytime soon. What lead me to checking out this film is I plan on reviewing “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice” soon and since that is a direct sequel to this film, I figured I should do my research and finally watch it.

      The film was directed by Zack Snyder and written by David Goyer and Christopher Nolan with the producers being Charles Roven and Deborah Snyer, Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas.

     The story involves the origin of Superman (Henry Cavill) in regards to his childhood and the fall of Krypton leading to General Zod (Michael Shannon) returning to Earth in order to shape the planet into a new Krypton.

  The Pros: The Cinematography – Amir Mokri does a fantastic job on the cinematography and shows us a dark world full of life and color. We see it in the adventures in the wilderness with Superman and at the beginning especially when alien Krypton and it’s destruction is shown to us.

The Soundtrack – Hans Zimmer creates a masterful soaring score that really captures the promise of Superman and also the danger of the villains he faces. These are aliens who are as powerful as the best of humanity’s tech and the score captures the alienness of Krypton and those who come from it, even Superman.

The Universe – I like this Universe. I found Krypton very cool, from the High Council, the Military, the fact that people are raised to be in certain roles (creating a caste system) and how Jor-El’s heresy leads to Superman’s creation and also the destruction of Krypton’s people, culture and world as a whole. I also like how humanity fears Superman…it feels believable and from that Superman’s vulnerability and inability to really save people as he doesn’t understand his power fully.

Krypton – This is my third timing mention Krypton, but it is worth doing so. I loved Krpyton’s design and the technology on the planet as well as the mixture of biology and tech. This was a world that I wanted to spend more time in and would have watched and loved the movie if it just took place here and wasn’t about Superman at all until the very end.

Jor-El – Russell Crowe was great as Superman’s dad. He was easily the best actor in this and the writing for him felt the most natural. His personal relationship and rivalry with Zod was fantastic too and I like how they had a grudging respect for one another, even up until the end. They were equals and in the end both were destroyed because of it.

General Zod – Michael Shannon is awesome! I really want to see this guy in more films after this. This is a guy who could ham it up and have an aura of fear and crazy about it. He reminded me of Jeffrey Dean Morgan who played The Comedian in “Watchmen.” I wanted to know this character more and he truly felt like a threat the entire time. I got why Superman couldn’t save people and had to kill him, as long as this guy lived Earth would be under threat of total annihilation and he’d do it and could do it, even without his technology.

General Calvin Swanwick – Harry Lennix is great in everything I’ve seen him in. He gives character and depth to a role that would usually be stock in any other film (and was for all the Daily Planet folks and the Kents). I hope he’s in “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”

Okay: Superman – Cavill is okay but he isn’t given the chance to show all that much depth. He’s sad and angry and we see him smile…once. I get being thoughtful but Cavill isn’t that great of an actor, thoughtful just ends up looking angry. He was one of the weakest but I at least got his motivation and his desire to look after those around him.

The Cons: Lois Lane – Lois Lane is a plot device in this. She is a living McGuffin that moves around plot points to advance the story. Poor Amy Adams…the one time she has a chance to do something (relationship with Superman) there isn’t any chemistry. She really wasn’t needed in this story and her role could be filled by anybody.

Perry White – Fishburne is a good actor but in here he is just a stock character type. The Daily Planet doesn’t really do anything and he like Lois Lane is there mostly to be saved by Superman….

Jonathan and Martha Kent – These two are the final stock types….there is paranoid Jonathan who wants Clark to keep his powers secret until he’s ready even if people die…and his Mom who is just kind of there and isn’t given anything to do. These folks felt like American^tm

Blatant Product Placement – Superman fights in the IHOP, used to work at the IHOP and over the course of the film there. This was super annoying and thankfully the action distracted from this because every time something came I couldn’t help but be annoyed…I get films need endorsements and money to be made, but this doesn’t have to “Transformers” level obvious.

      This is a deeply flawed but enjoyable movie. It makes me want to go back and check out other versions of the character from Bruce Timm’s version of the character, the original Superman of the films and even the very hated “Superman Returns.” I’ll admit he isn’t the guy I’m drawn to DC comics for. It is hard to tell a compelling Superman story as so much of what creates drama is the facing of adversity and if you are someone with only one weakness, it’s hard to create tension. In that way Superman is only as interesting as the world around him and I found the world around him in this fascinating, even if the character paled in comparison to the villain.

Final Score: 7.6 / 10