Whedon Works Wonders

There's hope for the DC Extended Universe: Justice League is a fun movie to watch

Justice League is a solid 7.5 out of 10.

Courtesy photo

Editor's Note: ESPN97.5's Jong Lee, who co-hosts the popular podcast, Comicast, which discusses news and rumors from the world of comic books and movies, got a sneak preview of the new Justice League movie and offers this analysis.

“What’s the ‘S’ stand for? It’s not an ‘S.’ In my world, it means ‘hope.’” We finally have a glimmer of hope in the DC Extended Universe.

For a long time, the DCEU has been struggling to find some footing. Man of Steel was okay, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice wasn’t great, and Suicide Squad was horrendous. Wonder Woman was a pleasant surprise but isn’t anything near the best of what the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been producing for the past 10 years.

The best way to describe Justice League is fun. It's a fun movie to watch. It’s not a movie that will go down as one of the best 10 comic book movies of all time, but it’s nowhere near the bottom. In the ranking of all the DCEU movies, I place it second after Wonder Woman. For people who didn’t enjoy Wonder Woman, this may be your favorite DC movie to date.

My biggest gripe going into the movie was "How do you introduce three new characters into a universe and develop a good plot?" Well, gee willikers, Batman, DC got it right.

For all the negative comments I had against director Zack Snyder for Batman V Superman, he did a great job with Justice League. The pacing of the movie is much better than Batman V Superman, the character develop is good (not great) and the clutter was cut out. In fairness, I don’t know how much Snyder was involved in post-production. Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon was brought on board to finish Justice League after Snyder stepped down when his daughter passed away. Whedon scheduled a fair amount of reshoots and Warner Brothers mandated a two-hour run time for the flick. And it works.

Justice League starts off with a bang and takes you through much needed character development for Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg. As we get to learn about the characters, the movie picks up with fight set pieces that are action-packed but concise, although it does seem a little formulaic as the movie progresses.

Ezra Miller's Flash brings a lot of levity to the movie as he absolutely steals every scene he’s in. He’s the perfect complement to the seriousness of Batman and Superman. Jason Momoa’s Aquaman has his moments as well, but he comes across more like a brooding badass with a few one-liners more than a comedic character. Ray Fisher’s Cyborg is vital to the success of the team, but he doesn't stand out, although he wasn’t a drag on any character development or plot.

There are a few misses in the movie. Some of the computer graphics aren't great. Without getting too much into spoilers, there’s one particular scene that really bothered me and you’ll definitely be able to see it.

Steppenwolf is a decent villain, but as someone who is supposed to be one of the strongest villains in DC, he falls a little short. He starts with a bang but finishes with a whimper. Batman's role also could have been written a little better. He's the type of character who's always a step ahead of everyone. He has his moments throughout the movie but comes up a little short during key scenes.

Justice League is a solid 7.5 out of 10. Go watch it in theaters, but it's not a must-watch opening weekend.

Final Note: There’s one mid-credit scene and a post-credit scene. Both have Whedon written all over them and both are worth staying an extra five minutes to see.

Catch the latest Comicast podcast, where Justice League is the center of attention:

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Movie Review

New horror movie Faces of Death puts a modern twist on cult classic

Photo courtesy of of IFC Films

Dacre Montgomery in Faces of Death.

True horror fans will likely be familiar with the 1978 cult film Faces of Death, which purported to be a documentary showing real-life killings in gory detail. It didn’t, of course, but that didn’t stop rumors from continuing to spread for decades. Now, almost 50 years and multiple sequels later, comes a new version of Faces of Death, an actual movie that pays homage to the original in interesting ways.

Margot (Barbie Ferreira) works at a YouTube-like company called Kino as a content moderator, flagging videos that violate the company’s policies. This means her job often involves seeing some truly despicable things from all manner of depraved people. One day, though, she comes across a video that seems a little too real, and after seeing more similar videos, she starts to believe they’re genuine murders.

Going against her company NDA, she starts to investigate the videos on her own, which puts her on the radar of Arthur (Dacre Montgomery), who is actually kidnapping people and killing them on camera through methods seen in the original Faces of Death film. It’s not long before Arthur tracks her down, with a plan to make her one of his next victims.

Written and directed by Daniel Goldhaber (How to Blow Up a Pipeline) and co-written by Isa Mazzei, the film is not so much scary as it is creepy, with the occasional gross-out sequence. The idea of having someone emulate the killings in the cult film is a good idea, and pairing it with the modern-day attention economy — in which content creators go to increasing lengths for clicks — is a clever twist on a concept that other films have done.

The film as a whole is a commentary on how social media and video sharing sites have often decided to prioritize profits over the well-being of their users. Margot is shown allowing videos involving violence and sexual assault to stay on the site while nixing ones depicting how to use Narcan or demonstrating putting on a condom on a banana. Josh (Jermaine Fowler), Margot’s boss, is even explicit in the company mandate that outrageous videos drive views.

While Arthur has the makings of a good villain, there are few attempts to make him seem truly diabolical. His kidnappings often seem more spur-of-the-moment than calculated, and even though he has a well thought-out dungeon at home, the house’s location in the suburbs seems to make him vulnerable to easy discovery. Goldhaber and Mazzei leave more than a few unanswered questions along the way that take away from the intensity of the story.

Ferreira is yet another actor from Euphoria who’s capitalizing on her exposure from that show. She plays Margot’s increasing anxiety well, and when the action ratchets up in the final act, she meets the moment in a satisfying way. Montgomery returns to the vibe he had while playing the evil Billy on Stranger Things, and even though his character doesn’t fully live up to his potential, Montgomery sells his evil for all it’s worth.

The new Faces of Death may not be what some are expecting given the reputation of the previous films, but it’s a solid horror/thriller that uses the brand as a launching pad into something different. It doesn’t make much of a dent in the scare department, but it does give its violence and gore a degree of relevance in today’s often desensitized world.

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Faces of Death is now playing in theaters.

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