Justice League (2017)

I've been a fan of the Justice League (originally of America) comic books since my age was in single figures, so even if I had concerns about the big screen version, I felt I owed it to my 9-year old self to see it as close to release as possible.

I think my 9-year old self would have enjoyed parts, laughed a few times, and found large chunks of it to be boring. Because my tastes at 9 still rattle about in my skull today.

Justice League is all over the map as a film, both tonally and in terms of its storytelling. At one point it turns into the prologue to the Lord of the Rings movies, while at another it seems to be aiming for the dizzy heights of Avengers 2.

I laughed a few times, but when everyone is a comedian, it throws the balance of the movie off. There's little weight to anything you see on screen.

Characters are ill-defined. It's really the Batman and Wonder Woman Show with a little bit of the Flash thrown in for good measure, but they're not well-served by the film. Aquaman can't make up his mind if he's depressed or a happy-go-lucky guy having the time of his fishy life, and Cyborg is about as bland as the computer that he might be turning into.

Some people thought Joss Whedon replacing Zach Snyder would be the saviour of the film. He wasn't, he's just a guy telling jokes at a funeral.

I didn't hate it though. There was enough to keep me mildly entertained for the most part while I was watching it, but it's not a good film, and the more I think about it, the more I realise how not good it is.

Marvel with its films for the most part manages to succeed because it is interested in the individual film first and the shared-universe building almost as an afterthought - and when the universe connects, it mostly feels like it has earned it. The DC movies, post-Man of Steel (and with the omission of Wonder Woman) still seem to be trying this in reverse.

There's loads more that I could complain about - the unspecial effects, the climactic battle, which feels like every other DC universe climactic battle (including Wonder Woman's - the biggest misstep in that film, for my money), but I think I've moaned enough).

At least I'll always have the Justice League animated series.