Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) Review

Time: 242 Minutes
Age Rating:
Cast:
Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
Henry Cavill as Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman
Amy Adams as Lois Lane
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg
Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash
Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor
Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth
Diane Lane as Martha Kent
Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta
J.K. Simmons as James Gordon
Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf
Director: Zack Snyder

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlists newfound ally Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) to face an even greater threat. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to recruit a team to stand against this newly awakened enemy. Despite the formation of an unprecedented league of heroes — Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and the Flash (Ezra Miller) — it may be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League was one of my most anticipated films of 2021. A brief background for those who don’t already know, Zack Snyder was helming Justice League but after his daughter’s death, left the movie. Warner Bros then got Joss Whedon to finish the movie, and he made a lot of cuts, changes and reshoots, and the end product released in 2017 was nothing short of disastrous. Critics didn’t really like it, audiences weren’t liking it, and fans not only didn’t defend it, they also despised it. When reports that Snyder had a long cut of the movie emerged, a movement emerged wanting the seemingly mythical Snyder Cut to be released. Years went by and it didn’t seem like it would happen, I myself didn’t have faith it would happen. However, in 2020 it was announced that Snyder would be returning to restore his vision in all its glory. After much anticipation it’s finally here, and I’m happy to say that it blew away even my highest of expectations.

Throughout this review I’ll definitely reference the Whedon Cut plenty of times. Normally I’d just review the movie on its own, but that 2017 film makes it near impossible for me to do that. Also to make it a lot easier, I’ll refer to the 2017 Justice League movie as Josstice League, and this new Justice League movie as just Justice League. I think I should first address how both versions seem similar but how they actually aren’t, and address some misconceptions going in. Many detractors of the Snyder Cut have said that ultimately the new cut wouldn’t be that different and would basically be the same story. Yes, essentially Zack Snyder’s Justice League has the same story as Josstice League but only in the broadest of terms. The way that this story is told is so different. Aside from the tone, the length and more (which I’ll get into soon), the whole story is just developed a lot more, and the characters are fully realised. There is a lot more complexity to the story, and it’s a lot more interesting. It’s not the generic run of the mill superhero movie that Josstice League was, where the plot didn’t really matter and was just connecting one boring action scene to the next. There is plenty of room to breathe, and the pacing was steady enough that it wasn’t rushing, yet fast enough for me to be constantly invested in what is happening. There are so many scenes in this movie that weren’t seen in any of the prior trailers that it can actually be overwhelming, especially in the first 30 minutes. It’s not just that, even with the scenes that are in both versions, there are clear differences between them. There are literally scenes that have the same dialogue, but the versions in Josstice League were infinitely worse takes from the writing, directing to the acting and line deliveries. It gets to the point where it just feels like self-sabotage from Whedon. Even the footage that was purely Snyder’s that was also used in Josstice League feels a lot more in place and makes sense here. Additionally, some moments that were filmed by Snyder but no doubt was pushed onto him from WB are gone, an example being Batman’s “I heard you can talk to fish” line to Aquaman, which was in the very first teaser trailer. Just in general, you really feel this is Snyder with a lot more freedom. Despite the length, Snyder only filmed a couple of new scenes, everything else is his full cut from years ago, just fully restored with the CGI effects. With that said, he was able to change some aspects. For example, being able to change main villain Steppenwolf’s design from the generic tall guy in Josstice League, to his original and more superior design. Snyder even changed Superman’s red and blue suit to the black and grey suit, and while that is more of an easter egg and fanservice thing (it’s never addressed) it is fantastic to see on the screen.

The most daunting thing about this movie for most people is the runtime, with it being a colossal 4 hours long, broken into 6 chapters and an epilogue. Of course, if Snyder got to release his version of the movie in the first place without it being changed by Whedon or WB, he would definitely have to cut it down a lot. Nonetheless, the movie we have now is 4 hours long, and absolutely benefits from that runtime. It takes like half the movie for the League to be together as a group, and in that first half sets the scene for what’s to come, really building up a lot with the characters and backstories. I think a lot of people won’t be expecting the character driven approach that Snyder has with the story, with quieter moments, especially between characters (a good example being Cyborg). It’s definitely dark for sure, and the R rating does feel appropriate for the movie even outside of the violence. Lots of people die, and there’s a lot at stake for the characters, with hints of a dark future to potentially come. With that being said, it is lighter than Batman v Superman (as it was intended to be). It also has moments of levity and comedy but unlike Josstice League, these moments actually work well and feel sincere rather than trying too hard to be quippy and imitate the MCU. There is a great balance of the tones and while I know that some people disliked Snyder’s DC movies for being really dark, I think it’s light enough that general audiences would be more inclined towards it, while it still remaining true to itself. Not only that, beyond everything, it’s an immensely hopeful movie, and you really feel that from beginning to end especially from the main characters by the time they are together at the end as a team. Hearing how Warner Bros wanted to go in a ‘hopeful and optimistic’ direction with this movie years ago is astounding, considering that this movie is exactly that. Justice League is also quite possible the most epic comic book movie. Snyder goes heavy with the mythology, while effectively showing the humanity of these people with godlike abilities, really helping the Justice League stand on their own thing and distinct from The Avengers and Marvel. Everything has so much weight from an emotional level with the main characters, to the larger scale stakes regarding the fate of the world. It really is best described as being DC’s Lord of the Rings. There are some very thrilling and satisfying moments throughout, and the third act is a complete blast. There is an epilogue which ties everything together for the characters but also leaves plenty of room open for follow ups. Those teases are especially excruciating because I really do want to see where the story and characters would go next, though it seems like they won’t happen at this time.

The acting and characters are vastly improved for everyone in Justice League. Ben Affleck reprises his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman after the events of Batman v Superman. In this movie, Bruce’s faith is restored in humanity and is genuinely hopefully and optimistic as he assembles a team to combat the coming darkness, and it is a natural progression for this character. There’s particularly a brief exchange he has with Alfred later in the movie which just felt so perfect for his character and arc. Henry Cavill also reprises his role as Clark Kent/Superman, who begins the movie being dead after the events of Batman v Superman. Ultimately, he does serve a similar purpose as in Josstice League, but again is way better in every way here. Not only does he lack the very distracting CGI on his face and utter cheesiness and pseudo Christopher Reeve imitation that Whedon added, but it is also a much more genuine take on Superman. Yes, he’s both way more threatening and intimidating especially in the climax, but him returning as Superman was truly handled very well. Cavill has actually less lines than in Whedon’s cut, yet this take on Superman is way more powerful with less words. Gal Gadot also returns as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman and while her role in the film is quite similar in both versions, she is portrayed and acted much better here, and doesn’t have some of the more embarrassing additions from Whedon. Her action scenes particularly are fantastic, I really loved the way that Snyder directs Wonder Woman action.

There are three new Justice League members, and they are all pretty good. Jason Momoa is Arthur Curry/Aquaman, his role is pretty similar to the other movie but he’s thankfully a bit more serious than in the Whedon cut and isn’t making so many jokes. Additionally, we get a bit more of an arc for him and we get scenes with him and Mera (Amber Heard) and Vulko (Willem Dafoe) which further develops him as a character. In a way, Justice League makes Aquaman’s arc in his solo movie even better and more rewarding. Ezra Miller is Barry Allen/The Flash, in both versions he’s very much the comic relief, the difference is with Justice League, the jokes are actually funny and he doesn’t randomly rant about brunch or something. There’s also more emotional weight for him as a character. The scenes with Barry visiting his father in prison (played by Billy Crudup, who also gets to leave a much better impression here) aren’t just basic character backstory elements, but actually feel genuine and heartfelt. Also, the scenes that utilise his powers are fantastic, Josstice League had Flash run really fast, which is fine and all, but Snyder’s take on Flash is something truly special. Two scenes stand out particularly, one is the introduction scene for him (which is initself a great first scene for him), and the other is a strong candidate for the best scene in the whole movie. However, the highlight of the entire film is Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg. Zack Snyder has long said that Cyborg is the heart of the movie and he absolutely is. Of the newer Justice League characters, he gets the most time and development with Victor accepting who and what he is. He has a lot of character moments before he joins the League, and his arc is truly beautiful to watch. Fisher also performs his part fantastically, even when almost all of his body is covered in CGI, he leaves such an impression on screen. If nothing else, I hope this gets Ray Fisher the praise that he deserves (and hopefully will lead to more Cyborg in future DCEU films).

The rest of the cast are great too. Jeremy Irons, Amy Adams, Diane Lane and Connie Nielsen really do deliver greatly in reprising their respective roles and do even better here. Irons was great even in Josstice League but Amy Adams and Diane Lane deliver some great emotional work here, and Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta really gets more to do here. Some of the newer actors and characters actually have more impact on the plot, a chief example being Joe Morton as Cyborg’s father, who was just that in Josstice League but actually plays a notable part in the story in this cut. Then there’s even actors and characters here that weren’t in Josstice League with Willem Dafoe (who would reprise his role in Aquaman), Kirsten Clemens as Iris West (in Flash’s first scene) and Zheng Kai as Ryan Choi, all of whom are welcome additions to the movie. One of the main criticisms of Josstice League was the villain, that being Ciaran Hinds as Steppenwolf, with him being a very weak and generic antagonist with a terrible design. Hinds was among the first people to be openly disappointed with that theatrical cut and watching him here you can understand why. Steppenwolf is absolutely an incredible improvement here on many levels. While I wouldn’t class him as one of the best comic book villains or anything, he’s really effective here. First of all, he’s way more intimidating and scary in this, a large imposing force with a spikey armour exterior, he seems just impossible to kill especially during his action scenes. Not only that, he’s also actually got some motivations behind what he’s doing, and they are well set out. Something that the trailers for Justice League have really been pushing is that major DC villain Darkseid would be in this. He’s basically a cameo in this and a hint of things to potentially (or not potentially now) things to come. So don’t expect much of him, but he’s such a menacing presence when he’s on screen, and Ray Porter’s intimidating voice and performance makes him even more memorable.

Zack Snyder’s name is in the title of the movie, so of course we would get to him eventually in this review. This is undeniably a film from him, his style is all over this but like Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, makes each of his DCEU films feel distinct from one another. Something interesting is the 4:3 aspect ratio, I can get why some people would initially be turned off by this much like the long runtime. I will say that like many I was hoping for a much wider look to the movie. However it does add another unique aspect to this film over every other comic book movie. Also after a while you just get used to it, so just try to watch the movie on the biggest screen possible. The visual effects are great throughout, and the powers of the characters are showcased wonderfully, the highlight for me being Flash. The most shaky CGI is the new scenes that Snyder filmed, which is understandable. There are some other CGI moments which weren’t perfect, but for a 4 hour long blockbuster, that’s to be expected. Many of the designs are particularly great too, the main examples being the spikey armoured and intimidating Steppenwolf, and the ripped from the comic books look of Darkseid. The action is fantastic and might even rank amongst the best Snyder has done. You can see everything that’s happening on screen and it’s directed absolutely smoothly. It has an R rating for a reason, while it’s no Logan or Deadpool, it is more violent than the average comic book movie with dismemberments and blood and the like. However, it perfectly fits with the tone of the movie. The score by Junkie XL is fantastic and one of the standouts of the movie. It not just replacing Danny Elfman’s lackluster score, but every theme is distinct and fits the moment perfectly. I also love how he uses to previous DCEU themes to great effect here. I’ll also go ahead and say that the main Justice League theme is one of the best themes in a comic book.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is so many things. It’s a triumphant comic book epic (the most epic of the comic book epics), a vast improvement over the disastrous 2017 movie, and a complete vindication for Zack Snyder and everyone else who worked on the movie. The characters are beautifully realised, the story is operatic yet poignant and heartfelt, and it’s fantastically directed with a bold vision. It really does rank among the best that comic book movies can deliver. If you are a DC fan there’s going to be a lot here that you’ll love, especially if you are a fan of Snyder’s DC movies. Honestly even if you weren’t such huge fans of Snyder’s DC movies, I still think you might really like it, ironically the 4-hour long movie the most accessible of his trilogy. The only people I can’t recommend this movie to are people who just don’t like comic book movies altogether. I don’t know if there will be a continuation of this story, I certainly hope there will be or at the very least an acknowledgement of this movie over the Whedon cut. Whatever the case, I’m incredibly happy that this movie exists in itself, and is firmly one of my favourite experiences watching a movie for the first time.

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Justice League: Theatrical Cut (2017) Retrospective Review

Time: 120 Minutes
Age Rating: Violence
Cast:
Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
Henry Cavill as Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman
Amy Adams as Lois Lane
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash
Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg
Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth
Diane Lane as Martha Kent
Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta
J. K. Simmons as Commissioner James Gordon
Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf
Amber Heard as Mera
Joe Morton as Silas Stone
Director Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon

Fuelled by his restored faith in humanity, and inspired by Superman’s (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlists newfound ally Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) to face an even greater threat. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to recruit a team to stand against this newly-awakened enemy. Despite the formation of an unprecedented league of heroes in Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and the Flash (Ezra Miller), it may be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Note: Most of this review is written at a time when the Snyder Cut (or director’s cut) of Justice League wasn’t announced.

Justice League was my most anticipated film of 2017, and when I first watched it I was slightly disappointed at the results but I still enjoyed it. As time went by however, it really got worse, and I really needed a rewatch to be sure what my final thoughts on it were before I never see the movie again, it just took me a while to get around to that. Now I had been intending for this review to be released much later on but as it turns out, the Snyder Cut was announced to be coming in 2021, so there was no better time for my to release this review. The theatrical cut of Justice League isn’t one of the worst movies I’ve seen by any means, but it’s among the most crushingly disappointing ones, so much potential and talent cut down and thrown away, and the end product isn’t even fun in a so-bad-it’s-good way, it was just sad to think about.

To get this out of the way, for those who don’t know, during production director Zack Snyder was replaced by Joss Whedon, who would be filming the reshoot. While it was being said that Whedon would be directing pretty much as Snyder for some additional scenes, it really turned out to be an attempt to completely reshape the movie, with some very bad results. The story itself on paper sounds fine but it needed a lot more fleshing out, the final product at best reads like a very rough first draft. There’s a lot here that was very clearly cut out, and indeed I get the impression that they cut down the movie to its simplest form and reshot some of the scenes that remained. There are some moments where the characters just deliver so much explanatory exposition about everything, their current states, their origins, what they have to do and the like, all of that they just briefly mention and never talk about again. It’s like they’re compensating for all the scenes they cut out basically delivering the same points. From what I can tell, the movie was going to be longer and explore each of the characters a lot more, and tell their stories in a more naturalistic and less rushed way. WB seemed to want to brighten up Justice League quite a bit, and you can feel that throughout, everything feels off. It’s not just that Justice League has problems, the final product is very bland, it’s not even that entertaining or interesting. From the beginning it is already pretty rough, from that opening cell phone footage of Superman, to the Batman scene that just felt really off, it wasn’t starting off so well. Now the opening credits sequence set to “Everybody Knows” was legitimately good, but after that it reverts back to being not so good. The rest of Justice League until the climax jumps between having good moments and bad moments, but over time the movie just gets worse. The movie also doesn’t flat out doesn’t address things set up from Batman v Superman, most notably the Knightmare sequence. Even people who were confused by the significance of that scene might’ve been willing to wait for Justice League would bring it all full circle and give an explanation… but that was never addressed here.

I guess since I talked about the scenes that were removed, I should talk about the additional scenes that Joss Whedon inserted. Whedon seemed to want to add humour to everything, and it’s just unfortunate that the humour here is terrible. Fun fact, the first Batman scene where he uses a criminal to bait a Parademon, that was directed by Joss and was a somewhat okay directed scene. However, it was originally shot to be very comedic, and even WB had to come in and reign him in. Some of the dialogue and moments are so horrendous that I couldn’t believe it actually made it into the theatrical release. There is a scene with Martha Kent and Lois Lane, where Martha says that Clark called Lois the “thirstiest young woman he’s ever met”, somehow managing to be by far the worst line in the movie, and that’s saying a lot. There’s also a scene where Flash accidentally falls onto Diana’s breasts, and you know it’s a Whedon reshoot as it resembles that scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron where Mark Ruffalo falls on Scarlett Johansson in the same way. While I’m not a massive fan of Whedon, he’s done so much better in the past that it’s a little astounding that somehow almost everything new he added was bad. So many of the reshoots were also unnecessary. One was the first scene between Barry Allen and Bruce Wayne, that scene seemed to have largely played out the same way as the original, but for whatever reason at the end Barry starts going on this tangent about brunch or something, very clearly a reshoot so as to add a joke, and an unneeded one at that. Another instance was the random focusing on a Russian Family in the area the parademons are located (also the location of the climax), and I just have no idea why we kept seeing what was happening with them. It seemed like they were placed in the movie just so they could be there for The Flash and Superman to rescue on screen, but they really didn’t need to establish them this early on even if they wanted to do that.

This movie has such a large and talented cast, and most of them managed to be misused. There is a lot to talk about with the characters and actors, so I’ll start with the supporting cast. J.K. Simmons was a great pick for Jim Gordon, while I would’ve liked to have seen more of him, he served his purpose well enough. Shame we’ll never see him reprise his role. Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth is also once again a delight, despite all the changes that happened in the movie, I had no problem with him or the way he was utilised. Billy Crudup makes a brief appearance as Barry Allen’s father, his scene with Ezra Miller’s Barry early on is legitimately good, and I hope Crudup returns for The Flash movie. Connie Nielson also reprised her role as Hippolyta, Diana’s mother in one of the better scenes of the movie, while she’s like in only two scenes at most she did pretty well. The rest of the supporting cast had issues though. Zack Snyder in both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman (the Ultimate Edition at least) made Lois Lane, played by Amy Adams, a prominent part of the plot. With all the cutting done here though, all she’s left to do is to be there for Superman to see her, so that he could stop being crazy. Justice League is the debut of Mera, played by Amber Heard. While she wasn’t going to have a big role, it seems that they cut down scenes with her. The end result didn’t give Mera the best impression. Thankfully Aquaman gave audiences a much better impression of her, and showcased her a lot better. Ciaran Hinds plays the villain of Steppenwolf and a lot of people really thought he was terrible. I actually ended up liking Steppenwolf more than most people, I don’t think he’s one of the worst comic book movie villains like a lot of people found him. However, he’s not that good of a character or villain either. The thing is, outside of some cliché villain lines and some horrible CGI, the individual scenes with him aren’t bad. The problem is that all the development and depth with him is just missing. Hinds prior to the movie talked about how Steppenwolf was different as a villain, and he had a certain way of playing him. It’s not surprise that after the movie was released, he was unsatisfied with the end product, particularly with how pretty much all of his backstory was removed. There is something I realised while watching Justice League for the first time. Unless you are at least aware of some comic book knowledge about Steppenwolf, Darkseid, the parademons and Apokalips, you have no idea what’s happening with them. Steppenwolf at one point in one of his speeches says “for Darkseid” but the general audience doesn’t know who that it, or even necessarily that he’s referring to a person and not a planet or whatever. For all the exposition that the reshoots dump out, they never really gave them a solid explanation outside of a vague description.

I’ll talk about the League itself, from best to worst, in terms of who comes across the best. First of all Cyborg played by Ray Fisher was actually quite a surprise. Fisher added a lot with his performance, and the CGI on him didn’t distract too much (only occasionally). There was also his connection with his father Silas Stone, but it also seems like their scenes together were changed, maybe in an attempt to lighten the movie up. Like with a lot of the movie, he’s held back from much of his arc being removed from the movie. It’s a shame that I’m not sure if we’ll ever see him again on screen. Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman is also good, though at a lower level compared to her previous appearances. Jason Momoa’s Aquaman really doesn’t get much to do here, having some of the same problems as the rest of the league with their arcs not being fleshed out or their origins just briefly explained. I’m just glad that Momoa at least got his own movie to show off his potential. Ezra Miller is a very talented actor, but his Flash seemed to be really negatively affected by reshoots. Since Barry Allen seemed to be quite comedic for the movie to begin with, it seemed they leaned in heavy with this and made him even more hyper, comedic and over the top. As I said he did have a really good scene with Billy Crudup, and it was a genuinely heartfelt scene, so he can definitely work in the role. However for the most part, he’s reduced to just being the comedic relief, and I really hope his solo movie (if it ever gets released) shows him off a lot better.

Now for the two of the League that fare the worst, Batman and Superman. Zack Snyder and Chris Terrio were going to take Batman in a less dark direction compared to Batman v Superman and they even said this. It didn’t seem enough, as the reshoots seemed to redo a lot of his original scenes. Even though he wasn’t going to be as dark as he was in BvS, apparently Batman in this movie was originally supposed to be on like a suicide mission, so they had a strong intention of where to take him. WB and/or Joss Whedon however didn’t just trim off some edginess or darkness, they flat out removed almost all of it. What we are left with is a Batman that is not dark at all. He’s not quite George Clooney Batman but he’s definitely in Val Kilmer territory, but actually he’s worse because even Kilmer’s version at least acknowledged that Bruce Wayne was quite a dark individual. Going from BvS to this, he just feels very off. Affleck in the Snyder footage looks like he’s playing his part fine enough. In the Whedon footage however, he either looks like Ben Affleck playing himself saying the lines or just looked really unhappy and doesn’t want to be there (which is very likely the case). Honestly the way he sometimes acts in some of the reshoots is like he’s acting in a Late Night Talk Show skit for Justice League, rather than the actual movie itself. It was a real shame that this would be the last time we’ll be seeing him as Batman.

Henry Cavill’s Superman is really divisive but I really liked him in the previous films. Justice League’s Superman annoyed me even when I first watched it, and that’s still the case now. Now I should get something out of the way, my primary issues have got nothing to do with the CGI on Henry Cavill’s face. Honestly, I’d rather Snyder’s Superman with a weird CGI face than the Superman we got with the face looking fine. It’s pretty clear that WB removed almost all of Snyder’s footage of Superman, I’m pretty sure there’s like 2 scenes of Snyder’s Superman, and that’s not even including the two deleted scenes. This doesn’t just feel like an attempt at being like Christopher Reeve’s Superman, this flat out feels like a mockery of that version, being overly cartoonishly cheesy and silly. I know a lot of people thought his past two movies that he was stiff, but he felt more human and grounded in those movies. However, I didn’t like him here, he seemed so unnatural and forced, he seemed like what many haters of the Superman character think he’s like. Even the Superman on the Supergirl tv shows fared better. In short, he’s pretty much the Superman that some of the detractors of Snyder’s Superman wanted him to be, happy, quippy, with no conflict and with not much personality or character beyond that whatsoever. Also on a lesser but still disappointing note, when it comes to showcasing his powers, he doesn’t seem like he’s directed by Snyder, you don’t really feel the weight of his power, he comes across as a little more cartoonish. Last point about this Superman, at the end of the movie he pretty much saves everything. The whole thing about the League is that all of them are needed to come together. It seems that originally Superman would be the last necessary addition to the team that’s enough to stop Steppenwolf and save the world. However with this Superman, he probably would’ve been able to solve everything himself. This makes the tagline of one of the posters “You can’t save the world alone” rather silly looking back at it. Maybe the saddest part about all of this is that despite all the changes made to Superman here, it’s still not enough to get people on board with Cavill’s version, I’m not even sure if we’ll see his Superman on the big screen again in any format.

You can blatantly see the differences between Zack Snyder’s direction and Joss Whedon’s direction on screen at many points. Some of the action was pretty good, but other aspects of the direction held it back a little. In terms of the best sequences, one of them was seeing the Amazons fight against Steppenwolf. Even though the Steppenwolf CGI looked iffy, it showed off both his power and the Amazons skills. Also the flashback showing mankind, Amazonians and Atlantians fighting against Steppenwolf, even though it was brief and no doubt cut a lot of things, was good to see. I did like seeing certain things on screen, like I liked the way they showed off The Flash with his speed.

The CGI goes from looking actually pretty good, to looking so incredibly awful, the look of the movie was inconsistent. Even at its best, there was always something off, like they deliberately tried to brighten up the look of the movie. An example was the fight between the Justice League and Superman, the way the background looked and the windows particularly really did seem like it took place at night but they just brightened everything up. I would also bring up the moustache debacle with Henry Cavill but it’s been talked to death so I won’t bother. Its far from the film’s biggest problems. Despite some of the CGI not looking so good in the first two acts, it’s the third act where it takes a massive downgrade and looks downright ugly. There are glimpses from the trailers of the third act that made it into the movie, and they didn’t have this horrible red filter over everything, it only looked dark. If it the previous acts didn’t make Justice League a disaster, the climax certainly made it. It is worth noting that this is one of the most expensive movies ever made, that money didn’t seem to have gone to good use. The third act apparently was almost entirely reshot and looking at the results, it definitely looked that way. If they really wanted to have extensive reshoots, and changing pre-existing scenes, they should’ve moved the movie back many months, that way that would give them enough time to do all the reshoots and also have enough time to get the effects all under control. But alas, instead we get an incredibly rushed film. I was one of the only people leading up to its release rooting for Danny Elfman to deliver a good score for Justice League after replacing Junkie XL but I was completely disappointed in it. Even if the movie wouldn’t necessarily be made better by it, it could’ve at least elevated the movie but it’s so generic. Elfman when it came to his score talked about how he’s using John Williams’s Superman theme and his own theme for Batman, and they do make an appearance in the movie at brief moments. Unlike some people I don’t necessarily have a problem with that, the problem is that his score literally doesn’t have anything else to offer. It probably would’ve been better if he literally just took the score from his Batman and Donner’s Superman and just played it because at least they’d be more memorable than whatever he was trying to make here. It is worth noting that Elfman also straight up ripped off the theme of The Flash from the tv series The Flash on the CW, it’s so incredibly lazy. Also what Elfman did with Wonder Woman’s theme, especially in her introduction in the Bank scene, is absolutely atrocious. It’s like someone was parodying Wonder Woman and made some incredibly basic theme to somewhat resemble it.

Now I think some people are wondering about how good the movie could be had it all been under Snyder. I’m of the mind that Snyder’s version would’ve been a lot better, but even a complete Joss Whedon Justice League movie would’ve been better than what we got here. You can feel this real laziness when it comes to some of the reshoots by Joss, and I feel like even he wasn’t satisfied with his work here. I’m not saying that everything Zack would’ve done with the movie would’ve been gold or anything. Originally this movie was going to be in two parts, but the first part would end by having Darkseid kill Lois and setting the chain of events in the Knightmare timeline, seemingly setting the stage for Part 2 to be something like Avengers: Endgame. While that idea is bold, it’s understandable why WB weren’t so hot on it, and Snyder and Terrio compromised for a straight forward Justice League, however one that was worldbuilding, expansive and epic. From the leaks and unfinished footage that we got, it would’ve at least been a lot more interesting. That said, now we know that the much desired Snyder Cut is coming to HBO Max. Not only will it be all from the original director, he’ll be releasing it much more of it, around 4 hours as opposed to the length that he’d no doubt have to cut it down to if the final theatrical cut was his. I won’t go into too much depth about what will be in this new version here, but essentially Zack and a post production crew will finish off his cut, and will shoot some additional scenes. Snyder had said that what made it into the theatrical cut was like 25% his, and that this new cut will be a completely different experience, and I don’t doubt that.

The theatrical cut of Justice League is one of the most disappointing movies I have ever watched. It’s by no means one of the worst comic book movies ever made, but it is so incredibly lacklustre. However the Snyder Cut turns out, I don’t know if we’ll be getting any future Justice League movies, for a while at least, and it led to a number of negative things happening with the DCEU. Actors leaving, characters probably not going to appear again on screen again, and so many changes made. If anything can come from this, hopefully WB has learnt their lesson of not cutting and interfering, but then again that’s what I thought Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad would’ve taught them. I can’t even muster up any hate for this movie, it’s just disappointing and sad to watch and think about. With that being said, I don’t see the upcoming the Snyder Cut not being supremely better and at least make Zack Snyder’s DCEU trilogy feel complete and satisfying.

Justice League (2017) Review

Time: 121 Minutes
Age Rating:
Cast
Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
Henry Cavill as Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman
Amy Adams as Lois Lane
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/Flash
Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg
Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth
Diane Lane as Martha Kent
Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta
J. K. Simmons as James Gordon
Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf
Director: Zack Snyder

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlists newfound ally Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) to face an even greater threat. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to recruit a team to stand against this newly awakened enemy. Despite the formation of an unprecedented league of heroes — Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and the Flash (Ezra Miller) – it may be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League was my most anticipated movie of 2017. While it’s proven to be very divisive, I really like the DCEU. I loved Batman v Superman, I loved Man of Steel, and I liked Wonder Woman (and Suicide Squad is a guilty pleasure at best). Naturally I was excited to see everything come together with this talented cast, director Zack Snyder and writer Chris Terrio. There were some bumps along the way, with the reshoots being filmed by Joss Whedon instead of Snyder, as he was dealing with a tragedy. Nonethless, I was still incredibly hyped to see the end result. So did Justice League live up to expectations? For the most part yes.

This movie is noticeable shorter than the other DCEU films, they are usually at least 2 hours and 20 minutes long. However Justice League is 2 hours long, even Suicide Squad is longer. Justice League really does need an extended/director’s cut (it seems that Warner Bros hasn’t learnt their lessons from Batman v Superman and has yet again ditched the superior version in favour of a shorter and lesser version for the theatrical release). It really needed a longer runtime, especially with the first act. There are a significant number of scenes in the trailer which are missing from the movie. I think what makes me look over some of the issues is that this movie is quite straightforward, that was the plan and I’m not upset about that. Even if there might’ve been some changes made, its clear from what Snyder and Terrio said even before the release of Batman v Superman, that Justice League would be lighter and more straightforward. It’s a simple save the world comic book movie, and I think that overall Justice League did that well enough. I also had a lot of fun with it, if you are a big DC fan there will be some stuff here that you will really love. There are also two credits scenes that I liked, particularly the second one, and I’m curious as to what this will mean for the future of the DCEU.

The cut scenes weren’t the only issue with Justice League. Most of the jokes worked, some of them didn’t. There are also some lines which don’t fit in, some of them were downright cringeworthy. There was particularly one line in the third act which really frustrated me, I have no idea if Joss Whedon wrote it or not, but either way that was one of the worst moments of the film. Something that needs addressing is Joss Whedon’s reshoots, there are at times you can tell when its his writing. Again with the dialogue, some of it didn’t work and I can tell that a lot of it is his dialogue. I know that it seems like I dislike this movie but its not the case. It was very entertaining and I loved seeing these characters together. Its just that the negatives really stand out.

The team dynamic was one of the best parts of the film, which is good because its one of the most important parts that the film needed to get right. Most of the characters get a good arc. Ben Affleck’s Batman has changed since the events of Batman v Superman, clearly affected by Superman’s sacrifice, he is filled with hope and this is a good continuation of his arc from Batman v Superman. Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman continues to be great, continuing on from Wonder Woman and Batman v Superman. The newcomers were all good as well. Ezra Miller’s Flash is a stand out and is the more comic relief out of the group. Ray Fisher’s Cyborg actually worked really well, I’d love to see his story continued in future movies. Jason Momoa’s Aquaman doesn’t stand out as much among the main cast but he was still really good, and I can’t wait for his solo film next year. In fact I can’t wait to see more of all of them. As for Henry Cavill’s Superman, I can’t go into too much depth in case I spoil anything. So I’ll do my best to keep it vague. I’m not quite sure what to make of this version of the character, it was quite different to the version we saw in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman and it was really jarring. I just hope Man of Steel 2 handles Superman a lot stronger. The supporting cast with Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, J.K. Simmons and others were pretty good. The main villain of the film is Steppenwolf, who is motion captured by Ciaran Hinds. I actually don’t think he’s that bad of a villain, he works as a physical threat against the Justice League. However he could’ve used just a little bit of backstory, it is possible that it was cut. The CGI on him for the most part was fine, but the effects on his face needed more work.

The action was filmed very well and stylistically. At times the visuals are downright beautiful. Most of the visual effects are good, but there are times where it did look off, at times it looked really bad. I’m not sure why this happened. Throughout the film at times you can clearly see that there are some reshoots, for example there are some moments when some out of place green screen is behind characters. There are also some scenes that don’t appear in the trailers but there are also different takes that were used for some unknown reason. After scoring Man of Steel and Batman v Superman Hans Zimmer decided not to do Justice League, and Junkie XL was booted off the film when Joss Whedon stepped in for the reshoots. Instead we got Danny Elfman filling in and while everyone was bagging on him, I was willing to give him a chance. After watching Justice League it made me want Danny Elfman to never get hired to score a film ever again. It was so forgettable and didn’t add anything. However, it’s not just that it feels generic, it straight up doesn’t fit with the movie. There are a lot of comic book movie scores which are forgettable but at least it fits in the movie. It makes a lot of the scenes feel underwhelming and deflates it. His score honestly took away a lot of the impact of the scenes. It would’ve worked for a Tim Burton Justice League but not with a Zack Snyder Justice League. There is one hint of Hans Zimmer’s score, but it only makes the rest of the score look inferior. Yes, its nice to hear hints of Reeve’s Superman theme and Tim Burton’s Batman theme but it’s not enough to make the score good. The score unfortunately took away some of the enjoyment of the scenes.

Overall this film does do what it set out to do. I had fun with it, the team dynamic is great, the actors are great, the action is entertaining, I really liked it. There are a lot of issues I had with it, I think that the cutting of the scenes, the reshoots done by Joss Whedon and the score by Danny Elfman (yes, it affected the film experience that much) are probably the stand outs. Although I have commented a lot about the issues, I must stress that I still consider Justice League to be good, I had a lot of fun with it and I recommend at least checking it out. It’s just that there are some aspects that could’ve been better, and I honestly think that Joss Whedon had a large part of some of the problems, the best parts of this movie are clearly Zack’s stuff. After Justice League, I wanna see more movies with these characters, and I think that is something that this film achieves at the very least.

Top 25 Anticipated Movies of 2017

While I’m working on catching up on some 2016 movies, I decided to make a list of the 2017 movies that I’m most looking forward to. There are movies that I’m really looking forward to. Now I don’t know of every movie coming out this year so if you’ve noticed that a movie is missing, it might be because I don’t know about it. Either that or I’m not that excited for that movie.

25. Beauty and the Beast

Yet another Disney film is being made into a live action movie.. While it’s annoying that there is more of these (The Lion King will be a live action movie to my disappointment), I liked what they did with Tarzan and The Jungle Book. So we’ll see what this movie will be like.

Belle (Emma Watson), a bright, beautiful and independent young woman, is taken prisoner by a beast (Dan Stevens) in its castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the beast’s hideous exterior, allowing her to recognise the kind heart and soul of the true prince that hides on the inside.

This movie has a large and talented cast with Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor all involved. The director, Bill Condon, has made many great movies that I haven’t seen with Gods and Monsters, Kinsey and Dreamgirls but I have seen Mr Holmes. This director is clearly capable of making a great movie. So I’ll give this movie a shot.

Beauty and the Beast will be released on March 16, 2017.

24. Ghost in the Shell

I admit I’ve never watched the Ghost in the Shell anime. However I do know that apparently its great. Honestly the movie didn’t interest me that much until I saw the trailer. After the trailer, I’m now curious and interested in checking this movie out.

The Major (Scarlett Johansson), a special ops, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, leads an elite task force known as Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 is faced with an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic’s advancements in cyber technology.

Rupert Sanders also directed Snow White and the Huntsman (which I haven’t seen) so I don’t really have a clear idea how the movie will be. However the main takeway I got from the trailer was some incredible visuals. That’s the main reason I’m interested in this movie, along with it being an adaptation of a great anime. The one problem that this film faces is the casting of Scarlett Johansson as the lead, which caused problems with whitewashing and all (understandably) and this is going to probably affect the success of the movie. Which is a shame because everything else looks excellent. However, I will give this film a shot.

Ghost in the Shell will be released on March 30, 2017.

23. God Particle

Despite being titled God Particle, it is part of the Cloverfield trilogy which for whatever reason don’t really connect to each other but they actually might. However I’m not interested in the movie because of the connection (I haven’t seen Cloverfield yet), I’m interested because of the premise and the cast, also JJ Abrams is producing this movie.

Astronauts must fight for their lives after making a terrifying discovery in outer space.

I have no idea how this movie will connect to Cloverfield or 10 Cloverfield Lane. However either way I’m sure this movie will be great on its own. I just hope the ‘terrifying discovery’ is a twist that pays off. This movie also stars Elizabeth Debicki, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Daniel Bruhl, David Oyelowo and many more talented actors. The director, Julius Onah, is someone who haven’t done many movies but then again that’s the case with 10 Cloverfield Lane, so that doesn’t really concern me. Overall God Particle is a movie I’m curious about and can’t wait to see it.

God Particle will be released on November 30, 2017.

22. The Lego Batman Movie

I really liked The Lego Movie, it was such a surprising movie. One of the highlights was Batman and of course as he’s such a big character it was natural that he would get his own movie. Now that you have Batman and other DC characters that can be thrown in, there is a lot of possibilities for this movie to be entertaining and fun.

There are big changes brewing in Gotham, but if Batman (Will Arnett) wants to save the city from the Joker’s (Zach Galifianakis) hostile takeover, he may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up.

I do hope that The Lego Batman Movie feels different enough from The Lego Movie but that can be done easily. It’s mostly surrounding characters that have already been created, just in Lego form. I have no doubt that this will be a really fun and enjoyable movie. There’s honestly not much to say. It’s Batman. And Lego. Lego Batman.

The Lego Batman Movie will be released on March 30, 2017.

21. Kong Skull Island

Kong: Skull Island is in the same universe as Godzilla, a movie that although divisive, I really liked. Now with Skull Island this movie will introduce Kong into the universe, and he looks like he’s going to be an absolute beast in this movie.

Explorers (Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson) encounter a monstrous ape after traveling to an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean.

This is yet another monster movie and yet another Kong movie. This movie also has some pretty good actors with Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Toby Kebbell and Samuel L. Jackson all playing parts. From the trailer the movie has some potential. I’m most looking forward to seeing Kong in action. The one thing I’m not so sure about is the tone of the movie, because the first trailer and the second trailer have completely different tones. Other than that, I’m interested in checking out this movie.

Kong: Skull Island will be released on March 9, 2017.

20. A Ghost Story

A Ghost Story is a smaller movie which has me curious. With Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck, as well as the director and premise, this movie is quite intriguing to me. It’s only been announced a few months ago and as pictures and details have come out, my interest in this movie has escalated.

This is the story of a ghost and the house he haunts.

It has a simple premise but the fact that its got some great talent behind it has me on board to see what it is. This movie has the talents of Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck, who also collaborated with the director on Ain’t them Bodies Saints a few years ago. This film is directed by David Lowery, who directed Pete’s Dragon (A good movie) and Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (a movie I still really need to see). From early reviews, it’s a very unique movie, I can’t wait to see it.

A Ghost Story will be released in 2017.

19. War for the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a surprisingly good reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes however took the franchise to a new level. Now the third instalment of the Apes franchise is coming and like the previous film, it’s probably going to be a hit.

Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless colonel (Woody Harrelson). After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both of their species and the future of the planet.

Andy Serkis is flawless in his motion capture performances, and is no doubt going to deliver yet another fantastic performance here, just like he did in the previous two films as Caesar. Woody Harrelson is also great, and will likely add a lot to the film. The trailer for the movie definitely looks impressive. Director Matt Reeves (who directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) returns for the sequel. This film seems like it may somehow top even the previous movie. I can’t wait to see it.

War for the Planet of the Apes will be released on July 13, 2017.

18. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2

Guardians of The Galaxy was one of the biggest surprises in recent years. It was just such a different and fun movie that was really entertaining. So naturally me and many people are looking forward to the sequel. I have no idea what the film will be about but I’m sure it will be great.

The one thing that I’m worried about however is how this film will compare to the original. While it will definitely have the things that we loved from the previous movie (as shown in the trailers), I also want to add and try something new from the original. Kurt Russell and Elizabeth Debicki join the returning cast, both are very talented and I can’t wait to see them in this movie. Overall I’m excited to see Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, I’m certain it will be at the very least a fun time.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 will be released on April 25, 2017.

17. The Snowman

The Snowman is a movie I only found out about recently but I think it has a chance at being one of the highlights of 2017. With the cast, director and premise, this movie definitely has a lot of potential.

A boy finds his missing mother’s pink scarf wrapped around the neck of a sinister-looking snowman. Detective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) is called in to investigate and begins to suspect it’s the work of a serial killer.

This movie has a big cast with Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Val Kilmer, Toby Jones and J.K. Simmons and others involved. That amount of talent got my attention alone. Also the director, Tomas Alfredson, made Let the Right One In and Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy (the former I still have yet to watch). Clearly this director is very capable. So we’ve got an interesting premise, a talented cast and a great director. The Snowman is definitely a movie that I’m curious about.

The Snowman will be released on October 13, 2017.

16. The Discovery

What originally caught my attention with this movie is the talented cast involved. As information about this movie came out, The Discovery seemed like something truly unique. By the time the trailer came out, I was sold on this movie, and is now one of my most anticipated films of the year.

Soon after the existence of the afterlife has been scientifically proven, the son (Jason Segal) of the man who made the discovery (Robert Redford) falls in love with a woman (Rooney Mara) with a tragic past.

The film’s cast consists of actors like Rooney Mara, Jason Segal and Robert Redford, that alone has my interest. On top of that, the premise of this movie, about discovering that the afterlife is real and the aftermath of this discovery is such a fascinating idea, there’s a lot that can be done with this premise. The trailer was very… unique. It seems like such a different movie that I need to see it. This movie will be arriving on Netflix in late March and you can bet that I’ll be watching that as soon as I can. I really can’t wait to see this movie.

The Discovery will be released in March 31, 2017 on Netflix.

15. Mary Magdalene

Normally I’m not interested in biblical stories, however both the cast’s involvement as well as the director got me interested in this movie. This film will have Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix and Chiwetel Ejiofor. This film is also directed by Garth Davis (who also worked with Rooney on 2016’s Lion). There’s a lot of talent involved and that makes me intrigued to see what this movie is like.

The story of Mary Magdalene (Rooney Mara).

Garth Davis had previously worked on Lion, which was from what I heard was a great movie. So that already has me curious in checking out the Mary Magdalene movie. Also as I previously mentioned, the cast is excellent. We’ve got Rooney Mara as Mary Magdalene, Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus Christ and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peter. All of these are very talented actors. As I said, the story didn’t initially interest me but to see all these talented people involved makes me interested in checking out this movie.

Mary Magdalene will be released in 2017.

14. Thor Ragnarok

Thor Ragnarok is a movie that I am still divided about. It has a lot of potential with the new cast and the director, Taika Waititi, I like Thor. I’ve also liked all the MCU movies so far. There are just aspects of the story details which turn me off. I’m certain I will like Thor Ragnarok, but I have no idea how much I’ll like it.

Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok – the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization – at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger – the Incredible Hulk.

Along with returning cast (with Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Anthony Hopkins), this film also has Tessa Thompson, Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban and Jeff Goldblum (with the latter three as villains, hopefully not wasted). Also, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk is confirmed to play a part in this movie, so that’s exciting as well. An interesting choice was made for this film, Taika Waititi. He is a very talented director and writer, Hunt for the Wilderpeople definitely showed that he’s great. One thing that’s also already looking up is that the comedic relief human characters from the first two Thor films aren’t here, so even if this movie is just funny, it will actually be funny. Thor Ragnarok has a lot of very unique ideas, and I’m looking forward to seeing how well these ideas are executed.

Thor Ragnarok will be released on November 3, 2017.

13. Split

M Night Shyamalan has unfortunately made a lot of bad films recently, with The Happening, The Last Airbender and After Earth. He however made a comeback recently with The Visit so I’m optimistic that he will have another great movie with Split. And according to many of the people who have seen Split already, it’s really good, so I can’t wait to see it.

A man (James McAvoy) who has multiple personality disorder holds three teenage girls captive.

Aside from Shyamalan the main reason I’m so excited for this movie is James McAvoy. He is a fantastic actor, and he’s taking on such a challenging role, playing someone with multiple personalities. And yes, some people have managed to see Split already and most of the people really like it. Even the people who didn’t like the movie, at least loved McAvoy’s performance. This movie has a lot of potential, I can’t wait to see it.

Split will be released on February 2, 2017

12. Blade Runner 2049

I’ll admit that while I liked parts of the first Blade Runner I never really loved it. I might need to rewatch it, see if my opinion on the movie changes. Despite not being the hugest fan of Blade Runner, I’m still excited to see its sequel, mostly due to director Denis Villeneuve being the director of the film, and I’m always interested in whatever films he makes.

Officer K (Ryan Gosling), a new blade runner for the Los Angeles Police Department, unearths a long buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. His Discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former blade runner who’s been missing for 30 years.

Denis Villienueve is one of the best directors working today. He’s made some fantastic films with Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario and Arrival, so naturally I’m excited to see him take on the sequel of such a classic movie. Also, along with Harrison Ford returning to his role we have Ryan Gosling also involved, Gosling has been doing great recently with both La La Land and The Nice Guys last year, I can’t wait to see him here. From the trailer alone this film looks excellent, the imagery looks great, Denis Villeneuve’s films always look great and it looks like Blade Runner 2049 is no different. I can’t wait to see Blade Runner 2049, it looks like it’s going to be one of the stand out films of 2017.

Blade Runner 2049 will be released on October 5, 2017.

11. Song to Song

Originally titled Weightless, Song to Song is yet another ambitious film from unconventional filmmakers Terrence Malick. I will confess, I haven’t seen a Terrence Malick film before but from what I’ve heard he’s a great filmmaker, if divisive at times. The cast alone has me interested, with Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender and Natalie Portman all playing parts in the movie.

In this modern love story set against the Austin, TX music scene, two entangled couples – struggling songwriters Faye (Rooney Mara) & BV (Ryan Gosling), and music mogul Cook (Michael Fassbender) and the waitress whom he ensnares (Natalie Portman) – chase success through a rock ‘n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal.

As I said earlier I haven’t seen any films from Terrence Malick, so the cast is honestly the main reason that I’m interested in the movie. I can’t wait to see all these talented actors on screen at the same time. I’ve heard that Terrence Malick can be a bit divisive with his films, I saw a little bit of Knight of Cups and it was a bit unconventional to say the least. So I have no idea what Song to Song will be like. Despite this, I’m still really looking forward to see this movie, if only for the cast.

Song to Song will be released on March 17, 2017.

10. John Wick Chapter Two

2014’s John Wick was one of the year’s best surprises, not only was it Keanu Reeves’s best performance (and in my opinion his best movie), it was also a very fun movie with a great world that I would like to be explored more. And with John Wick Chapter 2, it looks like we’ll be getting that.

Legendary hitman John Wick is forced back out of retirement by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins’ guild. Bound by a blood oath to help him, John travels to Rome where he squares off against some of the world’s deadliest killers.

Thankfully, one of the two John Wick directors Chad Stahelski (the other is David Leitch who is instead working on The Coldest City) is returning for the sequel, one of the best aspects of that original film is how the action was done. Instead of a lot of shaky cam, close up shots and fast cuts to create their action like a lot of modern action movies use, they let us to actually see the action unfold, allowing us to get more into it. Common is playing the villain, and he was effective as a villain in Run All Night (even though he could’ve been used more), so I think he will be quite effective here. Oh and also, Laurence Fishburne is involved with this movie. That’s always great. I sure do hope that it lives up to the previous movie, the only possible way that I think this film could be flawed is that only one of the director is returning, we can only hope that one of the directors can deliver the same amount (if not more) as the previous film. The trailer definitely looks like we’ll be getting a fun movie, so I’m hyped.

John Wick: Chapter Two will be released in 2017

9. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Misouri

Most of you won’t know what this movie even is. It’s the next film by Martin McDonagh who has created In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, both fantastic movies (definitely check them out when you can). So naturally, I am extremely excited to see yet another movie from him.

A vigilante mother takes matters into her own hands as she searches for her daughter’s murderer. Fueled by fury, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) erects three provocative highway signs to catch the eye of the town’s revered Chief of Police Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), who has made few inroads finding a culprit. Hoping the incendiary messages spur Willoughby’s unprincipled protégé Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell) into action, Mildred ignites a firestorm in the community as the police force evades charges of racism and corruption.

The cast with Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell and Peter Dinklage is enough to get me interested in this movie but what got my interest in this movie in the first place was Martin McDonagh’s involvement. We can expect this movie to be hilarious, dark, violent, entertaining and overall just fantastically written. With the director/writer and the cast involved, this movie is likely going to be great.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Misouri will be released in 2017.

8. Kingman: The Golden Circle

Kingsman: The Secret Service was such a great and fun movie, it was such a pleasant surprise film in 2015. Matthew Vaughn and his talented cast return for the sequel, which will hopefully be just as great as the previous film. It definitely has a lot of potential.

Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong), two British spies, travel to the United States to join forces with their American counterparts.

Matthew Vaughn is a fantastic director with films like Kick Ass, X-Men First Class, Layer Cake and the first Kingsman, so I expect that this movie will be great. My thing is like with Guardians of the Glaxy Volume 2, I just hope that it does something new to separate it from the previous movie, while giving us what we loved from the previous movie. In the sequel we also have Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum, Julianne Moore, Halle Berry and Pedro Pascal joining the cast. All of them are very talented and so I’m excited to see them in Kingsman.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle will be released on September 28, 2017

7. The Disaster Artist

The Disaster Artist is the story behind The Room, one of the worst movies of all time. I have seen The Room and actually reviewed it (and I loved the movie for how terrible it is). This movie is based off the book of the same name by Greg Sestero, actor from The Room and friend of Tommy Wiseau, the star, writer, producer and director of The Room. I myself have read the book, and was fascinated in how the making of the film went. This adaptation has the potential to be a modern day Ed Wood.

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room (2003).

The Disaster Artist has a great cast, with James Franco as Tommy Wiseau, Dave Franco as Greg Sestero as well as Josh Hutcherson, Seth Rogen and Zac Efron and others playing real life people who worked on The Room. From the set photos, the actors even looked like the characters/people, so I think that they are doing it right. I think my biggest concern is how Franco can portray Tommy. Look at any clips of The Room, Wiseau acts a certain way and it’s hard to act like Tommy Wiseau without making it look like an imitation. Franco also has to nail the inner emotions of Tommy, as there are moments in the book where there are moments where that happens. I’ve been hearing about this movie for a while and seeing it finally get made is really exciting.

The Disaster Artist will be released in 2017.

6. Alien Covenant

The Prometheus sequel (I know it’s confusing with the Alien title) is directed by Ridley Scott. I was a little sceptical because Ridley Scott nowadays can be inconsistent with his recent films. However he just delivered the great film The Martian, and I also loved Prometheus (even though most people don’t). But what brought me over to make me excited for this movie was the trailer. It was… not what I was expecting.

Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers a dark world whose sole inhabitant is David (Michael Fassbender), the synthetic survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

The trailer shows that the film will be straight up horror as well as unflinching and very violent and gory. It also shows some Xenomorphs (or early stages of Xenomorphs) and that’s always nice to see. Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender return from the previous film and other actors like Katheryn Waterson, Demian Bichir and Danny McBride are also part of the film. Before the trailer, I had no idea how this film will turn out but now I am excited for it and I’m completely on board.

Alien: Covenant will be released on May 19, 2017.

5. Wonder Woman

Despite the divisive response to Batman v Superman, one thing that most people liked was Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, she really was something special in that movie. And from everything I’ve seen in this movie, her solo movie looks great.

After leaving her all-female island, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) discovers her full powers and true destiny while fighting alongside soldiers during World War I.

This film looks dark and like a war movie and I love that setting. Director Patty Jenkins directs this film and if you’ve seen Monster, you know that she is a great director. Gal Gadot stole the show in Batman v Superman and I look forward to seeing her lead her own film. The supporting cast with talented actors like Chris Pine and Robin Wright is great. In terms of possible fears, it’s just Warner Bros interfering with the film. As it’s a standalone movie and not tieing into anything (as it’s a prequel), I have a feeling that it won’t be affected. Also not to mention the more positive reception to Batman v Superman’s Ultimate Edition and the criticism of the missing Suicide Squad scenes should’ve altered Warner Bros. But we’ll have to see what happens. Anyway, I can’t wait to see this movie.

Wonder Woman will be released on June 2, 2017.

4. Logan

This movie is one of my biggest worries of 2017. It’s not that I don’t think it will be a great movie, it’s just that it’s the kind of film that needs to be perfect. This is the last time we’ll see Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Patrick Stewart as Professor X. This movie
needs to be a good sendoff to these two actors in their characters. With that said, based on the trailer alone this film looks excellent.

In 2024, mutant births are severely in decline, and people aren’t sure why. A government-type operation is turning mutant children into killing machines. From this, Logan (Hugh Jackman) emerges as a mentor to a mutant girl (Dafne Keen), who has two claws instead of his three.

James Mangold (director of The Wolverine) returns to direct the final Wolverine film. The Wolverine was a film I liked quite a bit but with Logan the trailer have made it look on a whole other level. So in this movie we have Wolverine, Professor X, X-23 and others. The first trailer alone had me sold, it looks dark, sad and nothing like any comic book movie we’ve ever seen before. It was the best trailer released in 2016 (the second trailer is also good as well). Logan definitely has the potential to be the best comic book movie of 2017.

Logan will be released on March 2, 2017.

3. Dunkirk

Dunkirk is another film from Christopher Nolan. That’s almost all that really needs to be said. There’s not one movie that he’s made that I haven’t called at the very least ‘great’. This time he is taking on a war movie, a true life story. I have no doubt that this film will be amazing based on the talent involved and the trailer.

British forces embark on a mission to evacuate Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, in 1940.

Nolan has made a very wide range of types of films, I can’t wait to see how he does a war movie. From the trailer alone it looks amazing. The cast is also great with Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh and others involved. If there’s any possible weak link it’s the questionable choice of having Harry Styles in the movie. However if Christopher Nolan cast him, he must’ve had a good reason. I’m sure Styles will do fine. Overall Dunkirk looks like it will be a great film and one of the highlights of 2017 and I can’t wait to see it.

Dunkirk will be released on July 21, 2017.

2. Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi

This film was a no-brainer on my list. I loved what JJ Abrams did with The Force Awakens. Now Rian Johnson is in charge of handling the sequel. He impressed me with 2012’s Looper and I can just tell that I will love Episode 8.

We don’t know a huge amount of the plot of Star Wars Episode 8 thus far, or anything really. Not even a teaser of sorts have been revealed. Just the title recently. But I’m actually okay with that. I loved The Force Awakens, so I’ll probably feel the same about Episode 8. Also, I like it when bigger films are more secretive about their movies. What we do know is that Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern have joined the cast, both are great so I’m interested to see what part they will play in the movie. I’m looking forward to Star Wars Episode 8 a great deal, it’s hard not to be, it’s Star Wars.

Star Wars Episode 8 will be released on December 15, 2017.

1. Justice League

Despite all the mixed reception towards the DCEU, it has done nothing to dampen my excitement for the future films. I loved Man of Steel and Batman v Superman and I liked Suicide Squad (despite it’s many flaws. The second 2017 DCEU film will be the first time we’ll see the Justice League on screen together on the big screen. I am hyped.

Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), the Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) unite to battle the evil Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds).

As I said, this is the first time we’ll see Justice League in live action for the first time. This movie has a lot of elements going on, it’s has to set up the Justice League, introducing 3 new characters and handle 6 Justice League characters effectively. But I believe that this movie can pull it off This movie also has a great cast, we’ve got Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher as the Justice League. Also there will be returning cast members and characters with Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Diane Lane as Martha Kent and Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta. Along with the returning DCEU cast we have new actors and characters with J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, Amber Heard as Mera, Willem Dafoe as Nudis Vulko, and Ciaran Hinds as Steppenwolf, the villain of the film. On top of that we have Chris Terrio returning to write the film as well as Zack Snyder returning as director.

There are some worries I have. Like with Wonder Woman, studio interference is a worry, as that happened with both Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad in regards to the editing. However I think Warner Bros have learnt their lesson. Also I don’t know if this movie will be too stuffed with other things for setup for other solo movies. There’s a lot of elements that this movie needs to get just right. However I think it’s possible. I loved Batman v Superman, so I can’t wait to see the story that Terrio and Snyder have planned out. I have no idea how this film will turn out, but I have high hopes.

Justice League will be released on November 16, 2017.

So what did you think of my list? What are your picks for the most anticipated movies of 2017. Comment below and let me know.