Sometimes, one superhero just isn’t enough. When the whole world is at threat, and the danger comes from a mighty legion of alien entities bent on destruction, it could take a league of superheroes working in tandem to save the Earth.
That’s the premise for Justice League, the latest entry in the rapidly expanding DC Universe. The movie brings Batman and Wonder Woman together with Aquaman, Cyborg, The Flash and, eventually, spoiler alert: Superman. Their mission: stop the bestial demon Steppenwolf and his countless minions from triggering the apocalypse. Their challenge: Just getting along with each other.
Justice League is a comic-book fantasy, powered by breathless special effects, that holds a dark mirror to our society. The song heard at the onset, a version of Leonard Cohen’s world-weary “Everybody Knows,” sets the mood. Glimpsed are homelessness and white supremacist violence. Batman (Ben Affleck), brooding amidst the midnight towers of Gotham, torments a criminal and demands: “Fear me.” Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) thwarts an assault on London’s Old Bailey by terrorists whose purpose it to blow the world “back to the dark ages.” But something more terrible than crime and terrorism is afoot. Batman senses it and Wonder Woman is alerted by a sacred fire lit by her Amazon sisters.
Steppenwolf, a horn-headed embodiment of unrefined evil, has been handed his chance. The world is already slipping into darkness and time has come for him to extinguish the light forever.
Never find the McGuffin plot device: three “Mother Boxes” of power that Steppenwolf must locate and seize before he can execute his malign designs. The character-based story begins with Batman emerging from gloomy self-indulgence and Wonder Woman from her comfortable distance. They must convince the cynical, hard-drinking Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and the angry Cyborg (Ray Fisher) that they have a stake in the world’s survival. Flash (Ezra Miller), the youngest and most jaded, is easier to convince.
Beneath the splashy globe-trotting pyrotechnics is a fable about human cooperation, putting aside differences and using the “powers” of each person toward a common goal. But to top it off is another factor: Superman (Henry Cavill) is dead, and ultimately, only so much can be done without his alien assistance. Can he be resurrected?
As usual, Gadot adds emotional depth to the ensemble. Speaking in a threatening Dirty Harry whisper, Affleck succeeds at looking glum. The other cast members are affable one-note players with Jeremy Irons standing out as Batman’s faithful valet-tech Alfred.
The reliance of even superheroes on a higher power is the subtext amidst all the digital carnage and whomp ’em, hurl ’em aerial combat. Profound questions are raised and left unanswered. Wonder Woman wonders whether “science without reason or heart will destroy us?” No time to ponder this when demons are tearing down the walls. Those demons, one suspects, are larger-than-life metaphors for forces already at work.
“I don’t recognize this world,” Alfred says sadly.
“I don’t have time to recognize it,” Batman replies. “I just have to save it.”
He can’t do it alone.
