Wonder Woman can’t save ‘Justice League’ – Flash ‘hyper’
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It’s hard not to feel a little bad for the DC Comics films at this point.
They have the unenviable task having to form an identity in the shadows of the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which are usually good and rarely unwatchable, and the continued glow of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, which are seeming more and more like transcendent anomalies as we get deeper into this never-ending cycle of super humans crowding our multiplexes. DC got off to a rocky start and then Patty Jenkins went and made a very good “Wonder Woman.”
And yet somehow it is no surprise that “Justice League “tips the balances back in the wrong direction. Although marginally better than “Batman v Superman” and “Suicide Squad,” director Zack Snyder’s latest is still a profound mess of maudlin muscles, incoherent action and jaw-droppingly awful CGI. It is big, loud, awful to look at and oh-so-dumb.
With Superman (Henry Cavill) dead, and the world facing yet another devastating threat (yawn) this time at the hands of some ancient creature named Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) and his army of giant alien mosquitoes, which look like Saturday morning Power Rangers villains, Batman/Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman/Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) go in search of some new recruits: Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller), a quippy “kid” who’s excited to join the team; Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Jason Momoa) who talks like a surfer bro and looks like a Nordic bodybuilder with ombre locks and fishermen’s knits; And Victor Stone/Cyborg (Ray Fisher), who is still in the sulky “why me” phase of his superhero career.
There are some good moments, thanks in large part to the addition of Miller, whose quick, self-deprecating humor (likely the result of Joss Whedon’s script and reshoot work) and general liveliness steals scenes away from his brawnier and moodier counterparts.
Camaraderie
But everything else about “Justice League” feels labored, from a preposterous underwater battle that comes out of nowhere and the camaraderie between the superheroes that never clicks into place, to Batman’s lumbering gait (does the batsuit weigh 300 pounds?) and Superman’s mouth which looks a little…off. It’s likely because the production had to digitally remove Cavill’s “Mission: Impossible 6” mustache for re-shoots. After experiencing this unnaturally altered face on the big screen, it seems like the worst possible compromise.
And never has it been so obvious that the character of Wonder Woman is now being presented through a man’s eyes. Snyder chooses on multiple occasions to let the shot linger on Gadot’s figure, whether panning up her legs unnecessarily to get to a normal scene of dialogue or making sure that the camera is there to capture the moment when her skirt flies up in an action sequence. It is, quite frankly, gross and a wildly disappointing departure from what Patty Jenkins was able to accomplish with the character earlier this year.
There’s even an attempt to humanize the potential destruction with a random impoverished Eastern European family struggling to defend their homestead. The story focuses in on the family’s young daughter, who, in braided pigtails picks up a can of bug spray as a defense. You’d think that this might come back and provide an opportunity for her to a) see and be inspired by Wonder Woman in action or b) at least get saved by her. It would be so obvious. But they don’t even meet.
Ezra Miller brings an electric energy to the superhero team-up film “Justice League,” pinballing off the more imposing presences of Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck.
They are mighty. He is fast.
Miller was first cast as Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash, several years ago, but “Justice League” is his most front-and-center performance yet as the fastest man alive. He’s also the best thing in the film, adding a hyper, insecure liveliness that has often been lacking from many recent, more grandiose DC Comics films. As played by the 25-year-old, Barry is a motor-mouthed loner who, when asked by Bruce Wayne to join the League, is mostly happy to just have some friends.
Miller, who has been credited as the first out LGBT person to play a lead role in a major superhero film, has distinguished himself by playing hyper-verbal outcasts in movies big (“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”) and small (“We Need to Talk About Kevin,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”). Speaking by phone from London, Miller spoke with verbal gymnastics that even the Flash might struggle to keep up with.
AP: From “City Island” to “Fantastic Beasts” you seem to be drawn to playing outsiders.
Miller: I’m definitely interested in what I would call Barbara McClintock’s discovery of the rebellious gene. Things advance by mutating away from their point of origin. I do think that happens on not just a cellular or genetic level but within civil society. A lot of the people who have shaped ideas and science on planet Earth have been outsiders. I feel often like an outside. It’s a fascinating type of person to portray. And I think ultimately everyone has an element of that in their experience even if their life doesn’t fully present that on first look. I think everyone can feel alienated and can both benefit by that and know the harm of that.
AP: You seem a quick-witted person. Do you identify with the Flash?
Miller: A cool idea about the Flash is that he, as he starts to move quicker and quicker with his body, he must also speed up mentally. When we shoot something in slow-motion, like we might on a Flash-inclusive movie, the way that’s done is by rolling the camera faster. You shoot more frames per second when you want to slow down the image. In the same way, the Flash, as he moves faster, has to speed up to his brain in order to slow down his perception. That’s all well and good when he’s in superhero-mode, but one of the questions of our film asks is how does that play out in social circumstances? I think there are qualities that have been detrimental to his social capacity.
AP: Were you at all concerned that a big production like this would leave less room for the kind of acting you practice?
Miller: I feel personally that if I’m struggling for integrity, I’m already lacking in it. I come from a place where instead of trying to manufacture my standards of integrity I’m trying to work in such a way that I trust in that inherently when I step to any project, whatever the scale. I want to maintain the integrity of my process. Outside of that, forget about it. It’s anyone’s game.
AP: But was there some appeal in bouncing off the more archetypal performances by Cavill, Gadot and Affleck?
Miller: Yeah, that’s one of the great joys. In a situation like this to have the immense gravity of everything — which I think is really maintained in this film — but then be in a situation where I can improvise. I can play. I can react in the way that I feel Barry might, in a way that can feel deeply human. That was exciting to me, the idea that in the age of superhero films in their absolute crescendo, you have this character who’s sort of a fan who appreciates what he’s witnessing. And to have someone who’s having really human reactions to what’s going on — to see a villain and have a panic attack — I connect with that. I think people connect with that. I think that’s where we are. In terms of realizing our true potential as superheroes, the species on the planet, we’re in amateur, novice stages. We are tripping over our own feet like Barry in this movie. (AP)
By Lindsey Bahr
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