There’s a moment during this awful movie’s opening credits sequence—one of director Zack Snyder’s patented pop song-driven montages—when the camera pans past a newspaper featuring photos of three dearly departed superstars—David Bowie, Prince and, sigh, Superman—under a tabloid-worthy headline that ponders whether they each went back to their home planets. This pathetic joke is worsened by the fact that the sequence’s music is a cover version of “Everybody Knows,” a classic by late songwriter Leonard Cohen. Way to pay tribute to deceased heroes, Snyder. But then, this is the same filmmaker who singlehandedly transformed the flying Boy Scout (Henry Cavill) into a murderer during the Metropolis-leveling battle that ended 2013’s Man of Steel. Not content to destroy only one character’s legacy, Snyder also entangled Batman (Ben Affleck) in his revisionist madness, making fans turn on two childhood heroes before actually killing Superman during the climax of last year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. As the title of that atrocity threatened, it was the setup for this superhero installment, Warner Bros.’ ill-advised answer to Marvel’s The Avengers. When Snyder departed due to a family tragedy, Joss Whedon (director of, yes, The Avengers) was tapped to lighten up the film’s tone and color palette. So, if boyish nerd the Flash (Ezra Miller) reminds you of Spider-Man, there’s probably something to it. As the sadly fetishized Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) observes: “I work with children.” She deserves better. So do we. (At Assembly Row, Boston Common, Fenway, Somerville and in the suburbs.) ◆
Justice League
By Brett Michel | Dec. 1, 2017
Justice League ★
There’s a moment during this awful movie’s opening credits sequence—one of director Zack Snyder’s patented pop song-driven montages—when the camera pans past a newspaper featuring photos of three dearly departed superstars—David Bowie, Prince and, sigh, Superman—under a tabloid-worthy headline that ponders whether they each went back to their home planets. This pathetic joke is worsened by the fact that the sequence’s music is a cover version of “Everybody Knows,” a classic by late songwriter Leonard Cohen. Way to pay tribute to deceased heroes, Snyder. But then, this is the same filmmaker who singlehandedly transformed the flying Boy Scout (Henry Cavill) into a murderer during the Metropolis-leveling battle that ended 2013’s Man of Steel. Not content to destroy only one character’s legacy, Snyder also entangled Batman (Ben Affleck) in his revisionist madness, making fans turn on two childhood heroes before actually killing Superman during the climax of last year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. As the title of that atrocity threatened, it was the setup for this superhero installment, Warner Bros.’ ill-advised answer to Marvel’s The Avengers. When Snyder departed due to a family tragedy, Joss Whedon (director of, yes, The Avengers) was tapped to lighten up the film’s tone and color palette. So, if boyish nerd the Flash (Ezra Miller) reminds you of Spider-Man, there’s probably something to it. As the sadly fetishized Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) observes: “I work with children.” She deserves better. So do we. (At Assembly Row, Boston Common, Fenway, Somerville and in the suburbs.) ◆
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