Blu-ray Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE

Months after Superman's death, Batman/ Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) is trying to bring together a group of superheroes to fight against major threats (based on the visit from the future and dream he had in BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE). He attempts to recruit Arthur Curry aka the Aquaman (Jason Momoa) with no success, but He is able to get Barry Allen/ The Flash (Ezra Miller) on board. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) brings a warning that an invasion has started with Stephenwolf and his army of Parademons searching for the three Mother Boxes which will remake the Earth if put together. Will the team of Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg be enough or will they have to find a way to bring back a fallen hero known as Superman?

JUSTICE LEAGUE isn't a great movie, but it isn't a bad movie. It is an enjoyable movie, but the mandated runtime of two hour and the switch of directors in post=-production (Joss Whedon took over editing and did some reshoots after Zack Snyder stepped down (due to the death of his daughter). Some character development scenes with Aquaman, Cybrog, and the Flash hit the floor along with some dialogue and action scene trims. The introduction of new characters is a little rushed with almost no character development and Stephenwolf is lame as a bad guy (plus some of the action scenes seem less epic than the action scenes like in the Avengers movie directed by Joss Whedon). JUSTICE LEAGUE is a lighter affair with some humor. I just hope there is a longer cut or a cut closer to Zack Snyder's original version released on blu-ray one day (but it seems not likely due to some of the cut scenes requiring finished special effects work). JUSTICE LEAGUE is a fun way to spend two hours even though it isn't a 100 percent home run for DC and Warner Bros Pictures. Please stay around for the two extra scenes during the end credits.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
THE RETURN OF SUPERMAN are two deleted scenes which were chosen to be on this disc among the countless deleted scenes not on this blu-ray disc

ROAD TO JUSTICE- DC comic creators explore over fifty years of history of the Justic League from comics to animation to the live action movie
HEART OF JUSTICE- The cast and filmmakers talk about DC's iconic Trinity: Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman
TECHNOLOGY OF THE JUSTIC LEAGUE- a look at the technology in the movie
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW HEROES- Ray Fisher (Victor Stone/ Cyborg) goes on a tour of the three new characters in the movie: Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg. It ahs interviews with the actors who play the characters in the movie
STEPPENWOLF THE CONQUEROR-Ciaran Hinds and the filmmakers talk about the story behind Darkseid's top henchman, Steppenwolf
SCENE STUDIES go behind-the-scenes of four action sequences in the movie (REVISITING THE AMAZONS, WONDER WOMAN'S RESCUE, HEROES PARK), THE TUNNEL BATTLE)
SUIT UP: THE LOOK OF THE LEAGUE- Costume Designer Michael Wilkinson talks about the costumes of the Justice League members

Sadly, the trailers for the movie aren't on the blu-ray and neither are the rest of the deleted scenes from the movie (which I hope Warner Bros does release to blu-ray in a special edition one day even if they don't go into the real behind-the-scenes post-production chaos of the movie)

Also in the combo pack are the movie in standard definition and a code to download/ stream a digital copy of JUSTICE LEAGUE.

FINAL ANALYSIS: JUSTIC LEAGUE is an imperfect movie which might have been better than a compromised version Frakensteined together. The movie is fun on the first go, but I start to wonder if Zack Snyder's original version would have been better given how the movie changes tone from what Zack originally intended to Joss Whedon's additions to the script. Also Warner Bros Pictures fumbled the ball by not including all of the scened cut from the movie in a longer deleted scenes section instead of the two cut Superman scenes they decided to include on the blu-ray.

This review is (c)3-20-2017 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.
Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com and look for additional content at http://enterlinemedia.tumblr.com