'Justice League' Review Roundup

With the theatrical release of the Justice League movie only days away, the review has started to pour in. Rotten Tomatoes is taking its time in aggregating a consensus for the film, so we've rounded up some of the film's reviews to see what the critics have to say.

So far, it seems like most critics feel that the Justice League movie isn't quite the improvement over Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that they had hoped it would be.

ComicBook.com's own Brandon Davis enjoyed the film.

Justice League is the real deal. It's an epic ensemble of super heroes. It's the most fun you'll have with Batman and his super friends, until their next adventure together, and marks the beginning of a brand new era of super heroes on the DC side of the spectrum.

Owen Gleiberman of Variety believes that Justice League was influenced by the negative critical reaction ot Batman v Superman, but ends up feeling like a half-measure in course correction.

"Justice League," the latest link of Tinkertoy in the DC Comics universe, has been conceived, in each and every frame, to correct the sins of "Batman v Superman." It's not just a sequel — it's an act of franchise penance...Every moment feels like it's been test-driven for our pleasure. As a piece of product, "Justice League" is "superior" to "Batman v Superman," but it's also about as close to generic as a sharp-witted high-octane comic-book movie can get. There's hardly a trope in it you haven't seen before.

The Telegraph critic Robbie Collin calls the film an "embarrassment."

Justice League is a mess in ways cheaper productions could only dream about. A post-credits scene dutifully teases more to come, but the film's heart just isn't in it. After Justice League, there's nowhere else any of this can go.

IGN's Jim Vejvoda is more forgiving, saying the film did what it set out do, if not particularly elegantly, and is worth your time.

Warner Bros. and DC Films had two major goals to achieve with Justice League. First, to cleanse the palette of those turned off by the relentlessly grim BvS; and second, to make viewers enjoy these superheroes enough to want to see further screen appearances by them. Justice League mostly succeeds in accomplishing those two key objectives, despite its sloppy execution. It's messy and flawed but it still offers enough entertainment value (mostly thanks to its likable characters) to make it worthwhile.

Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave Justice League a C+, noting that while the film doesn't exactly soar it does have plenty to like.

The chemistry between the old and new castmembers being the main one, thanks to Whedon and co-writer Chris Terrio. And the handful of call-back cameos from Amy Adams' Lois Lane, Diane Lane's Martha Kent, and Connie Nielsen's Queen Hippolyta are all welcome without overstaying that welcome (the same goes for newcomers like J.K. Simmons' Commissioner Gordon). It's obvious to anyone watching Justice League next to the other DC films that the studio brass handed down a mandate to lighten the mood and make things funnier and more Marvel-y. And, to an extent, Justice League accomplishes that. But it also feels like so much attention was paid to the smaller, fizzier character moments that the bigger picture of the film's overarching plot was a second or third priority. Some day, hopefully soon, DC will get the recipe right again and duplicate Wonder Woman's storytelling magic. But today isn't that day, and Justice League, unfortunately, isn't that film.

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter says that Justice League makes it clear that the biggest strength of the DC Extended Universe is Gal Gadot's WonderWoman.

Of the main performers, only Gadot pops from the screen at all. For now, her Wonder Woman looks to be the savior of Batman and Superman, though you may end up wondering why she's wasting her time.

Justice League opens in theaters on November 17, 2017. The film will be followed in the DC Extended Universe by Aquaman on December 21, 2018, Wonder Woman 2 on November 1, 2019, Shazam on April 5, 2019, Cyborg in 2020, and Green Lantern Corps in 2020.