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I grew up in the 1990s when superheroes meant only Superman, Batman and Spiderman. The DC comic stars were the introduction to the superhero universe for a lot of us. As we grew up and read the Marvel and DC comic books, we got introduced to many more. In the cinematic universe, there were films made on Superman and Batman and it was easy to pick your favourite superhero.

With changing times, the superhero universe got bigger cinematically and while Marvel adapted, modified to the changing times, DC comic universe somewhat stuck to its conventional ways. In the past few years, there has been a gamut of Marvel movies - each enjoyable and highly entertaining while post-Nolan's Batman series, there has been a serious void from the DC Comic universe on the big screen. Some would argue that there have been the Superman series but were those films even a patch on what Marvel factory was churning?

Zack Snyder, who is credited for Man Of Steel and 300, created a disastrous, melodramatic Batman Vs Superman in 2016. Perhaps learning a few things from his past mistakes, Snyder's latest - The Justice League, attempts at salvaging the now sinking DC comic cinematic universe. But the film only manages to do so in parts.

The film takes off from where Batman Vs Superman ended. With Superman dead, Batman and Wonder Woman are left to defend an evil gigantic force who goes by the name of Steppenwolf. The half man-half bull has acquired the three mother boxes- which basically stores all of the universe' energy - which when brought together can cause excessive destruction the world over. So the two 'veterans' decide to rope in three rookie superheroes- Cyborg, The Flash and Aquaman. And when these five realise that their collective forces aren't enough to fight the villain, they bring back Superman from the dead. Yes, literally.

To its credit, Justice League has an impressive set of actors playing their parts well. They also infuse an underlying humour which creates some genuinely funny moments but when you think of the film in its entirety, there is so much more that could have been done with the film.

Among the actors, its Ezra Miller- as The Flash, who stands out with his quirky lines. Miller gets to say the best lines in the film and you find yourself rooting for him the most. Its also refreshing to see a superhero so openly discussing what all he is afraid of and Miller makes The Flash quite nonchalant and cool. There is also the wonderful Gal Gadot as the Wonder Woman who at many moments literally saves the film from becoming a drag.

The narrative takes too much time to establish the real plot and second half is quite a drag except for the scenes where Miller sparkles as the star-struck superhero fan. In fact, Miller and Affleck's scenes will sort of remind you of Tom Holland and Robert Downey Jr's scenes in Captain America: Civil War. See what DC is doing here?

The plot is predictable like all superhero film plots are. The action scenes lack freshness and the background score is just about average. One can't help but draw comparisons to the thoroughly entertaining Thor: Ragnarok which released just two weeks back. And Justice League fails in comparison to a lot of other superhero films but it isn't necessarily a bad film. It is tedious but is also enjoyable in parts. But then why should ardent DC comics fans settle for something average. The film should be mindbogglingly awesome, no?

Rating: 2.5/3

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