So I watched “Justice League” last weekend.
Quite unintentionally, actually; since it wasn’t the movie I had planned to watch at first (Flo, why does this sound so familiar?) But since I DID end up watching it, I think I have to make the most out of it, so in this post I’ll jump on the bandwagon and make a movie battle between two Superhero movies that came out almost at the same time: “Thor: Ragnarok” vs “Justice League”.
Don’t misunderstand me, this has nothing to do with the alleged rivalry between Marvell and DC (‘s fans). I’m a fan of neither and also never followed the heated discussions, only made aware of a smidgen of it by accident. I’m just a movie lover who also love to write for fun.
I take up five aspects to compare, so if you also happened to had watched both—stay with me, and let me know if you also thought the same way. Let the battle begin!
1. Battle of the Villains: Hela vs Steppenwolf
In movies about superheroes, the villain undeniably is also a key ingredient for a flavorful and engaging story. It is always a hundred times more interesting if the villain have a solid character, and the audience are invited to see how their devilish mind works.
“Ragnarok” has Hela who is as enchanting as much as she is deadly. Her screen time is almost as crucial as the heroes’ in bringing the story forward AND gives her a sufficient back story.
She kicked ass.
She’s making other characters questioning their true selves and beliefs.
She got audience emotionally invested in her motive and deed.
Her hair even does its own do.
What’s not to love appreciate about her?
“Justice League”, on the other hand, has Steppenwolf who felt more like a cardboard CGI rather than a real character.
Oops. A little googling told me that he IS a CGI character, so that makes total sense. From his limited expressions to his wearisome lines, there’s no reason whatsoever for the audience to care about him. As the opponent of a team which supposedly had its own conflict of interests, “Justice League” had the chance to create an incredibly exciting villain. Why they opted for a bland CGI is beyond me.
2. Battle of the Eye Candy
Well, this is entirely a matter of taste, so I’ll just leave it here.
Well?
Well?
Well?
Well? So who’s your winner? =9
3. Battle of Rapport between Heroes and Heroines
Starring as heroes in “Ragnarok” are Thor, Loki; his adopted brother-cum-arch-rival, Hulk aka Bruce Banner, and the Valkyrie.
There are different dynamics between each characters, some are new and developing, some are long established but keep evolving. It is so FUN to watch their interaction.”Ragnarok” presented a package of colorful relationships: attempt at manipulation for what is believed to be greater good, cynicism turning grudging respect, and at the end, understanding and sense of united purpose from all of the heroes. Most importantly, all of the developments seem effortless along with the progression of the story.
“Justice League”, on the other hand, feels forced and awkward. Batman initially gathered the team because he needs their superpowers. Until the end of the movie, there are virtually zero development about how this might have changed. No scene to represent if Batman has developed liking, or respect, or understanding, or anything toward them.
Except, of course, his questionable love interest to Wonder Woman. Cheeeee-sy.
In the end, each character has their own motive in joining the team, and they seemed to be working together merely because they had to.
4. Battle of the Tone of the Movie
From the beginning, “Ragnarok” established that it doesn’t take itself very seriously. Comedic situations are abundant, be it in actions or in dialogues.
You still see the action, but you can also heartily appreciate when the supposedly serious scene turned comical, without losing its momentum.
“Justice League” designated itself as a more sober action movie. Humors are scarce, and not even very funny at all. The thing is, with the full action-movie mode on, the audience then expect that the exciting parts will be the action parts. Which “Justice League” failed so spectacularly because of the bad CGI.
The last part where Steppenwolf is preparing for mother boxes unity and creating some kind of energy net around a random Russian city?
Oh, come on.
Come on.
It was so bad, so bad, I would begin considering to leave the theater hadn’t I been considering it from the appearance of Steppenwolf at the first place.
5. Battle of Strategy to Win
“Ragnarok” heroes’ strategy to defeat the enemy is to go out of the box, bringing about the “Ragnarok” instead of trying to prevent it. Loki intentionally put Surtur’s crown to the eternal fire so Surtur could raise and destroy Asgard, and in extension, destroy Hela.
It is not clear what Surtur does after he destroyed Asgard, maybe sit around victorious and great in the ruins, I don’t know, but it’s a super unexpected plot twist, and you got to give credit for the cleverness. When enemy is stronger, rather than trying to out-power it, try other way.
On the other hand, Justice League idea to defeat Steppenwolf is… that’s right, simply trying to out-power it, by bringing back Superman from death in hope his power will match Steppenwolf. Super creative and original. I mean… it is to be expected, but still concluded Justice League as one of the more pointless movie of the year.
The Final Verdict!
So, we’ve got through all aspects, and in my book “Ragnarok” won easily. “Justice League” is not even a good movie overall!
“Justice League” score: 6.5/10
For “Thor: Ragnarok” score, you can check out my previous post.
Do you think there are some good points that can still salvage “Justice League”? Let me know in the comment section below.
Meanwhile, I’ll going to note here that initially I didn’t understand, and still don’t, the appearance of Doctor Strange in “Ragnarok”. But as I write this, it just crossed my mind that perhaps it is related to his power to change reality and dimension? (Sort of). Now that Asgard is destroyed and Asgardians are evacuating to Earth, they might need Doctor Strange’s power to restore/create a new Asgard.
I’m very excited to see if my guess is even remotely correct in the next “Thor” and/or “Avengers” movie!
Thanks for reading!
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