Justice League (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

The Justice League motion picture is finally getting its deserving shot to win over your living room on March 13th.  As far as 2017 feature films going into last November I had thought of nothing else except Justice League ever since I left San Diego Comic-Con that July and attended this unforgettable superhero panel captured in all its splendor and awe right here.  I have also painstakingly covered the 4K Ultra HD releases of Wonder Woman, Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad here on the site with both the utmost of detail and exposé.  So it’s with overwhelming joy and rousing happiness I now am in a position to do much the same with my take on the long awaited home media release sans the Zack Snyder cut of the superhero ensemble flick, Justice League.  Buckle up ladies and gentlemen as I’m about to steal/drive Batman’s Batmobile both fast and so very furious.  Vroom, vroom!

Film

I’m not going to go into much detail regarding the previous films in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) that have come before or talk about the constant whining of the critics over the depressing tone of Batman v. Superman (BvS for short).  It is what it is.  Instead I’m just going to cover the very basics of it all first.  Justice League is obviously based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name.  If you’re counting, then you’ll find it to be the fifth installment in the DCEU.  It’s directed by both Zack Snyder and later on sort of by Joss Whedon.  Don’t worry we’ll get to how that all came to be in a brief moment.  Like the superhero team it also features quite the ensemble cast in real life that includes Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen and J. K. Simmons.  Those are some huge names, huh?  In a nutshell the Justice League is all about where things left off in my favorite film of 2016, BvS.  Batman and Wonder Woman form a team and recruit metahumans Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg to honor Superman (BvS spoiler alert!) following his death and to save the planet from certain doom, the invasion of the evil Steppenwolf and his army of ridiculous looking Parademons.

Up above I talked about the direction of this film under two separate names, Snyder and Whedon.  The story of how that all happened goes a little something like this.  Synder initially brought Joss Whedon on to write scenes for the movie that would be utilized during reboots.  However, tragedy struck and devastated the Snyder household.  Zack’s daughter died and in the middle of all this stress/pressure of creating one of the greatest and most anticipated ensemble superhero flicks he left the project in May 2017.  Joss Whedon stepped into help.  He was hired to both oversee the remainder of post-production and direct all these new scenes/reshoots he wrote, which I just mentioned prior.  However, Snyder receives sole director credit for his work and Whedon gets a screenplay credit in post.  The only other difference to point out here other than the film’s tone is the absence sadly of John Williams (I feel it greatly).  This time out we have Spider-Man‘s Danny Elfman.  Yay (notice my excitement)!  If you choose to pay attention, many fans will hear both a familiar Batman and Superman cue.  I don’t know about you all, but the reason I like these new DCEU adventures is the distance they keep from the original films that have come before.  I’m just saying.  The callbacks were cute and all, but unnecessary in my opinion.  Moving on…

If you remember where BvS left off (BE WARNED – BvS spoilers galore here on out), then you’ll know Bruce Wayne (Affleck) had his faith in humanity restored due to Superman’s selfless act that (pun intended) saved the world from certain “doom.”  At Clark Kent’s (Cavill) funeral we saw Bruce enlisting his new ally, Diana Prince (Gadot).  Due in part to his futuristic nightmare visions and Lex Luthor’s lunatic mumblings at the end he feels Wonder Woman and himself (alter identity Batman) must stand together with the other metahumans (also shown in BvS) they can find to thwart off the inevitable threat.  It’s a hunch so to speak, but a very good one as it’s the reason we are all gathered here today.  Therefore, Bruce Wayne takes it upon himself to recruit for this motley crew team of his, AKA the Justice League.  Once the team is united — Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash — the question becomes are they enough and/or are they too late to save the planet from an alien invasion led by the villainous Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) and his army of man/bird-like creatures called Parademons.

Now if you’re like me, you’ll probably want to brush up on your DC Comics lore to find out who this new bad guy, Steppenwolf, really is.  Don’t worry!  I have you covered here.  His character was originally created by Jack Kirby in the pages of New Gods #7 in 1972.  In our film here he’s portrayed through use of motion capture.  I guess you can call him an alien military officer.  He’s from Apokolips and leads the army of Parademons I made mention up above, which first appeared in Bruce Wayne’s dreams in BvS.  He is charged by his nephew, Darkseid, with finding the three mother boxes held on Earth: in Atlantis, Themyscria and embedded in Victor Stone, AKA Cyborg (Fisher) — also see BvS.  What are the mother boxes you ask?  Well, that’s a great question.  DC Wikia define them as “small portable supercomputers created by the New Gods.  They were invented by the Apokoliptian scientist Himon the Artificer using the mysterious Element X.  They have vast undefined abilities which range from teleportation via Boom Tubes (extra dimensional point-to-point travel portal), to energy manipulation.”

A lot of you complained about the depressing and somber tone of BvS.  Why you didn’t all cry the same about Marvel’s Civil War I have no idea, but I digress.  You’ll be happy to know that for the most part this is a FUN outing here.  Yes I said the word “fun” in reference to a DCEU movie in the same sentence.  Am I on drugs?  No, I am not.  I guess you could call this fifth entry in the DCEU a bit more hopeful and optimistic.  However, while that’s good for everyone that hated BvS or Suicide Squad there’s also a FLAW in that way of thinking too.  Justice League is a very FLAWED film, but at the same time it’s also a very FUN one too.  I ask you to at least try and let that sink in while I set the stage as to why I feel that way.

Because of the rumor mill that claims Warner Bros. supposedly forced upon filmmakers a two hour runtime I feel that the scenes that featured great emotional weight/potential impact never really fully materialized here.  We have one quick cut after another and the sequences where it should have lingered on a bit longer to create a sense of gravity with emotional weight they are forced to trim and chop down.  Other examples involve a minimal amount of proper backstory and character development for some and a complete lack of involvement for others.  I wish I could embellish some more and give fine examples, but as I said before this review is spoiler free.  So you’ll just have to take my word as gospel.  The last thing I want to nitpick is how slow the First Act feels.  Don’t get me wrong I can literally spend hours in this DCEU environment the way they graciously frame Gal Gadot’s assets every chance they get.  However, to the average movie watcher I can relate to peer complaints of how it was a very slow moving First Act.  Let’s agree to digress though and move on because what I want to highlight next is the cast’s chemistry.

The cast’s chemistry is where the FUN factor comes into play when talking Justice League.  I’m sure plenty of people wanted this with Suicide Squad, but most walked away void of having any fun with it.  I can understand that, but I’ll always have Harley.  So listen up all you BvS and Suicide Squad haters Justice League is what you wanted from the DCEU.  Can you just be happy now?   The shenanigans, banter and playful one-liners between the bunch really exist and are the core lifeline of this movie.  While my eyes may have been fixated on Gal at all times it is really Ezra Miller as the Flash that runs away and steals the show here (sorry Gal).  I could spend a breezy two hours with him anytime (Aquaman and Cyborg are just OK characters to me).  I can’t say the same thing for Steppenwolf though.  If you thought Wonder Woman‘s main bad guy was weak, you haven’t met Steppenwolf yet.  I’m not a fan, but given the fact that he’s the reason why the League is united and we’re all here today I can learn to love him more.  He’s pretty one dimensional and lackluster to say the least (especially his flaws), but like any bad God gone mad he poses at least a big enough threat to unite Earth’s mightiest heroes (yes I know that is a Marvel thing) to “Come Together” and save the world.  I’ll always have the wild romp he takes us through on the island of Themyscira.  That action sequence is cool.  Speaking of cool, let’s talk about the production design real quick.

While I have nothing but mediocre/decent things to say about Elfman’s swinging, superhero score (he’s no John Williams) I did want to spend a few moments chatting about all the special effects within.  After spending so much time with 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format as of late special effects, particularly fiery explosions, have become very important to me.  How they look, feel and lend themselves to overall credibility become crucial once you’re watching these superhero films in 4K resolution.  Having recently revisited the many explosions in Man of Steel on 4K Blu-ray trust me I know what I’m talking about.   I would venture out on a limb here and say with credibility the effects throughout Justice League are on par with what you come to expect from action sequences in BvS or Suicide Squad.  Explosions did not always resonate authentic, but they weren’t any lesser in quality than what you’re used to from BvS.  It got a little crazy in the film’s hellish-like conclusion in Russia, but even purple glacier-like formations popping up from the ground didn’t take me out of my state of enjoyment.  I was in it to win it, but speaking of taking me out of it.  Kudos to the effects team and the disappearance of Henry Cavill’s ‘stache.  Ha!  Did you notice I said nothing about Superman really this whole review?  That’s on purpose!  If the cover art didn’t clue you in already, SPOILER ALERT…he’s ALIVE!

Interestingly enough, after leaving us hanging in both Wonder Woman and BvS there are not one but two after credit scenes here.  After the final post credits scene in the theater I heard people say “there’s the movie I wanted to see” or “that was the most impressive use of an after credits scene ever.”  Your mileage may very, but I was left satisfied.  Now where things go from here is anyone’s guess.  My only thought is to really challenge the team again in let’s say a Justice League 2 kind of setting it’s going to have to be another God, and yes I’m looking at you Darkseid.   We all know they will make a Wonder Woman 2 movie as long as Mrs. Gadot gets her way and there’s still supposedly a Batman standalone feature (that may or may not involve Affleck), Suicide Squad 2, Batgirl and so many others thrown out there that it makes my head hurt.  All I know is this though.  I’m very saddened to know that all we have is Aquaman’s solo feature (in the very capable hands of James Wan) this year in the DCEU unless they managed to pull a 10 Cloverfield Lane kind of filmmaking surprise out of their hats.  Don’t bet on it though.  I just hope some of these aforementioned projects would start filming already.  Is it too much to ask for a Wonder Woman v. Harley Quinn film?  Come on!  I’ll gladly start writing it.

Video 

• Encoding: HEVC / H.265
• Resolution: 4K (2160p)
• Dolby Vision: Yes (but not used for this review)
• HDR: Yes
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (love the fact you have real estate here)
• Clarity/Detail: The film presentation here has a very earthy, organic, cinematic feel to it all complete with a thin, veneer layer of grain, but don’t let that fool you.  This one pops with clarity just about everywhere you look.  However, what’s most impressive to me is the exquisite level of detail in the textures such as all that make up the superhero outfits here.  You can literally see every scratch in Wonder Woman’s armor or on the many red plates of Flash’s to intricacies in the striations that makeup the stitches and weaves of Batman’s suit.  Every blemish is also on full display for all to see such as paint strokes, rust, cracks in concrete and even crumbs on the ground.  Of course closeups reveal the finest details in human flesh and hair strands, but it’s the intricate sets throughout that continue to wow and amaze me.  Beads of water even steal for your attention on the superhero suits not to mention the wooden floors in Victor’s apartment. Ha ha only I would find something like that worthy of making note of.  You get the big picture…pun very much intended.
• Depth: Since the characters all have a three-dimensional pop to them, even Steppenwolf, it’s really easy to comment on how exceptional the depth of field looks here from the many cityscapes such as Metropolis or even the sea village Aquaman frequents to the intricate sets and landscapes such as the corn field outside Clark’s house.  Yes, I said the corn field.  Those shots look amazing.  Actually this whole thing looks like it was made for 3D so I’m looking forward to checking out the 3D Blu-ray presentation of it all this coming March 13th.
• Black Levels: The black levels are pretty deep and inky throughout.  They’re never really overblown and nothing truly gets lost in the shadows. It ‘s like watching a fluid, moving comic book throughout, but in a film-like presentation instead.  It’s like dark and organic if I had to describe it properly.
• Color Reproduction: Clarity is one thing, but what impresses me most about this Justice League 4K transfer is its brilliant use of HDR compared to its predecessors in the DCEU.  It’s actually quite colorful compared to what we are used to in the franchise.  The reds and even blues pop with brilliance and illustriousness.  Lots of colors here compared to the previous DCEU color drained entries.
• Flesh Tones: The skin tones are all lifelike and natural looking for the most part throughout the presentation.
• Noise/Artifacts: It’s a Zack Snyder and a DCEU film so you better believe there’s going to be some film grain and noise.  After all, you want to kind of hinder all that CG anyway.  So this is a good thing and unlike the other DCEU flicks the grain is really not that dominant and overblown in scenes.  It’s actually a nice complement to a more film-like experience overall.

Audio 

• Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English DTS-HD MA 5.1 (the disc defaults to this for some reason), English Descriptive Audio 5.1, French (Dubbed in Quebec) Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish (both Castilian & Latin) Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Dynamics: Justice League can be a loud one if you have your system cranked (well duh).  There’s a lot of bang, bang, shoot’em up a moments and explosions to be found here.  That’s great for the action and superhero fans who all showed up here to show their DCEU support and have some zany fun.  Y’all won’t be disappointed here.  However, across the other spectrum there are some dialogue heavy moments found within too and I’m pleased to report not one dramatic speech or funny one-liner (yes there are those in here too) get lost amongst all the chaos.  Everything is in check, very directional and  well prioritized throughout giving this Dolby Atmos surround track a wide spectrum of breathing room here.  I like that!  I think you will too.
• Height: There are plenty of Atmos moments that will make you take notice and they are, but not limited to the following: water/rain pouring down, Wonder Woman exploding through glass doors, many explosions and moments of chaos, boom tube usage, Cyborg flying/blasting up, the White Stripes song blasting, Superman violently waking up and so much more.
• Low Frequency Extension: The subwoofer here is punchy and edgy throughout.  Plenty of moments rumble your viewing room and are most noticeable in times such as the score and engaging soundtrack, multiple explosions after another, the many action sequences featuring fights, punches, kicks and thuds, gunfire/shots, Steppenwolf’s entrance via the boom tube into the Amazonian world, ocean water crashing down and more chaos than we have time to spend talking about here.  This one will roar if you turn it up loud enough.
• Surround Sound Presentation: Equally impressive are the rear channels that engulf you here in middle of all the superhero action onscreen.  Besides the score and the soundtrack the rear channels come to life amidst all the endless action sequences, snow blowing, ocean waves, Parademons with their noisy chatter and wings constantly flapping around, Flash’s electrical current buzzing, voices, effects and so much more.  However, some of my favorite uses have to be Steppenwolf’s voice resonating through all speakers or hearing Victor Stone’s (Cyborg) thoughts from behind.  It’s a nice little ambient effect and we all know it’s the little things that kill in life.
• Dialogue Reproduction: The dialog is clear, intelligible and prioritized throughout the presentation.

Extras

This 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack of Justice League includes the theatrical version of the film on both 4K UHD Disc and 1080p Blu-ray Disc as well as a redemption code for a Digital HD UltraViolet file (works for both an UltraViolet version and an iTunes when you use through Movies Anywhere).   Speaking of Movies Anywhere…

All the special features, including interviews with filmmakers and featurettes, can be experienced in an entirely new, dynamic and immersive manner on tablets and mobile phones using the Warner Bros. Movies All Access App, available for both iOS and Android devices. When a Combo Pack is purchased and the digital movie is redeemed, or the digital movie is purchased from an UltraViolet retailer, the Warner Bros. Movies All Access App allows users to watch the movie and simultaneously experience synchronized content related to any scene sim`1ply by rotating their device. Synchronized content is presented on the same screen while the movie is playing, thus enabling users to quickly learn more about any scene, such as actor biographies, scene locations, fun trivia or image galleries. Also, users can share movie clips with friends on social media and experience other immersive content.

Sadly there’s no Extended Cut, Zack Snyder version or even a lone audio commentary.  However, you do have some nicely done extras, which I listed and painstakingly detailed down below.  They are all housed on the Blu-ray Disc.  So without further ado let’s use Superman’s X-ray vision and take a closer look at them all down below.  Before we begin though one thing I want to call out is there is not a single mention of Joss Whedon to be found here at all.  Odd, huh?  Oh well I’m glad about that.  It’s just too bad we couldn’t see Zack’s ultimate cut of the film.

• Road to Justice (HD, 14:07) – Here you all get to journey alongside DC comic creators as they explore over fifty years of the Justice League, from comic books to animated adventures to their cinematic debut.  This one kind of explains how the Justice League comic series came to be as well as all the different incarnations of it over the past 50 years.  It even tackles all the confusion of DC’s Multiverse back in the 80’s.  I loved seeing Superman with a mullet back in the 90’s.  The core team in this film is sort of spawned from the New 52 where Cyborg was first brought into the Justice League.  It was interesting to learn about the fighting restrictions they had on TV’s Super Friends.  We also get treated to some film footage, behind-the-scenes takes and interactions with the cast.
• Heart of Justice (HD, 11:48) – In this extra you’ll discover the heart, soul and mind of the Justice League, as the cast and filmmakers share their admiration for DC’s iconic Trinity: Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman.  Henry, Gal and believe it or not even Ben chat about what they love about each of their characters here as well as their weaknesses, strengths and continuity over the past films.  Even J.K. chimes in too on the Batman.  Henry even named his Kal.  Nice!
• Technology of the Justice League (HD, 8:10) – From Batman’s arsenal to Cyborg’s alien tech and Flash’s electronics, here you get to interface with the Justice League database to learn their most advanced secrets.  It’s cool to see how Batman’s aircraft carrier (the Flying Fox) was to scale and could fit the film’s Batmobile.  We also get to see some of the behind-the-scenes of filming with these technologies shown here.  There are over 100 pieces of Flash’s under suit.  Wow!  It was interesting to learn the purpose of his suit and how it deals with currents.
• Justice League: The New Heroes (HD, 12:22) – In this extra we get to join Ray Fisher on a personal tour to meet the newest members of the Justice League: Aquaman, the Flash and Cyborg.  I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait for a Flash film!  This is very informative.  It deals with the creation of these characters, the training and preparation by the actors and the filming of them (behind-the-scenes), including Ray in his pajamas.  Ha ha.  I also have to give kudos to Ray here as he does a great job at presenting throughout this extra.
• The Return of Superman (HD, 2:01) – Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the moment you all have been waiting for.  This is the lone extra and obviously not a Zack Snyder cut of the film.  Boo!  There are two very quick deleted scenes here where we see a black suit and Alfred gets a quick visit (think the scene from the trailer we never saw in the finished film).
• Steppenwolf the Conqueror (HD, 2:59) – Actor Ciarán Hinds and the filmmakers reveal the story behind mankind’s ancient enemy, Steppenwolf, and the great challenge he is to the Justice League.  This one is like Steppenwolf 101 so it was great to learn all about his backstory here via the comics.
• Scene Studies (HD) – In the below Scene Studies you get to take a closer look at the filmmaking process behind Justice League’s most visually exciting and action-packed sequences.
  • Revisiting the Amazons (HD, 3:29) – Here you get to take a closer look at the filmmaking process behind Justice League’s most visually exciting and action-packed sequences.  This was probably my second favorite action sequence with the 40 strong women and the Steppenwolf chase scene.  This extra is jam packed with strong women, stunt rehearsals and storyboards.  Love it!
  • Wonder Woman’s Rescue (HD, 3:11) – This is probably one of my favorite scenes and it was awesome to see the real UK location where it was shot, how much preparation went into it and of course seeing Zack having some fun.  We miss you Zack.
  • Heroes Park (HD, 4:53) – This one is all about the fun sequence that features the rebirth of Superman and his entanglement with the Justice League heroes.  We also see Zack having a lot of fun here.  This one also features a lot of previsualizations here with the fight sequences.
  • The Tunnel Battle (HD, 3:30) – This one is all about the sequence where our heroes meet Steppenwolf for the first time.  It was interesting to see how everything had to be re-adjusted to scale especially since the big bad Steppenwolf is 9 feet tall.  An other notable inclusion here is how they added the electrical current and lightning via computers to the Flash’s performance throughout the film.
• Suit Up: The Look of the League (HD, 10:20) – In this final extra here Costume Designer Michael Wilkinson explores the innovation and artistry that goes into creating the costumes of DC’s iconic heroes.  This one comes complete with the master costume designer walking us through and showing us almost everything created here, costume photo shoots with the actors as well as seeing the black Superman suit.  Hmm.

Summary 

So there you have it folks.  You have my true gut feelings and sentiments up above on all things Justice League here.  Sadly there is not one extended scene inserted within or hint of a Zack Snyder cut to be found here.  Quite honestly too you have NO idea how badly I want to give this one a perfect 5-star score, sing songs of its praise at work in the hallways and declare this is the best motion picture since Casablanca, but all that would be a lie.  It would be unethical.  I would not be doing my civil duty in providing you a somewhat unbiased review despite my love for the DCEU.  However, what it all comes down to for me is the following admittance.  Justice League is NOT in the same “league” as Wonder Woman.  Wonder Woman was more cinematic, a better/cohesive story and most importantly more emotional and character driven.  I’m not just saying that because the entire movie features Gal either.  I’m saying that because I truly believe it to be.  One thing is for sure though I’m going to have as much rinse and repeat fun as I can with this Justice League feature in 4K Ultra HD here (it looks and sounds amazing) and not you or anybody else can stop me.  That means it can be my delicious guilty pleasure from now until end times.  Whatever your verdict is thanks for reading and enjoy!

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Justice League 

Delivers Colorful Justice

Sans Zack Snyder Cut

in 4K on

March 13th

PRE-ORDER Now!

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