Although technically still flaunting Zack Snyder’s byline as the director, Justice League has a lot of trademark touch-ups of Joss Whedon – the guy, whose last few big-screen credits were for the opposing comic-films, brand Avengers and its sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron.

As with Whedon’s last works, one will find a dosage of fan-service moments, which by far has deluded the more serious (read: grimmer and not quite likable) tilt of Snyder’s works.

Most of Justice League is about such instances – which I will stay away from revealing, goes to show how quirky and popular, the Marvel end of the spectrum is. Cute-looking, knowing, smirks on Gal Gadot’s face, scenes of witty retorts, and some masculine-showmanship take the edge off the impending world-is-gonna-die-soon-by-powerful-EVIL-extraterrestrial storyline every superhero movie is made up of.

In the story, a vile-looking evil guy (Steppenwolf played by Ciarán Hinds in performance capture – the process that made Caesar in the recent Planet of the Apes films) is trying to find a number of scattered Mother Boxes – portable alien super-computers who tie-in with nature – to end life on Earth.

Batman (Ben Affleck), realises this and takes the first half of the movie assembling the crew, because well, Superman died at the end, and he needs at least six super-powered beings to at least have a chance to save humanity’s end of days.

The group consists of Gadot’s Wonder Woman – who opens the film with an excellent action set-piece; a fabled man called Arthur Curry aka Aquaman (played by Jason Momoa) who talks to fish (a fact that befuddles Batman), and helps a starving village with food in a remote, ice-stricken corner of the world; Barry Allen – The Flash (Ezra Miller) – a quirky young fellow who runs really, really fast; and a grim 90 per cent cyborg person called Cyborg (ingeniously named, isn’t it?) played by Ray Fisher.

The six stand-in for Superman (Henry Cavill), who is still dead and buried, but as one kinda knows, not for long.

Until he comes back, the audience is bedazzled with the excellent pass-the-motherbox action sequence on Themyscira, the Amazon kingdom that gets attacked by Steppenwolf, or continues to be amused by the image of a cocky Aquaman gulping down a bottle of ale before diving headfirst into a dangerously rising ocean-wave. These moments, arrogant, grand and comic book-y play right into one’s expectations.

Justice League is a lot of fun (did I say that before?) – but getting to that point, after much trials and expenses, is a sort-of-let down if one asks me. Also, spending $300 million – which makes this the most expensive movie in the world – is simply a bad exercise of indecisiveness and overspending (on top of that, the movie, clocking-in at just under two hours, doesn’t look anywhere near like a $300 million enterprise).

Thankfully, Chris Terrio’s script (the Oscar winning writer of Argo) gets a good overhaul by Whedon, factors-in what Marvel had been doing since they went to Wall Street to fund their own films, and simply delivered what everyone has been expecting since the whole DC shebang started.

Watch it, don’t give into the negative hype. It is fun (haven’t I already said that twice?).

VERDICT

The film is a lot of fun, but getting to that point, after much trials and expenses, is a sort-of-let down if one asks me.