In the latest installment of the DCEU, Zack Snyder brings Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg together to take down Steppenwolf before he can bring an end to human civilization.

The general consensus of Justice League has been, “It was better than I expected” and “Not a great movie, but not terrible.” I don’t have an opinion that differs from those thoughts. While walking out of the theater, those were the exact thoughts I had. Sorry. I enjoyed Justice League much more than Batman v Superman, so that’s a plus!

This movie picks up not long after the events of BvS and it is highly evident. Black flags draped over buildings, huge newspaper headlines, in some ways, though, it was overkill for those of us that sat through the previous film. It also gave away a big moment that came later.

Snyder suggests through these visuals that the world hasn’t been the same since Superman died. While that might be true, there isn’t a good portrayal of the chaos that he wants us to believe is going on. We only see something is wrong when Batman encounters a parademon in Gotham City. Zack Snyder and Chris Terrio don’t give us a reason to care that the world is in danger, outside of this movie’s villain

Speaking of our villain, I have to say that he is biggest glaring issue with Justice League.

Sure, Steppenwolf was going to take over the world, but he didn’t really have the presence you’re looking for in a villain. I didn’t have a reason to be worried about who he was. In fact, his comic book origin is much more impressive. There should have been more of a play at bringing Darkseid into the DCEU, too. Granted, that would feel like a rip-off of Marvel bringing in Thanos, but it would have at least gotten us excited for what is planned. (And to top it off, making him a 100% CGI character was a terrible idea.)

Now that I’ve started talking about characters, it’s time to examine who we got in this movie.

Batman

The idea that Batman needed to put together a team of meta-humans seemed lost. Did Superman sacrificing himself in BvS really affect him that much? If so, it wasn’t that obvious to me. It served the general plot, but it was hollow. I happen to like Ben Affleck’s portrayal of the character, but I do have to agree with the opinion of Ben DeBono from The Sci-Fi Christian: he has nothing to do in this movie. Yes, he assembled the team and felt the need to sacrifice himself (which was not needed, period), but that was it. He was there to bring in people who were unfamiliar with the rest of the team.

Wonder Woman

I know a lot of people raved about her solo debut into the DCEU, but I wasn’t blown away. It was the best movie so far in the franchise and it did a good job introducing her while showing the strength of women. It just wasn’t a fantastic film. That said, I really do enjoy the character of Wonder Woman. For me, she’s the real glue that holds this movie’s team together. I vote she’s the leader and I really hope Gal Gadot returns to the role.

Aquaman

Aquaman is the first character in the film that we don’t get to meet beforehand. That, unfortunately, makes character development difficult. (That’s also an issue I have with the next two heroes.) While I haven’t seen Jason Momoa in much other than his stint as Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones, I did enjoy the majority of his depiction of Aquaman. The worst parts were the “surfer dude” persona that seemed to seep in every once in awhile. I’d like to see an Aquaman solo film to flesh out the character more, though.

The Flash

Obviously he was written to be the comedic relief for the movie.