Justice League Review

Hi, I'm Phil Lamar, voice of Green Lantern and

Justice League, and you're listening to the Geekcast

Radio Network. Hello, and welcome to another

episode of The Cinema Geeks. I am one of your

hosts, Optimus Solo, and joining me today, ladies

first, Hard Candy Mandy. I know you. From this

podcast thing. Is that all you know me from?

I was just thinking about the moment in Thor

when he sees Hulk. You just want to talk about

Thor still? I'm stuck on it right now. She was

asking me questions about - I thought it was

a call back to the beginning of Justice League,

so there you go. She was asking me questions

about the end credit scenes and she was talking

about freaking Jeff Goldblum's character. I'm

like, that's the wrong movie. So confused, you

guys. Back to back weeks of - We threw her off

talking about Thor and then we like rewatched

Guardians 2 and then she watched Justice League

She has no idea who which superhero is in which

movie which one's Marvel which one's DC. She's

lost And of course as you heard also with us

this movie revolt Dan. Hello. Hey, how's it going?

It's not going to shabby here. No Fridley sent

today. He is off fighting real -world battles,

I guess and leaving us to do carry the mantle,

I guess, as we're going today to review another

movie. Yeah, that's right. Two episodes in a

row where we review films and theater. So we

last talked about Thor at Ragnarok, and now we're

going to talk a little bit about Justice League.

So the first half or probably the first two thirds

of this episode will be giving you our take on

Justice League. And then after the break, we're

going to come back and give you our initial reactions

and thoughts. about the other side of the comic

book war I guess, the Marvel side, and we're

going to talk about the newest trailer that just

dropped for Avengers Infinity War. I think I

got that title right. So that'll be coming up

after the break, but first let's jump right into

it and let's talk a little... Justice League

first off get your guys initial excitement level

anticipation going into this film obviously DC

has had a little bit of a different track record

compared to Marvel not necessarily hitting everyone

out of the park early on we had a pretty polarizing

film in Man of Steel a lot of people really did

not like that film and and some people really

did gravitate towards it Batman versus Superman

obviously universally not liked by most by most

outside of our own very passionate hard candy

Mandy and then Suicide Squad tanked according

to most people and then of course Wonder Woman

kind of rebounded a little bit as far as the

universal acclaim that it got and now we get

Justice League so kind of seeing how they're

gonna do as they they do this team up film without

doing individual films kind of where they diverted

the path from the Marvel course I guess so Dan

All of the convoluted DC lead up to this and

the mixed bag of films that we got leading up

to this, what were you thinking going into Justice

League and what was your initial reaction coming

out? I was reluctantly anticipating it, if that

makes sense. I was hoping it could be good. I

thought there was some potential, but I was not

necessarily... Thinking that potential would

be realized and there's a lot of baggage with

the movie going into it Mostly I was just like

I wanted to come out so we can stop talking about

Batman v Superman Because I feel like that's

a movie. We've been talking about for like 50

years now so Just like I just stopped so I was

hoping that it would be good or it'd be an improvement

and I thought it would be an improvement and

Walking out of it. I thought it was I I do think

it's a far less interesting movie than Batman

v Superman, but a better one, if that makes sense.

It takes less risks, but also has less issues.

There's a lot of problems with it. It's not a

perfect film. There's areas that it can improve

upon, but I thought the parts were better than

the sum, and it really, I think... ended up being

a better movie due to the chemistry and the quality

of the characters and the actors that were portraying

them, where everything else surrounding them

was really a pretty big mess for the most part.

Considering what it could be, knowing that you're

introducing all these characters for the first

time, it actually was a much better movie than

I expected. I enjoyed it, but I think objectively

there's still a lot of problems with it. Did

Matt leave on purpose so he wouldn't have to

record this episode? He probably didn't want

to further strain his relationship with you when

it comes to Marvel and DC reactions. So Amanda,

you have been a fan of DC from the get -go. You

like these characters. You're willing to just

have fun and not maybe pick apart some of the

plots and the stories and whatnot. So were you

able to continue with this or was this a disappointment

for you? This is the big team -up film that a

lot of people have been waiting for for a long

time on the DC side. What do you think? I was

pumped for this movie. Alright ever since middle

school when I had a different Superman shirt

for every day of the week. I was ready for this

Okay, I feel like that's as long as this has

been talked about being made and it finally freaking

happened My excitement level was taps going into

this. I don't think I was disappointed really

at all I was a little worried, you know with

all the backlash that came with Batman versus

Superman that this was just gonna Be shit because

they were so beat down that you know it wasn't

it was gonna show in their work But I I really

liked it. I think the team up was great. Yeah,

I like the mashup. It was super It meshed so

well, but then they had their individual personalities

that did shine through. It was a good time, I'd

say, for initial thoughts. Dan, one more question

before I give my initial thoughts that I was

wondering about. Justice League, that is the

Avengers film for DC. That's the equivalent here.

Obviously, Justice League has had some properties,

like animated properties, cartoons, etc., TV

shows that have been successful or... pretty

praised by most people and this is again something

that you know you say that your Batman vs Superman

has been talked about for a long time but the

idea of Justice League and there being a film

like that has obviously also been an idea for

a long time. Do you feel like over the last three

or four years the kind of the clout or the idea

of a Justice League film has kind of lost some

of the glitz and glam that it might have had

had it come out you know without some of these

films prior to it? Yeah, I think, like I said,

going into it, there's just so much baggage and

it's one thing to see a universe come together

that you were able to buy into at the beginning,

but if you're not able to do that, it maybe lessens

it a little bit. I think it also lessens it a

little bit where you had a bunch of these characters

already coming together in a small bit where

you had Batman. To around the Wonder Woman in

Batman v Superman, so I don't know if that Makes

the whole team coming together a little anti

-climactic and the fact that When you're just

really adding cyborg flash and Aquaman does it

make it that much more like like did you kind

of peek out? with that moment in Batman v Superman,

I don't know. So I do think, and we'll get to

it, this should be huge, this should be exciting,

and seeing all these characters come together,

and I felt like that spectacle that it could

have been, it ended up not being, and I don't

know if it's because of the buildup wasn't there,

or just the film itself wasn't effective in making

it happen. Yeah, I've been listening to different

people's takes on the movie as far as podcasts,

blogs, reviews, et cetera, and I feel like instead

of this being this And I know it's it's unfair

to just always go back to Avengers But you know

the same type of hype that we had going into

Avengers and are they? Honestly gonna be able

to pull this off this team up Are they gonna

be able to do it and give each character the?

The kind of conversations that were happening

leading up to Avengers are not the conversations

That were happening leading up to Justice Egg,

and I feel like coming out of it. It was more

people Reacting in a positive way because it

wasn't the dumpster fire that was Suicide Squad

or that many people thought Batman versus Superman

and it's like It's just it wasn't as bad as it

could have been instead of it was this groundbreaking,

you know or shattering Phenomenal time at the

theater is what I kind of got and that's kind

of what my reception of it was for the most part

as well it's like I enjoyed that it wasn't as

bad as some of those other films and I enjoyed

some of the characters and some of the tone shifts

you know that we got kind of going away from

Batman vs Superman a little bit more light -heartedness

a little bit more fun so I enjoyed that aspect

but it still held all of the same type of story

problems plot problems etc so To me, it's hard

to think of this movie without still being somewhat

of a letdown. It's like not a letdown compared

to some of these past movies, but it's a letdown

compared to what Justice League should have been,

I guess is what my initial take was. And that's

coming from, you know, not necessarily the biggest

comic book fan or knowledgeable person in the

world. And I still feel like I was let down by

something that could have been just something

on a much higher level that we got. Like if you

would have said early, you know, like five years

ago, that there was going to be a Justice League

movie and it wasn't going to be in the top five

for box office, that it was not going to be as

well received as a Thor film or a Wonder Woman

film. Like there's no way anybody believes that.

And yet that's what we're facing with. So I guess

let's break down a little bit more and get into

this. Amanda, obviously we have some new characters

that are appearing. Quote -unquote new even though

like Dan said we saw sneaks and little bits of

them in in other films so out of the new cast

with the flash cyborg and Aquaman specifically

Did one work more than the other for you? Did

you enjoy all of them, or how did you feel about

those members of the Justice League? I think

they all were pretty dope. Their look, their

personalities, the way their powers and stuff

worked. I thought they were all pretty dope,

dude, but I think the Flash's reactions to things...

was hilarious constantly and stuff between like

him and Superman was great so I think maybe the

flash stuck out for me for comedy a little bit

more Jason Momoa definitely super dope as Aquaman

I think he is the most badass Aquaman I've ever

seen I always thought Aquaman was kind of a joke

but now he's definitely solidified himself as

a badass character and I think we saw like 0

.3 seconds of a cool -ass underwater fight, which

was awesome. Dan, what do you think? Did Flash

work for you from a comedic standpoint? Was Aquaman

badass as Amanda calls him, or what do you think

of these new guys? I thought the characters overall

were pretty effective cyborg was okay like it's

a tough character to play because it's like,

you know It's a character where you can't really

show that much emotion based upon like who he

is at the same time It's basically this walking

like the ACX mock, you know Basically whatever

fits the situation at the same time, but he worked

fine enough. He was functional in the pot At

least he had a purpose. I liked Ezra Miller as

the flash. I thought It was marks. Obviously,

you know people know the flash TV show and it

went a different route with the character and

he works as that You know, he's basically spider

-man right the white -eyed kid Coming, you know,

that's kind of a new and awing over everything.

He's enjoying He's like the fanboy of everyone

and not maybe the flash character that I know

many people want But I thought it worked well

enough not all this jokes worked on all the jokes

worked in general I did like Aquaman. I thought

we could get more of him. Like I felt like His

I feel like his movie that is eventually going

to happen I have a thought that's it's gonna

like take place in between this movie or in somewhere

because I feel like there's a lot of changes

to him that I don't know like there's a lot of

a lot of opportunity there for growth in a way

so I thought my mom looked great like he had

some good moments and some fun time and I like

his portrayal and the chemistry in the cast overall

was pretty good so I thought the characters in

general good the only person I actually had a

huge issue with or issue with was actually Ben

Affleck as Batman, who I loved in Batman v Superman,

but in this, I don't know, he just didn't have

it. He didn't seem comfortable in the role physically

or I don't know. It seemed like a different character

in many moments and this redemption arc he was

going through, I didn't think was as effective

as it needed to be. Yeah, I think that's an interesting

take and I'll real quick touch on the other ones.

I'll come right back to that Batman comment because

I have something to say about that. But for me,

I think you're right with Cyborg. I think that's

a hard character to do because it just for me

comes across so flat and so like, I don't know,

indifferent to the character overall. He didn't

excite me at all. He came across to me like you

mentioned the Flash TV series and he was like...

all the different people that they encountered

in that tv series who were just discovering a

power but were resistant to it and they had to

try to work with those characters and try to

convince them that you know they should be a

part of the team or something like that it was

just it seemed very generic to me for him i think

the performance was fine i think he did what

he could with what he had to work with but i

think it's a hard character pull off i think

you're right with that i do think that the flash

had i think he's good as as the flash I think

it's hard to reconcile the fact that there's

a Flash that's really good at the Flash on the

TV show and that this is going on at the same

time, so to speak, and it's like, oh, there's

really no way we could have got him, but that's

nothing against the performance there, because

I think the performance is fine. I do think the

Flash character though presents a lot of problems

when it comes to... Kind of checking over there

the plot and the story and making sure everything

makes sense that involves the flash Because it

seems like there were some things that were missed

or handled inappropriately When you have somebody

that has the powers that he does There's just

moments that I feel like it doesn't like you

think of what the flash should be is a character

very similar to like what we get when you get

like Quicksilver in the X -Men films or the Avenger

films it's someone that has a specific power

that you can't ignore and There's there's just

times where he's he shouldn't be where he is

or or his speech should come into into play like

that scene to me is completely bizarre where

everybody else is gone and he's still standing

there. Like, that didn't work as a comedy thing

for me, that worked as something that was...

not... what I would expect. You know what I mean?

That was hard to reconcile and I just think there

was other things throughout the film where it's

like, is he just not familiar with his powers

yet? At what point is he in his kind of growth

as that character? Did he just kind of learn

about it or has he known about this stuff for

a while? I wasn't quite sure how that was all.

He's not like full on into his... He doesn't

have his shit together yet. Like, towards the

end is when he gets his shit together, gets his

life on track. I just think if you were to watch

it again with a real close eye on stuff that

was involving his scenes, in some of this time,

it wouldn't make sense. I think you're being

real picky about that. No, I think that's...

There's like two instances made, one instance.

I need to re -watch it, I only watched it once,

so I'll re -watch it and I'll come up with a

list for you, but for me, I just think it's problematic.

It's problematic. Yeah, I don't know if I...

I can't really think of... You know, he basically

was... You know, he... doing crowd control for

much of the film or I don't know. I don't know

if I felt like they didn't utilize this. It's

tough because you have a dude who is fast as

light, but I liked how we did see as an experience,

especially when there's a certain sequence with

Superman and how he basically, what happens when

he just has speed and he can't rely on it and

the shock look on his face in that moment. So

I don't know. I don't know if... I felt like

I'm not saying there's no silly problems I'm

just saying I don't think he was a wow character

for me like I was expecting like like I guess

yeah silver and x -men like that was something

that was like this is what he can do and I know

it would be stupid if they did the same exact

thing and everyone would yell at him oh you just

copied him and had like a slow -motion sequence

or something like that but I'm just saying something

that would have kind of put him a little bit

more of a pizzazz with his power Yeah, I mean

there wasn't minus that one moment there wasn't

a sequence with with him or any of the characters

were you felt like each character got a major

action beater moment that he had some funny parts

and the good relationship with like Batman I

thought I thought they could expand upon much

further than they did but Action wise like there

wasn't much. I also thought the way he ran looked

ridiculous It looked like it was swimming here.

Like it just I know it's supposed to be looking

effortless, but it just I don't know. It just

looked kind of awkward. But yeah, I agree with

that too. I was watching that like what is what

are they supposed to be doing with this? form

of running the thing he's doing but um Aquaman

I agree with you guys like I think Jason Momoa

is the perfect person to play that I love that

he they've made him into something that's not

the typical you know just joke of a character

they made him a badass I agree with Amanda on

that I can't help but think of him and think

of Batista in Guardians of the Galaxy like they

somehow took this just mammoth guy and created

a real cool character with him and gave him he

seems to have some actually pretty decent comedic

timing and and some sense of Who he is and how

he's playing that role. So I do look forward

to seeing that I want to get back though to Dan

what you were saying about Batman because I think

you could almost say the similar things Well,

I guess in a different way, but similar things

to Superman and Batman. I think Those are the

characters we've seen the most of obviously in

these DC properties and it seems like they're

both completely different characters in this

film. One for the better and I think one for

the worse. I think in Batman's case it's almost

for the worse because I liked him better when

he was in Batman v Superman and stuff like that

because I just felt like he was more into it

and I don't know what the problem was here but

I just felt like something was missing whereas

Superman it seems like the tonal shifts that

have gone on from that original film where we

stop trying to be just completely dark and different

stuff like that and they're trying to lighten

it up and do it and it almost looks like we got

funny Superman this time or light -hearted Superman

and I liked that version way better than I've

liked in Man of Steel, Batman vs Superman or

anything that I've seen this particular version

of Superman show up. Did you see a difference

in Superman as well or is it just more Batman

kind of being a lesser of an effective character?

I thought he was, from the moment he first appeared

on screen, felt like he was a different Superman.

He felt like Superman for the first time. Henry

Cavill had some form of a personality in this.

They embraced the coininess of that character.

They embraced his naivete in a way. They didn't

try to make him brooding or this deconstruction

of Superman. They made him Superman. It doesn't

make sense with everything that came before,

not really, but I thought it was the best portrayal

of that character that they've had. I understood

it when it came to Man of Steel, because he's

learning to become Superman, but when he's supposed

to be Superman in PBS, it didn't feel that way.

If this same character showed up previously,

it would make his death, I think, mean more because

you would understand the loss of hope that the

world felt. I think you would, in a way, feel

that way too. So I thought the way they handled

Superman was really effective in this. Amanda,

what do you think about the handling of Batman

and Superman and kind of their performances and

portrayals? Do they feel like the exact same

characters you've seen in previous movies or

did you kind of notice some differences? I felt

like Batman was a little bit more in the background

of this one. But that's fair. I mean we already

got a ton of him in Batman versus Superman I

think it was cool seeing a different side of

Superman come out in this so when he's still

kind of all when they bring him You know back,

and he's still all discombobulated or whatnot

I think it was cool seeing his angry face and

seeing what he could do if he wasn't just trying

to help people And hopefully if people have seen

the film already I guess we're so much spoiling

the fact that Superman came back, but I don't

think that's too much of something that was unexpected,

so I apologize if we threw anybody off with that

reveal, I guess. Dan, one thing though that that

leads me to kind of talk about a little bit and

kind of want to get your guys' take. Obviously,

this had somewhat of a tumultuous production

here with what happened to Zack Snyder and his

personal life and him needing to step down, and

obviously we had Joss Whedon come in. So I'm

wondering, do you attribute some of these...

Light heartedness or some of these different

kind of takes on the character or some of these

little tone shifts because they said that there

was gonna be no tonal shifts you weren't gonna

be able to know anything as far as Joss Whedon

taking over and then that it was gonna be very

fluid and I don't know if I could buy that but

do you attribute some of that to Joss Whedon

or or because my thought in the back of my head

is He comes in and you already have the basic

story. He's not gonna be able to do too much

to divert from that. You already have the basic

structure of the story. You already have a lot

of the stuff shot, etc, etc, etc. So did he just

see something and say the best I can do is just

to work with the delivery and the take of some

of these characters and try to make it more lighthearted

and try to add some humor or try to add some

just fun entertainment value to a story that

I'm not going to be able to fix? Or am I giving

him too much credit and Zack Snyder not enough?

I don't know, like, I feel like sometimes when

it comes to like that, and I've read a lot too

regarding like, oh, that was a Zack Snyder moment,

that was a Josh Whedon moment, and I don't know

for sure, honestly, because I think there are

certain times where it did feel like the dialogue

or the joke that was being made felt like a moment

that that's probably not the way Zack Snyder

would do it. And similar to where there are sequences

in which we're certainly tying back to what came

before we're certainly was probably Zach Snyder's

personal touch that was shown. I didn't notice

that a lot per se and knowing that Going into

this there was a big push to make it lighter

and funnier or what -have -you or having more

jokes that I do wonder if there are some jokes

or people thinking that's a Josh Whedon joke

It was just actually sex center just giving going

with the directions that it was given So I didn't

think it was ever super jarring per se like it

didn't if I didn't know this was a movie directed

by two directors I wouldn't went into a blind.

I don't think I'd ever feel that way going into

it but I what there are moments where it does

You feel like you see Just we in this in this

dialogue kind of come and come to play Especially

when it comes like some of the pop culture references

things like that, but I didn't think it was super

super enormous noticeable No, I don't think so

either. It's just hard to kind of watch something

and say, you know, when you don't know who's

responsible for what. Not that you need to place

credit or blame on anybody else, I don't think

necessarily. I think the only moment that I saw

that seemed for me that it was somewhat right

out of a Marvel movie from a comedic standpoint

was the the Lasso of Truth moment with Aquaman.

I felt like that was something I would have seen

in every single Marvel film, something of that

nature that kind of hit perfectly from a humor

standpoint. But Amanda, one thing we have not

talked about yet is villain in this film. So

let's get into that a little bit. Obviously when

we talk about superhero films a lot of people

like to kind of bash or heavily critique the

villains and a lot of times they haven't been

too nice to them. What do you think we had here

with Steppenwolf? Was that a worthy villain in

your mind or what did you think? I think he was

kind of like a little bitch, honestly. Because,

I mean, they show how he was defeated initially.

That's why he was gone. And then, we see what

happens to him in this one. I feel like he didn't

do much of the dirty work. He just showed up

after all the shit was done and then grabbed

what he was like, gonna get and say, ah ha ha,

I got it you guys. But then his little, little

Valkyrie looking things, the things that could

smell fear or whatever, I think those were scary

and effective. And is Batman psychic? Cause he

dreamed about those. And then Batman vs Superman.

Yeah, yeah, you don't remember that desert scene

where he's I try to forget everything about Batman

versus Superman Well, that's the whole thing.

If it's if it's like it's if it's supposed to

be a flash forward. Yeah No, it's I don't know.

It was like a dream sequence. So yeah Those those

are supposed to be that those are the same things

apparent even so it's yeah Interesting. Yeah,

I didn't I didn't pick up on that Dan. What was

your take on Steppenwolf? Is it something that

was very similar to the villain? We got obviously

in Wonder Woman Is there a little bit too much

CGI going on there, or what do you feel like

his effectiveness was as a character? Minimal

He was easily like the worst part of it and like

in a way It's like if I was wondering like if

you if he didn't exist Would it really affect

the film like it was legitimately just the parademons?

You probably would have given yourself more time

and space to devote to these characters. So I

thought, yeah, he was pretty useless from start

to finish. Wasn't very interesting. It's one

thing to have a bad villain in having one dimensional.

OK, fine. But at least make him look interesting

or have a fun performance. And it didn't have

any of that character design wise. He was super

flat, like so legitimately like He wasn't, my

thing is like he wasn't super awful, he was just

super forgettable. Amanda, what did you think

of the character design and the look of him?

I don't think he was intimidating looking at

all. I don't think that his look was effective.

I think the CG wasn't done well. All the other

CG I thought was really great though. Yeah, I

think for some reason it seemed like somebody

didn't go over with a fine tooth with his character

in the CGI rendering. I don't know what happened

there, but I think my biggest problem with him

is more about some of the writing behind his

character, like the motives and what he's trying

to do. I do not understand these mother boxes.

They're basically hidden by a variety of different

people. Descendants have a part of that Wonder

Woman's the Atlanteans the Themyscaryans. I'm

gonna get all this wrong Yeah, so they all hide

part of this and it's supposed to be you know

hidden so that no one will ever be able to find

them and He can basically just sense where they're

all at Like I didn't understand That part of

it all but maybe I'm not supposed to be understanding

the plot of this But it just seemed like these

are all hidden in these super secret ways so

that nobody ever find them and all he has To

do is like think about it and he's like, oh,

I know where this is I know where that is and

I know where that is I'm gonna do these portal

things go to each one of them and grab them and

we're gonna move along the plot I did did I miss

something? Am I supposed to be understanding

something different that I didn't get on that

first watch? Did you guys pick up on I don't

know if I supposed to be some sort of energy

signature that they're able to like Key in on

because that's why they went after Cyborg he

was coming for their mother box and the paradigm

was were able to like Recognize him. So I don't

know if that's what it was like that. There's

a certain energy per se But that's that was what

I assumed going in I thought there was some sort

of mention to it, but it wasn't very specific

Okay, because I was completely lost on, I was

like, this seemed like it was way too easy for

him to find these, and then having a rather quick

pace. So I was a little bit thrown off on that.

Other story things that you guys wanted to bring

up, anything that you liked that they did plot

-wise, or things that you were confused about,

or any general notes on the movie, Amanda? Why

do they keep the ship? Is it Zod's ship? that

had all the amniotic fluid in it, they saw what

came out of that thing. Why did they save it?

Why did they burn that fluid, get rid of it,

flush it, whatever, and then junk the ship? They

saved it. They saw what could happen and they

saved it. Who allowed that? Who said this is

okay? Yeah, that's a good point. I didn't think

about that. Any other notes that you had? The

Amazons were even more badass in this, I'd say.

I like that we got some more chick badassery

from the Amazons. Absolutely. Dan, other things

that you liked, disliked about the film, story,

plot? We obviously got to see a little bit more

of the Amazons, a little bit more of Atlantis

and a brief snippet of that. What did you like

and dislike about those things? I thought the

best action sequence was probably the Amazon

sequence. I think that was effectively done.

Just like you know, you have these like Amazons

killing one other and like the use of them on

the box and how that played into it I wish there

was more of that. I felt the finale itself was

just I don't know it looked bad and it just like

it had a couple moments here and there but it

was just also like Legitimately, it was basically

Superman separating a box Like that was like

that. That's where every it all came down to

And it wasn't really it like okay, I guess Fine,

I mean I Know I thought there was something like

I like the moment where you see Superman You

know like flashes taping this one person and

you see Superman with a entire building of people

and stuff like that So there they had spots for

that like me that added to it but like I was

I was also kind of like impressed with like how

they how much they got done in two hours Like

you're introducing some major characters and

how they kind of hinted at who those characters

were in their history relatively quickly I thought

that was done. Well, like you got struck by lightning

and and so it they were Given people enough.

I think that never heard of these characters

were not too much. So That did kind of impress

me because this movie like it could have been

so much worse than it is considering that you're

introducing some major characters With no backstory

and they're just kind of showing up But I thought

they could add in some they were able to add

an action without it feeling super acquisition

II if that's the word but uh Yeah, I like that

one. Yeah, I don't think I had anything else

too much on the on this stuff I think the story

and the plot has some weaknesses there But I

think the characters are good enough to kind

of get past that it was anybody else thrown off

by trying to Come to terms with JK Simmons not

being Jay Jonah Jameson in a comic book film

Anybody else like his character? It was so brief,

I mean, I didn't get much from him, but yeah,

he was good. Yeah, I hope we get more, but yeah,

considering it's much of a personality, you know.

Right, and Lois Lane still bugs me. I like the

actress, you know, and I like, I think she performs

it fine, but I can't stand how her character

has been written in any of these films. I just...

How is she always where she needs to be? It's

just she's always there and I don't feel like

she ever adds too much. I mean little brief moments

here and there but I don't know I think that

her character has been generally mishandled through

these films so far. The relationship with her

in Superman is just it's not what the movie thinks

it is and it's like or needs it to be. They just

don't have really any chemistry so I mean so

I think that doesn't help things. Yeah, so but

yeah, I think overall a positive step in the

right direction at least I think like Dan said

it's it's not nearly as bad as it could have

been I think they did the characters justice.

I think they have people now excited for More

Aquaman and stuff like that. I think people were

already excited based on the Wonder Woman film

to see more of her And I guess the verdicts out

on what's gonna happen with Batman in the future

that we'll talk about the future here in a little

bit But before that just any other final thoughts

and what kind of grade would you give? Justice

League before we get into a little bit of the

after credits talk and maybe the future of what's

coming down the pike. Dan, what kind of grade

would you give Justice League? Ah man, I would

probably give it... Six and a half a seven six

and a half seven per set. Yeah around that That

could go up or down. I think a lot based upon

rewatch And I'm excited for what's coming next.

I feel a little bit better I think there's things

they can kind of take and improve on going forward.

I do I don't know. I'm worried because I don't

know if they're gonna just revamp everything

because it didn't do well and it There's some

singers at the end that I don't want to spoil

and I'm excited to see what that means, but I

hope it's not one of those things where we get

the Green Lantern Stinger and then that's never

talked about again. Yeah, that'd be interesting.

Amanda, before you give your thoughts here, what's

your final take on Justice League and what kind

of grade do you give it and how does it stack

up to some of the other DC films we've gotten?

As far as other DC films goes, I think it's in

the upper echelon there, and definitely excited

for more. I'll give it a 7 -2. Okay. I'm in right

in that same camp. I was floating somewhere in

the 6 -7 range. I think it's better than I anticipated,

so I was happy with that, and I'd like you guys,

I'd like to see a little bit more about it. Let's

get into some end credit scenes here, so if you

haven't seen that and you want to avoid that,

skip ahead about 5 or 10 minutes. But obviously

we got a couple end credit scenes. How did those

work for you? What did you like and dislike,

Amanda? I think that the race between Superman

and Flash was super cute. I enjoyed that quite

a bit and I think that the Deathstroke scene

was intriguing. So you're a fan of both of them?

Yes, but I think that's probably stemming from

my love for the TV show, so we'll see how it

holds up. And it's striking how close those two

characters look. to each other, the TV version

and the film version of Deathstroke. I thought

it was the dude. I was like, we were both having

the conversation. If they can get the same Deathstroke,

why can't they get the same Flash? But it's not

the same Deathstroke. It's Joel, and I'm not

going to try to say his last name. Dan, what

did you think of the two uncredited scenes? I

thought it was, you know, the Flash Superman

thing was cool to see. It was an unexpected little

element that I thought, you know, was a nice

little surprise. The final one, interested in

what it means, like where it can go. I don't

know. After seeing it, I was like, I can do without

Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor for a while. And

then like, oh, there he is. So I'm like, at least

he's bald, I guess. I don't know. But what about

just the idea that maybe we'll get some of these

iconic villains all together in something that

DC might have an easier chance of doing something

like that than Marvel would even like, you know

the whole League of villains, you know, I forget

what the actual name is from the comic books

But if they were to put that together, is that

something you would be intrigued to see Dan?

Yeah, I think so Again, like I think you would

mean more if like we saw them before they just

ended up in this other movie but there are a

lot of stuff from like the dark side too. So

is that something that's going to be in a different

movie? Is that what's going to be the next Justice

League in Dark Sides like in Justice League 304?

I don't know. So it's I'm interested. Like I

said, my only concern is like if they scrap all

those plans and do something completely different.

Yeah, we'll have to definitely wait and see what

the plans are for that if you haven't been keeping

track as far as the box office goes Justice League

had obviously a pretty high budget 300 million

dollar budget according to internet sources and

Domestia has made that worldwide but domestic

Not the juggernaut that we thought it might be

right now. It's ranking 11 on the year at 178

million. So that's You know below Logan below

Thor below Spider -Man, below Guardians of the

Galaxy, and below Wonder Woman. So is there a

chance that Justice League comes in last at the

box office for all the comic book films this

year, Dan? And then what would that... I mean,

can we even wrap our heads around the thought

of that? Well, when we did a box office projection,

I put a Lego Batman movie making more money than

it because I thought that would be kind of just

ironic. So I can wrap my head around that, but

it's just crazy because it's making less than...

I never thought Thor would outdo a movie with

both Batman and Superman in it. That's pretty

mind -boggling. Yeah, and from a Rotten Tomatoes

point of view, also not faring too well there,

it currently has a 41 % on Rotten Tomatoes. So

it could be definitely worse, but it could be

better. So I don't know, it's going to be interesting

to see the reaction. I think one thing that DC

has done wrong over the years is react too much.

to what they think everybody wants or thinks

everybody needs instead of just kind of staying

on a strict path and kind of trusting what they're

doing. So I don't know, will we get another thing

where all of a sudden they try to redo this,

redo that, cast different people or just scratch

the whole thing and start over? I think that

would be unfortunate because I think they have

the right people cast in a lot of these roles

and I think the characters themselves are interesting.

I think it just takes a solid story behind them

and that's what we've kind of been lacking so

far or a solid villain that they haven't seemed

to... to quite get right so far. Even when you

had something like Suicide Squad, you kind of

chose the wrong villain out of your options there,

at least as far as I was concerned. So, interesting

take there. I did appreciate seeing Deathstroke.

I think they got the character design well. I

think he looks cool. I think it's another good

casting of that character. So we will have to

wait and see, and you guys will have to let us

know what you guys thought of Justice League

and the future of DC. Are you excited for what's

coming down the pike? You know, this was originally

going to be two films. They were going to have

Justice League part one and the Justice League

part two. I don't know if they were two different

stories or if they just thought that this was

going to take two movies to tell. I'm not quite

up on the inside baseball with that type of stuff,

so I'll have to see what's coming down the road

for that. Amanda, are you excited for more DC?

Yes, sir. Excited for your Aquaman movie? Yeah.

What about seeing some DC villains team up in

the same way? I think they have some super cool

villains. Like you said, it was stupid to choose

the villain that they did for Suicide Squad when

they could have brought out some baddies. You

know what I mean? So it's going to be more fun,

I'd say. Okay. Well, let us know what your thoughts

are and we're going to take a quick break. When

we come back, we're going to shift. Let's go

away from DC. Let's talk a little bit of Marvel

after the break and give you our reactions to

the latest trailer for The Infinity War. On the

simplistic reviews podcast we talk movies We

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Hello, everyone. This is JD from the In Session

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Friday. Subscribe today and hear me verbally

beat JD like a Cherokee drum. No, no, no, no,

no. That's not how this works, sir. Alright,

thanks for sticking with us. As we said before

the break, we're going to switch to Marvel now.

Obviously a huge trailer that dropped and had

a lot of people reacting in a lot of different

ways. I haven't heard what you guys think yet

on either of these, so this is kind of going

in a little bit blind. Let's start with you,

Dan. What did you think of the trailer for Avengers

Infinity War? I hated it. No, I... I greatly

enjoyed it and it's yeah, it's I guess let me

fanboy is a little bit but it's just like it's

kind of insane when you kind of look back and

realize like this story has legitimately been

building for a decade, which is crazy because

like, you know, I can't think of like franchises

that would last that long, you know, 19 movies,

20 movies, all these different characters and

it like it just it felt like it was everything.

was just falling in the piece. It was just this

puzzle that was kind of being put together. And

suddenly when you see it, you just take a step

back and look at it, and you're like, oh, that's

what it's to look like. And I definitely think

it looks like that. It looks like it's going

to be great. It just seems like there's some

kind of three major kind of story beats that's

going to have the Wakanda story, the New York

story, and maybe the space one. I have a strong

feeling a lot of the Avengers won't be coming

together to the very end. but I thought it was

just it was you know everything I wanted to be

in more so Amanda your initial take on the trailer

I dug it I dug a look I dug the fact that we're

gonna be getting some pretty funny matchups like

Thor and Drax Can you imagine? There's gotta

be some moments between Thor and Drax. Even like

Star -Lord and Thor too, I think that'd be pretty

funny. And I also can't wait to see like rugged

cap, like unshaven cap. And I'm really interested

in the Wakanda story stuff too. So when Black

Panther comes out, I think I'm gonna be even

more intrigued to see more of. Yeah, definitely

stepping up to have Black Panther kind of be

the springboard into this film and kind of even

ramp excitement up more by showing us a little

bit more of that world. I think you're right,

Dan, with the kind of the three prongs of the

story that we might get and then eventually coming

together. I think it's interesting, too, you

know, we've seen team ups in this. Marvel Cinematic

Universe and we've seen different people appear

in different people's movies. We have never seen

any of the Guardians appear in any of the other

films so far, so that will be definitely something

interesting. I really dug the trailer. I was

very impressed with a lot of things. Obviously,

the biggest look we've gotten at Thanos so far,

a new look for Spider -Man with his costume.

That was not the same costume that we've seen

before for Spider -Man, correct? I think it was

his upgraded one. Yeah, the one they have now.

Yeah. A look at the Infinity Gauntlet and kind

of how that's going in. My question for you guys

is, you know... The big question going into the

first Avengers film was, you know, are they gonna

be able to put all these people together? Are

they gonna be able to share screen time? Are

they gonna be able to do it so everybody has

their moment and make it feel like it's still

a cohesive story? And that was when we were dealing

with, like, a half a dozen people. Like, this

is a ton of people. It's, like, not just the

people that they had for the Avengers, because

all of them are still around. It's, like, add...

Two to three times more characters on top of

that I mean just adding the people from Guardians

is a whole nother Avengers group you know as

far as numbers wise and then you have all the

people that have come about with dr. Strange

and Black Panther and spider -man now and all

these other folks Dan are we at all worried about

they've proven us that they do everything right

and you know They haven't taken too many missteps

or anything like that and every time we've ever

doubted them. They've proved us wrong Is this

another situation where we should just trust

that they know how to do all this together? It'll

work because we won't see a lot of them together

per se and also, you know a lot of them have

had their films already They've had their growth.

So there isn't really much on a basic character

standpoint that really needs to be driven across

in a way because you know, it's not like this

is basically going to be about a story of survival

and coming together and I think the hard part

is gonna be like how do you manage all these

different pieces get everyone their point of

view across like and make sure that each piece

makes sense along the same lines of, I think

goal number one is gonna make Thanos feel like

this threat that he needs to be. And if they

can do that, I think everything else can kind

of fall into line. So I think that's gonna be

the biggest key in making sure they get that

accomplished because if he's, you know, Steppenwolf,

for example, this could make the movie not at

all what it could, what you want it to be. Amanda

are you thinking the similar lines that you do

trust that they're gonna be able to balance all

of these different characters and actors and

give them each What they need and we've already

known enough about them that we don't need to

get too much in depth There's gonna be some points

where I'm gonna say I wanted more of this collaboration.

I wanted more of these Characters together, and

I don't feel like I got enough of you know this

grouping or this matchup or or enough crossovers

between the groups, I don't think that there's

going to be a way for us to be completely satisfied.

Okay, what about, he mentioned Thanos and obviously

we got to see a better look and a closer up look

of him. We got to hear Josh Brolin's voice a

lot more and he was talking about if Thanos works

or not as a villain. What did you think about

just his look? Do you buy into the character

design? Do you think he looks like an intimidating

villain or what's your hopes for him? Yeah, I

think he looks pretty good as far as the CG goes.

I think that he can be intimidating. If his movements

are good, I think that's what's gonna... kind

of deter my or swing how I feel about him either

way because we didn't get a lot of him you know

it was more like his chest up you know what I

mean and I think if he's got those like this

boneless movement or whatever like we got from

Steppenwolf that it's gonna not do it for me

but so we'll have to wait and see on that. Dan

what was your take on what did you like what

you saw out of the the look of Thanos? I thought

it was effective. I'm glad they went motion capture.

I thought it looked like there was some weight

to his face. I guess, I don't know, it didn't

look too uncanny valley. There was personality

there. It didn't look... to CGI, it was a good

in -between. He seemed intimidating. There was

obviously that punch of Iron Man that I thought

was done well. And I thought Roland's voice,

I was leery of the casting at first, but I thought

his voice actually worked really well. I don't

know if they've digitized it at all or any way,

but I liked what he was bringing to the character.

Yeah, I agree. I think the sound worked well.

I'm still somewhat on the fence because every

time you have a villain you have some level of

motion capture CGI or whatever which I guess

is somewhat unavoidable but it always is like

what's the finished product going to look like

and sometimes it can even change from the time

we see a trailer to you know the actual finished

product so we'll have to wait and see on that

but I liked what I saw so far now the obvious

the other question that people are going to be

speculating they already have been for a while

now you know the one thing that people have kind

of held against Marvel is the whole Nobody ever

dies everybody always is you know? In vulnerable

and you know indestructible type thing or even

if they were hurt They're gonna come back and

this that and the other that ends here, right?

I mean we will see one or multiple characters

die right Dan in this I Don't know I don't know

if we will like I like I said, I feel like Thor

Avengers force is supposed to be the finale of

it all so I could see Maybe one or two characters

dying, but I think it will... I don't know what

the plan is for Avengers 4, if we're supposed

to tie in this or not, because we're supposed

to be part one and part two. I don't know if

that's still the plan, but... I don't think if

people are going to get the massive amount of

the deaths that they're looking for. I think

there might be some, but I have a feeling that

the deaths are probably going to happen in the

next movie. But maybe not. I could be wrong.

It could be typically when we've had the movies

that have been split like this, knowing that

this one is going to be like the Harry Potter

or something of that nature, it tends to end

on the darkest moment. So maybe it will end when

all seems lost. But I don't know. I was thinking

suspicion that minus perhaps the vision per se,

just throwing that out there as a guess, that

we won't see a lot of character deaths. Amanda,

do you think that the trailer was alluding to

vision being taken out? Obviously, one of the

Infinity Stones that Thanos needs is in his head.

So is he maybe high on the list of possible people

that we're going to see an end to? Or what do

you think? Oh, he's getting trashed at least

for a little while. I mean, how does he stay

alive then, otherwise? I was thinking about that

when you see that getting ripped from his forehead.

I'm like, that essentially is like his soul,

what makes him tick, you know what I mean? That's

his brain, his soul, everything. So I'm not really

sure how he can survive without it. Who would

make you the most upset if they died in this

film? Thor. Dan, who's the number one person

you don't want them to kill? Don't want him to

kill. Yeah, man. Ah Geez not saying they'll kill

anybody But if there's one that you're like,

which one would make you the most upset if you

never got to see this this guy Play this character

again or girl Probably cap. I Chris Evans that

Just because this comes up in all also great

are also good Or you know what it would it would

be rather disappointing if You know, Black Panther

dies because he'd just be starting. But mostly

just because of my connection to the character,

it would have to be Cap. Alright, so definitely

a lot of people freaking out a lot of people

excited with this look at Infinity War and a

lot of questions a lot of speculation It's gonna

be a fun time Here and all that kind of go back

and forth up until we get the release of this

film So you guys will have to let us know what

you guys think of the trailer for Infinity War

and what your Excitement level is for the future

of Marvel and the future of DC. We talked about

both of them Which one are you more excited for

going into? 2018 because there's definitely a

lot of different things to look at when it comes

to the world of the comic book, films, TVs, etc.

So you have to let us know by going to the website

geekcastradio .com, commenting on the post there.

Or you can interact with us on Twitter. You can

interact with the show at Cinema Geekcast. Ask

us questions or just comment on what you think,

what you like, etc. You can also interact with

us individually if you want to seek any of us

out on an individual basis. Amanda, how can people

talk to you? At Hard Candy Mandy, eyes no lies.

Dan, what about you? I'm at Movie Revolt. And

I am at Optimus Solo. And that's it for this

week. And we'll be back with some more talk on

Kevin Smith coming forward. We'll have some more

video game, film talk, and maybe even another

new movie review coming down the pike with a

little film called Star Wars coming out. We might

get a chance to talk about that. So a lot of

stuff to look forward to as we wrap up 2017.

So stay tuned next week for another chance to

listen to The Cinema Geeks.