THE FLASH : Tuesday 13th June 2023.

I saw the M Rated 'THE FLASH' at an early screening this week two days ahead of its official worldwide release. This much hyped and eagerly awaited American Superhero film is based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It is intended to be the thirteenth instalment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and is Directed by Andy Muschietti whose previous feature film making credits take in his debut with 2013's 'Mama', then the Stephen King novel adaptation of 'It' in 2017 and 'It Chapter Two' in 2019. This film is released in the US this week also, following multiple delays caused by Director changes, the COVID-19 pandemic, and post-production setbacks. It had a production budget of about US$220M, and has garnered mixed or average reviews.

The film opens up with a Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) late for work and hurriedly walking into his local cafe to collect his usually pre-prepared breakfast from the obliging female assistant working the counter, but on this day she is off sick and so his breakfast has not been prepared. He painstakingly looks at his watch and gives the young male assistant his order who would rather pass the time of day chatting than prep up his morning sustenance. Barry's phone rings and it is Batman's trusted butler and assistant Alfred (Jeremy Irons) demanding that he is urgently needed in Gotham City to attend a robbery at a hospital where the thieves have made off with a suitcase containing vials of a deadly virus. While waiting for his order Barry reluctantly asks whether Batman can attend to the scene or Wonder Woman even, but both are it seems indisposed. Barry makes his exit to the bathroom and appears out in the street as The Flash. What follows is The Flash's superspeed run to Gotham City to attend to the hospital that has seen a huge sinkhole appear immediately outside and the entire wing of the hospital about to come crashing down into it. Of course high up in the hospital tower is a suite containing several new born babies, a nurse and a therapy dog who all go crashing out the plate glass window as the side of the building begins to topple. But, with The Flash on the scene he is able to save all the babies, the nurse and the dog and bring them to safety on the ground. 

In the meantime the Batman (Ben Affleck) has arrived on his Batbike and is chasing down the villains through the streets of Gotham, amongst much vehicular carnage, the exchange of rapid gunfire, mortars and burning rubber. Eventually, Batman brings the last villain to heel while dangling off a bridge with the villain holding onto Batman by his fingertips and Alfred blurting down the phone to not allow the case of virus vials to fall into the river. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) appears and using her lasso of truth hauls Batman and the villain to safety. Job done, the city saved and the three part ways with The Flash returning to the cafe just a few minutes later for the assistant to hand over his custom made breakfast. 

Barry then goes to work and is chastised by his boss for being late - a perpetual habit it seems. Later, as The Flash, Barry revisits his childhood home where he fondly remembers his parents Nora (Maribel Verdu) and Henry (Ron Livingstone). Nora sends Henry out to the local supermarket to buy an extra can of tomatoes for a special pasta sauce she is making. With the young Barry upstairs in his bedroom, he sees his father return and hears his mother scream out. Rushing down to the kitchen, Barry sees his mother slumped against the kitchen cabinet with a knife sticking out of her stomach and his father holding the knife yelling out for Barry to call 911. However, Henry is accused of her murder and imprisoned, with the trial set for tomorrow. Barry speaks with Henry over the phone, with Henry telling his son that the court case is a foregone conclusion and that all the odds are firmly stacked against him, just before the phone call is cut off automatically.

Racked with emotional turmoil, Barry inadvertently runs at such a speed that he travels back in time, and upon returning to the present day has a conversation with Bruce Wayne about it, saying that he can change the past and save his mother and father, and that he could do likewise for Bruce and save his parents too. But Bruce explains that if you mess with the past you can cause untold damage to the future, and to drop the idea. At that Bruce jumps back into his Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 and drives off. Despite Bruce's warnings The Flash goes back to the time of Nora's death, and changes the outcome so that she lives.

When The Flash attempts to get back to the present-day, he winds up in an alternate 2013 where Nora is alive. Barry greets his parents warmly and settles down for dinner over a bowl of pasta, but through the kitchen window he sees his past self approaching the house. He quickly dashes outside and intercepts his younger self. After explaining the realities of time travel to a bewildered younger Barry, he realises he is in the day of the lab accident that bestowed upon Barry his powers - 29th September. And so the older Barry takes the younger Barry to the Central City Police Department where he helps give his younger self his powers during a freak storm in which a lightning bolt strikes the side of the building through a window and smashing a mix of chemical bottles spilling all over him, but in the process, the older Barry looses his powers. Older Barry attempts to train younger Barry in the use of his powers but has trouble doing so, as his younger self is a lot more impetuous. Later with the pair out in the city, they learn via TV news broadcasts, of General Zod’s (Michael Shannon) invasion on Earth. And so the two Barry’s go to Wayne Manor in the hopes of locating Batman, as the pair need all the help they can get if they are to save our little green planet from destruction.

Entering the somewhat run down and neglected Wayne Manor, they find an alternate version of Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) who has long since given up on crime fighting since Gotham has become one of the safest cities in the country. However, explaining the predicament the two Barry's now find themselves in, they convince him to help them find Superman who is being held captive in a Russian base high up in the Arctic Circle. 

Upon gaining entry to the base they eventually find the massive steel sphere that Superman is encased in. Instead though of finding Superman, they find his cousin Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle) who is physically weakened and mentally drained, but they rescue her anyway. After doing so and escaping through the roof of the base, Kara quickly recovers her powers when exposed to the sun's solar energy, and she almost single handedly dispenses with the small army of Russian soldiers guarding the base. The older Barry asks Bruce to help him get his powers back by recreating the accident that bestowed him those powers in the first place. The first attempt fails and nearly kills Barry prompting Kara aka Supergirl, to fly Barry into the storm and get struck by lightning which has the desired effect.

Supergirl and Batman join the two Barry's in attempting to defeat Zod, who by now has begun the process of destroying Earth. During the battle with Zod, Supergirl learns that Zod killed the infant Kal-El when his pod got knocked off course. She is naturally enraged. Just as Supergirl overpowers Zod and seemingly gains the upper hand, Zod manages to kill her and take a sample of her blood which he will use to revitalise the dying planet Krypton. Batman meanwhile sacrifices himself to save the Barry's.

The younger Barry insists he travel back in time to save them both and does so multiple times but keeps failing, each time becoming a slightly darker unhinged version of himself, and as the time continuum becomes increasingly fragmented. The older Barry tries to reason with the dark Flash but his attempts prove futile in the Speed Force as the multiverse begins to implode, but not before older Barry has visions of alternate Supermen (Christopher Reeve, Adam West, George Reeves and Nicolas Cage). A future version of Dark Flash then arrives to kill his younger self, so saving the multiverse and restoring the equilibrium. 

In the aftermath, Barry fixes the timeline and reconciles himself with his mother's death. Back in the present day new evidence is provided in Henry's court case so earning him his freedom. Outside the court house Barry is met by his former girlfriend, Iris West (Kiersey Clemons) who asks him out on date at which he quickly responds with a resounding yes, after which Bruce Wayne pulls up in his Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 who is not the Ben Affleck version of the character, but the George Clooney version. If you sit in your seat right until the end credits have rolled, you'll see a scene in which Barry is assisting a very drunken Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) while telling him of his recent experiences. 

'The Flash' is arguably one of the best DCEU big screen adaptations to date and Director Andy Muschietti has proved himself more than capable in helming a cinematic extravaganza such as this. The action sequences are exactly what we have all come to expect from a Superhero movie, and the CGI rendering whilst not perfect is passable. Ezra Miller is well cast in the role of dual Barry Allen's/The Flash and seeing Michael Keaton reprise his role as Batman for the first time in thirty years is a real trip down memory lane, whilst nods to former Batmen and Supermen also adds to the nostalgia, but is probably there more for the fan service than to add any weight to the plot lines. There are moments of real humour and emotion interspersed between the action set pieces that help elevate this final instalment in the DCEU, before new joint CEO's James Gunn and Peter Safran's new franchise - the DCU rolls out, above many of the also-rans that have gone before. The final act is long and drawn out however, and overly repetitive, and just how many more films do we need to have in this genre that feature a multiverse for Chrissakes - after all we've had two in the last two weeks, plus a whole bunch more in recent years. Nonetheless, 'The Flash' is certainly worth the price of your movie ticket. 

'The Flash' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

DEATH ON THE NILE : Tuesday 8th February 2022.

I saw the Australian Premier screening of the PG Rated 'DEATH ON THE NILE' at the Open Air Cinema at Mrs. Macquarie's Point in Sydney earlier this week. This mystery thriller is Directed, Co-Produced and stars Kenneth Branagh and is based on the 1937 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie, is the follow up to Branagh's 2017 film 'Murder on the Orient Express', and is the third screen adaptation of the novel after the 1978 feature film and an episode on the TV series 'Agatha Christie's Poirot' aired in 2004. The film was originally set to be released on 20th December 2019, before being rescheduled to 9th October 2020. It was then pushed back two weeks to 23rd October and again to 18th December in response to the domestic box office during the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2020, the film was removed from its upcoming release schedule until further notice. The next month, the film was rescheduled to 17th September 2021 and in March 2021, it was then moved to this week. Costing US$90M to produce, the film has so far generated mixed or average Reviews. 

The film opens up with black and white footage of the trenches during WWI where French and Belgian troops have just taken orders to advance on the German line in three hours time when the wind changes direction in their favour, so supposedly allowing them to make the advance undercover of a canopy of gas. The commanding officer of the French and Belgian company (sporting an impressive moustache) gives his final orders to his men saying that many of them will surely die. Then turning around is a young soldier, Poirot (a clean shaven and de-aged Kenneth Branagh) who says that the birds circling overhead change the direction of their flight when the wind changes and that he has been observing them for months, and if they are to succeed in breaching the German line they must go within the next seven or eight minutes. And so they go, and undercover of a canopy of gas they surprise and storm the German line with minimal casualties on their side, their mission a great success against all odds. Until that commanding officer steps on a trip wire which triggers a huge explosion killing him instantly and sending many of his company straight to the nearest field hospital. Sometime later a nurse Katherine (Susannah Fielding) walks up to Poirot's bedside. His head is turned away from her and as she speaks there is clearly a connection between the two. Poirot then turns his head to face her revealing deep shrapnel scars to his lower left face, upper lip and chin, and he says how can you love a man who looks like this? She cradles his hands in hers, kisses his hand, and says, 'you'll just have to grow a moustache'. 

We then fast forward to London, 1937, and as Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh now sporting a full moustache) enters a music club we are greeted by Salome Otterbourne (Sophie Okonedo) a jazz singer and guitarist who is belting out a tune on stage with her band, with her niece and business manager Rosalie Otterbourne (Letitia Wright) handling her fee for the evening's entertainment. On the dance floor going all in are Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer) and his bride to be Jacqueline de Bellefort (Emma Mackey). Arriving at the door amongst a flash of photographers cameras and making a grand entrance is very wealthy business woman Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Gadot), who is a long term school friend of Jacqueline's. Jacqueline can hardly contain herself as she tells Linnet of her new found love, and then introduces her to Simon, saying that they should dance. And they do, and there is clearly a chemistry between them, that Jacqueline can see instantly. All the while Poirot is observing this. 

Six weeks later we find ourselves in a lavish hotel on the banks of the River Nile in Egypt to celebrate the wedding of Simon Doyle . . . . . and Linnet Ridgeway. Among the invited guests are Bouc (Tom Bateman) and his renowned painter mother Euphemia (Annette Bening), Linus Windlesham (Russell Brand) an aristocratic doctor and former fiance to Linnet, Marie Van Schuyler (Jennifer Saunders) Linnet's Godmother and communist convert who has given all her money away, Mrs. Bowers (Dawn French) Marie's nurse, companion and former wealthy business woman who has fallen upon very hard times, Louise Bourget (Rose Leslie) Linnet's maid, and Andrew Katchadourian (Ali Fazal) Linnet's cousin and lawyer. And of course Poirot who was coincidentally holidaying nearby and in a chance meeting with his old friend Bouc at the pyramids, is invited along to join in the celebrations. And who else should rock up just to add insult to injury, but Jacquleine. Also in the gathered line up of guests is Salome and Rosalie, as the latter is an old classmate of Linnet's.

And so after some heated discussions between Simon and Linnet about whether they should abandon their honeymoon because of the unwanted presence of Jacqueline, and Poirot intervening to have a discreet word with Jacqueline too, they all agree that the show must go on. And so Simon arranges, at his wife's expense, to hire out the paddle steamer, the S.S. Karnak, exclusively for their honeymoon and their invited guests to enjoy a leisurely cruise down the Nile taking in the sights, drinking Champagne, enjoying each others company and generally having a good ol' time. The first afternoon and evening go reasonably well as the happy couple and gathered guests all settle in and we get to know them all. 

The S.S. Karnak cruises up to the Temple of Abu Simbel and all passengers alight to view the temple of King Ramesses II and his wife Nefertari from both the outside and within. While the passengers are on shore, Jacqueline boards the Karnak and surprises Simon and Linnet (and not in a good way) upon their return, with her presence.  

Later that evening Simon and Linnet reveal to Poirot that they have made the decision to return home the next day (as was Poirot's earlier suggestion) to get away from Jacqueline and to get on with the lives peacefully, quietly and in private. However, tomorrow never comes, as later that night after most of the guests, including Linnet, have retired for the night, Jacqueline shoots Simon in the knee with a .22 hand gun, after the pair got into a fierce argument. Poirot is busy sleeping through all this commotion - the effects of being on a moving boat and a glass of Champagne knocking him out. Linus Windlesham attends to Simon, while Mrs. Bower attends to Jacqueline and sedates her. The next morning Louise Bourget is delivering breakfast to Linnet, only to find her stone cold dead in her bed with a single bullet wound to the temple. Poirot is woken by the screaming of Louise and goes off to investigate.

What follows over the next 24 hours or so is Poirot's murder investigation into the death of Linnet. Everyone is a suspect and everyone had a motive it seems. Poirot methodically interviews each of the guests in turn and either rules them out or keeps them on his list of prime suspects. In the meantime it is revealed that Bouc and Rosalie are in love, much to his mothers chagrin and disapproval. But it turns out that Poirot was hired by Euphemia to get the full low down on Rosalie and to establish her character and suitability to be the wife of her son. Poirot comes clean in front of Euphemia, Bouc, Rosalie and Salome that his findings of Rosalie are that she is honest, forthright, responsible and trustworthy and should be considered a keeper, but still Euphemia will have none of it, and Rosalie is so angered by Poirot that she calls him all the names under the sun. She storms off and Poirot gives chase. Catching up on the deck, Rosalie notices a body caught up in the paddle of the steamer. Stopping the boat, and retrieving the corpse it is revealed to be that of Louise, who had her throat slit before being thrown overboard, using a very sharp blade - like a surgeon's scalpel, like those belonging to Windlesham. 

With the body count rising, Poirot continues with his interviews, coming down to the final one, that of Bouc, which he conducts in the presence of Simon. Poirot and Bouc go back a long way and are trusted friends, but Poirot has his suspicions about Bouc. In their discussions, just as Bouc is about to reveal a potentially important piece of evidence, he is shot by a single bullet through the throat from behind and up high. He dies instantly where he sat. Poirot gives chase to the unknown assailant and manages to dodge several gun shots aimed directly at him, but is unable to catch the shooter. 

Later that evening with the remaining guests becoming increasingly agitated that Poirot has as yet drawn a blank and with a seemingly ever increasing body count, Poirot locks them all inside the bar saying that that murderer is in the room and he will now reveal who the murderer, or murderers, are. And in a shocking twist, he does, and nails it, leaving five corpses to be stretchered off the boat at the end!

In the closing scene, we fast forward six weeks, and we are back in London at the music club where Poirot first saw Salome play. She is singing, but there are no guests dancing, there is no party atmosphere, and in fact the host passes by Poirot, who is facing away from the camera looking toward the stage, saying that the place is about to close. Poirot turns around revealing his clean shaven face, with the old scars to his upper lip, his chin and his lower left face clearly evident. 

For me 'Death on the Nile' was a bit of a let down. It's certainly lacks the air of mystery and suspense that Branagh's 'Murder on the Orient Express' delivered, despite Branagh's return as the super sleuth detective extraordinaire Hercule Poirot and his once again assembling of an all star cast, however, this film is a notch above the 1978 film in which Peter Ustinov portrayed Poirot, but without much sense of the location in which the story is set. Branagh is clearly having a lot of fun playing Poirot for the second time around, and giving us a glimpse of his own backstory and how his famous moustache came to be. Who knows where he'll take the character if a third film ever gets made. As for the rest of the ensemble crew they are all mostly one dimensional cardboard cut outs most of whom have the motive for seeing off Linnet, but who tread water while flailing around in the Nile like their lives depended on it. The film certainly looks the part, with the Director not scrimping on the production design, CGI wizardry or the sense of place that it offers up, but this film is a film of two distinct halves. The first set on dry land where we are introduced, albeit briefly, to the main characters, and the second on the Nile, leading up to the murders, the hurried suspect interviews and then the rush to the finish line in explaining his suspicions and the ultimate big reveal, which offers up a real surprise. As a final comment I would like to know what happened between 'Murder on the Orient Express' and this film, as Poirot's closing remarks at the end of Orient Express as he is called to his next case he says 'it seems there has been a death on the Nile', yet in between time he has ventured to London, taken on a case for Euphemia and holidayed in Egypt? Continuity be damned!

'Death on the Nile' merits two claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

WONDER WOMAN 1984 : Tuesday 5th January 2021.

'WONDER WOMAN 1984' is the M Rated ninth instalment in the DCEU which finally arrived in Australian cinemas on 26th December 2020. This sequel to 2017's 'Wonder Woman' which grossed US$822M off the back of a production budget of about US$140M, is once again Directed by Patty Jenkins, and has been the subject of numerous delays to finally get us to this point. Originally announced for release on 13th December 2019, before being moved up to 1st November 2019, then it was delayed to 5th June 2020 and delayed again to 14th August 2020 while the world rode out the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, a further delay saw the film's release pushed to 2nd October 2020, before it was moved to this Christmas date. The film also streamed on HBO Max in the US and through Premium VoD in Canada from the same day as its theatrical release in those countries, while the rest of the world can enjoy the big screen cinematic release from anytime between Christmas 2020 and the end of January 2021. Costing US$200M to make the film is not expected to be profitable, needing to take US$500M to break even after marketing costs are factored in. That said, this sequel has generated mixed or average Reviews, and at the time of writing has grossed US$119M. A third film in the franchise was greenlit on 27th December 2020 set in the present day with Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot returning. 

The film opens up with the young child Diana Prince (Lilly Aspel) taking part against much older Amazon contestants in an athletic race on Themyscira. Looking on, but secretly not holding out much hope for her young daughter is the Queen of Themyscira, Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) and her sister Antiope (Robin Wright). After being knocked off her horse having led the race up to this point, Diana takes a short cut to make up for lost ground and to remount her horse which has run on ahead, riderless. However, just as Diana re-enters the stadium and is about to throw the final javelin through a target making her the winner, she is grabbed from behind by her Aunt, Antiope, and lectured that any goal must be achieved through honest effort and truth comes above everything else.   

We then fast forward to 1984 and Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot who also Co-Produces here) works at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. In between her routine work at the Institute she also saves and rescues people often from life threatening situations, wearing her WWI outfit. One such set piece comes in a busy shopping mall when a gang of four thieves rob a jewellery store of various ancient artefacts, but are quickly foiled by Wonder Woman. 

Following this Diana introduces herself to the hapless Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) - a highly insecure geologist and gemologist recently started at the Institute, who most of her co-workers ignore because she is socially awkward, unassertive and just plain. Barbara befriends Diana whom she comes to admire and envy because she represents everything she isn't. The next day Barbara is asked by the FBI to identify several stolen and recovered artefacts from the robbery that Diana had foiled at the Shopping Mall. Barbara and Diana notice one artefact in particular which contains an inscription written in Latin claiming that anyone holding it will be granted one wish. Diana unknowingly uses the stone to wish her deceased lover Steve Trevor back to life, while separately having been saved by Diana from an attempted sexual assault, Barbara wishes upon the stone to become like Diana. 

Meanwhile failing businessman Maxwell 'Max Lord' Lorenzano (Pedro Pascal) visits the Smithsonian Institute under the guise of being a wealthy donor. He had previously arranged for the stolen artefact with the Latin inscription, known as the 'Dreamstone' to be delivered to him in the hope of using its power to save his struggling oil company, BlackGold Cooperative. Diana uncovers a connection between Max and the stone and attends a gala at the Smithsonian to investigate. There, she is reunited with Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), whose soul inhabits another man's body, but only Diana can see him as Steve. 

Attending the gala himself, Max seduces Barbara to gain access to her office and steal the Dreamstone. With the Dreamstone now securely in his possession he later that night uses the stone to 'become' the stone and gains its wish-granting powers, along with the ability to take whatever he desires from others in return. Max very quickly becomes a successful and powerful figure whose oil business takes off, and who is hell bent on assuming control of his competitors oil business, ultimately taking over half the world's oil production. In his wake however, he leaves a trail of destruction and chaos and his powers create instability on a global scale. 

With Barbara's help, Diana and Steve discover that the Dreamstone was created by Dolos, the God of lies, treachery, deception, and mischief and is referenced in various historical records down through the ages. The stone grants a user their wish but exacts a toll, and the only way to reverse the exchange is by renouncing the wish or destroying the stone. As the stone crumbled to dust when Max was granted his wish to become the human embodiment of the stone, there is no chance of now destroying it. Steve quickly comes to the realisation that his existence comes at the cost of Diana's power, while Barbara's newfound life has taken away her humanity. Neither woman is willing to renounce her wish.

With every wish that Max grants, so his new found powers begin taking a toll on him physically as his body slowly deteriorates. He bleeds form the nose, the ears and the eyes and his behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic and unhinged. He learns from the President of the United States (Stuart Milligan) of a satellite system that broadcasts communication signals globally, using a technology that touches every electrical communications device on the planet - telephones, computers, televisions. Max plans to use it to grant wishes to the entire world simultaneously to rid himself of his power and restore his health. Diana and Steve confront him at the White House, only for Barbara to joins forces with Max. She defeats Diana, allowing Max's escape. 

Steve convinces Diana to renounce her wish and to let him go, restoring her strength and discovering an ability to fly. Diana returns to her apartment and dons the gold winged protective suit of armour of legendary Amazon warrior Asteria. She then heads to the satellite headquarters and confronts Barbara, who has mutated into a cheetah-like creature after wishing to become an 'apex predator'. After defeating Barbara in a closely fought battle, Diana confronts Max and uses her Lasso of Truth to communicate with the world through him, convincing everyone to renounce their wishes. She also shows Max visions - first of his own unhappy childhood, then as a teenager at College and then of his young son, Alistair (Lucian Perez), wandering the streets crying for his father amid the chaos he has created. Max renounces his wish and reunites with Alistair, promising to be a better father, and one day to make his son proud. 

Some months later, in a street market at Christmas time, amidst a light flurry of snowfall, Diana encounters the man whose body Steve possessed, providing her with some closure and a determination to continue safeguarding humanity. Meanwhile, in a mid-credits sequence Asteria (Lynda Carter, who played Wonder Woman in the 1970's television series) is revealed to be secretly living among humans, having saved a young child from a falling power pole, and saying to the startled but grateful mother that it's only weight displacement and she has years of experience.

'Wonder Woman 1984' suffers from sequel-itis as it fails to live up to the expectations set so handsomely in the 2017 first instalment. Sure many of the usual characters are there for the purposes of continuity and familiarity, and they all perform their respective roles with aplomb as do the two baddies in the piece played by Wiig and Pascal who both add weight to the storyline which at times falls into cheesy territory. The action set pieces are well choreographed, the look and feel of 1984 is reasonably well recreated, but I was left wanting to see more action from this woman of wonder and less corn (after all she learns she can fly in this sequel - a la the man of steel, and, render inanimate objects - as large as a jet fighter - invisible just by rubbing her hands together!!) 'WW84' is entertaining enough even if it does plod along in places labouring in at an elongated 151 minutes run time, and it has enough emotional heft and escapism to be engaging, but the storyline leaves much to be desired and we have seen it played out many times before in both the DCEU and MCU when nefarious ne'er do well megalomaniacs try to take over the world and eventually succumb to our trusty superhero/ine who is on hand to save the day beyond the eleventh hour and restore some semblance of status quo.  

'Wonder Woman 1984' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard out of a possible five claps.       

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

JUSTICE LEAGUE : Tuesday 21st November 2017.

'JUSTICE LEAGUE' which I saw earlier this week is here finally after all the hype, the media attention and the speculation surrounding this long awaited and eagerly anticipated fifth film in the DC Extended Universe following hot on the heels of 2013's 'Superman', 2016's 'Batman v. Superman : Dawn of Justice', and 'Suicide Squad', and 'Wonder Woman' earlier this year. Zack Snyder Directed 'Man of Steel' which grossed US$668M, and 'Batman v. Superman : Dawn of Justice' which grossed US$874M, with David Ayer Directing 'Suicide Squad' which grossed US$746M and Patty Jenkins on Director duty for 'Wonder Woman' which grossed US$822M. Once again Zack Snyder is back in the Directors chair for this collective Superhero offering featuring a cast of DC characters thrust together for the first time in a live action instalment, an ensemble cast and a price tag of US$300M to bring to the big screen, making 'Justice League' one of the most expensive films ever made. But, I guess on the strength that the first four films cost a combined US$800M and grossed a collective sum total of US$3.1B, then this fifth film should represent a sure bet for the numerous Production Companies involved. A sequel to this film was scheduled for a mid-2019 release date, which has subsequently been pushed back to make way for a stand alone 'Batman' film. At the time of publishing this Post, 'Justice League' had taken US$308M at the Box Office.

This story then follows on several months after the end of 'Batman v. Superman : Dawn of Justice' in which Batman/Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) who is now inspired by Superman's selfless act to sacrifice himself for the greater good of all humanity, teams up with new ally Wonder Woman/Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) to fend off a new threat, with the help of a few others yet to be recruited to the Team.

That threat comes in the form of Steppenwolf (voiced by Ciaran Hinds) - an alien high ranking military officer who is immortal and possesses superhuman strength, speed and stamina from the planet Apokolips, and who has a very specific mission on Earth that could have catastrophic consequences for our humble little green planet. He leads an army of winged flying Parademons who extend into their countless thousands, are fiercely loyal to their leader, have heightened strength and high pain tolerance, carry powerful weapons and resemble giant pesky flies only twice as ugly and much more menacing! Steppenwolf wants to capture three 'Mother Boxes' and combine their energy source into 'The Unity' to remake Earth into the hellish domain he can call home and rule over. Back in the day Steppenwolf and his legions of giant pesky flying armed creatures were thwarted by the combined forces of Olympian Gods, Amazons, Atlantians, Green Lanterns and humans, and the three all powerful Mother Boxes secreted away in various places of hiding around the world to lie dormant for thousands of years . . . . until now!

Following the death of Superman, the Mother Boxes are all triggered back into life which prompts Steppenwolf's return to Earth to retrieve them. The first such box is housed underground in Themyscira, the island home of Diana Prince, which he successfully overruns and escapes with his Parademons in tow. Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) sends a warning to Diana Prince that Steppenwolf is on his way. This prompts Bruce and Diana to try and muster the support of other known metahumans Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) and Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) which Bruce goes in search of, and Victor Stone (Ray Fisher) which Diana searches out. They fail to convince both Curry and Stone to join their Team, but Allen is very enthusiastic and enlists immediately, giving the young lad some purpose in his otherwise meandering wasteful life. Stone joins the group after his father Silas (Joe Morton) is kidnapped by Steppenwolf searching out the Box left to the humans. Curry also joins too after Atlantis is attacked and the second Mother Box buried deep within the ocean is retrieved by Steppenwolf.

Commissioner James Gordon (J.K.Simmons) advises that he has learned that the Parademons are underground. Surmising that the only location is a long abandoned facility under Gotham Harbour, he advises Batman, Wonder Woman and The Flash, now joined also by Cyborg and they converge on the facility and engage with Steppenwolf and his Parademons. In the ensuing close quarter fight, the walls of the facility are ruptured allowing torrents of water to flood into the underground chamber.  Aquaman comes to the rescue and holds back the water so allowing the others to escape.

Stone has been in possession of the third remaining Mother Box, as it was the energy from it that allowed his father Silas, to develop the power to rebuild his son into the Cyborg he is today. Batman hatches a plan to resurrect Superman using the same energy from the Mother Box. This would enable them to fight Steppenwolf on another level and overcome this formidable enemy, whilst at the same time restoring some hope in the world that all is not lost.

Reluctantly Prince and Curry agree although are not too happy with the prospect. Stone and Allen exhume Clark Kent's body and take it to the Kryptonian Ship with the Mother Box. Kent is laid in the incubation waters, and with Allen generating enough electricity they are able to bring Clark Kent back from the dead. However, Superman (Henry Cavill) is suffering from some memory loss and makes a sharp exit out of the ship and into a nearby park where he attacks The Flash, Cyborg who inadvertently tried to kill him, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Batman. With Superman as expected gaining the upper hand in any battle, things don't go so well for the group or the gathered Police. Until that is, Batman brings out his secret weapon - Lois Lane (Amy Adams), at which point his memories come flooding back. While the Team are distracted with all this in-fighting and Clark and Lois reconnecting, the third Mother Box is left unguarded and easy pickings for Steppenwolf, which he claims from right under their noses.

Cyborg tracks Steppenwolf and the heightened seismic activity from the three Mother Boxes now drawn together, to a remote Russian Village - the scene of a nuclear disaster some decades earlier and where a small enclave of people still reside. With Steppenwolf commencing The Unity, time is fast running out for the world as we know it. The Team of five make their way via the supersonic Bat Jet arriving with a plan to distract the Parademons while Cyborg sets about separating the three Boxes. The team of the remaining four are no match for Steppenwolf and his hordes of Parademons, who are unable to provide sufficient distraction to allow Cyborg to be effective. Until that is, Superman arrives and beats the crap out of Steppenwolf; saves the lives, with The Flash too, of multiple families trying to flee the conflagration; and helps Cyborg separate the Mother Boxes successfully so stripping Steppenwolf of his power. Seeing their leader overcome with fear, the Parademons descend on Steppenwolf just like flies on a freshly laid turd, and transport him instantly back to the world from whence they came.

In the closing scenes we see Alfred (Jeremy Irons) escorting Bruce and Diana to the burnt out shell of Wayne Manor. They agree to rebuild it as the centre of operations for the new Team, with room for future expansion as more metahumans join. The newly formed Team then all default to what they do best - Curry returns to his home of Atlantis; Stone works with his father on developing his cyborg technology and abilities; Prince take her place in the spotlight as a hero of truth and justice; Kent takes up his former role as Superman; and Allen gets an official job with the Police Department of Central City impressing his imprisoned father Henry Allen (Billy Crudup). Remain seated for the mid-credits sequence which sees The Flash race Superman to the Pacific coast, and the end credits scene in which Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) breaks out of Arkham Asylum with a new and deadly ally.

I enjoyed 'Justice League' perhaps more than most Critics who seem intent on bagging the Hell out of the DCEU in favour of the MCU. Sure this film is not perfect, and the MCU still has the upper hand in the Superhero stakes - both singularly and collectively, but this film is moving the DCEU in the right direction that's for sure. There is more levity in this film from the principal cast members which makes them more grounded, approachable and human; the action sequences are well executed; the storyline whilst a little thin is relatable; and in particular Ezra Miller, Gal Gadot and Jason Momoa steal the show, whilst Ben Affleck's Batman often looks bewildered and confused by all the going's on. After all he should be centre stage as the corner stone, the originator of the forming Justice League, but is sidelined by his colleagues who do (unlike him) possess real super powers - he's just super 'rich' after all! As an origin story for The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg there is just enough back story to set the scene (remembering that a standalone 'Aquaman' film has just wrapped production, and arrives in our cinemas in December 2018), but Steppenwolf as the big bad villain in the piece is very one dimensional and he just barks orders as his Parademons and beats up anyone or anything that gets in his way, until Superman arrives on the scene. The film is fun and fast paced, and holds promise for future DCEU instalments - I wish it well, and in giving those guys at the MCU a run for their money!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-