Reel Reviews: Showdown: DC vs. Marvel

‘Justice League’

Well, they did it. Just when DC had a good thing going with “Wonder Woman,” they went and threw together a floppish, hack-job of a superhero movie.

“Justice League” opened Friday, and without seeing box office numbers due to an early deadline I believe it won’t bring in the type of money Warner Bros. was hoping for against a $300 million budget.

Batman (Ben Affleck) all of the sudden needs to recruit Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) to do battle against an almighty, evil, alien force stupidly named Steppenwolf (can I get a magic carpet ride out of the theater please? I wish someone would have taken the lamp away from the projector).

The oversized Steppenwolf is bent on destroying Earth for some weak backstory reason played out like a S.H.I.EL.D. storyline that was tossed in the waste basket. The hapless group of superbeings decide they need the help of a deceased Superman (Henry Cavill) and resurrect him, with the aid of Lois Lane (Amy Adams), in one of the cheesiest moments to ever grace an action film.

Batman is a hapless hack fostering some kind of bromance with Superman. Even as a bright spot, The Flash is a goofball rivaling the worst Spiderman in the list of bad webslingers. Wonder Woman relies on her magic sword to fight off thousands of laser sparking robot bugs. And the best part about Aquaman was reminding me about a recent visit to Iceland.

Ugh. I was really hoping DC could match Marvel on the level of “The Incredible Hulk” (2008), at the least!

Poor Amy Adams. Where did the days of “American Hustle” and “Arrival” go? Please bring your talents back to good movies.

The DC vs. Marvel movie showdown was no contest, according to reviewer Michael Upton. “Thor: Ragnarok” blew “Justice League” out of the water. Sorry, Aquaman. Chris Hemsworth (shown) plays Thor in the Marvel franchise of films.

‘Thor: Ragnarok’

So, in the battle of DC vs. Marvel there is no contest, although I was really skeptical about “Thor: Ragnarok.” The movie put up solid numbers and held onto the number one spot two weeks in a row, making it yet another success for Marvel Entertainment.

In this third installment of the tales of Odinson (and probably the funniest Marvel movie to hit the screens), our hero is thrust into the world of the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum). Here, he meets up with some zany characters, a lost Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) who is written like a recurring character.* Thor (Chris Hemsworth) must stop the destruction of his homeworld at the hands of the all-powerful Hela (Cate Blanchett).

If you’re reading this column, you probably already have an interest in comic book-based films, so let me go off on a bit of a tangent. The unexpected, massive success of “Guardians of the Galaxy” gave Marvel the greenlight to pursue more non-traditional storylines (i.e. “Doctor Strange”). They can now rest assured flicks staring Spider-Man, The Avengers, and other standard super heroes are going to Hulk-like smash the box office and can take their chances and wind more in-depth stories into the universe. “Captain Marvel” will appear in 2019, but what about Ghost Rider (we already have his actor from TV’s “Marvel Agents of Shield”), Moon Knight, and a tie in with Silver Surfer!

The deal is, Marvel still has a lot of cards to play. DC has shown their hand over and over and there just isn’t a winner. It’s a shame. They almost had it going.

*Valkyrie is rumored to appear in 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War.”

Agree or disagree? Reel Reviews works like this: 1) Watch a movie; 2) Send suggestions, comments and criticism to Michael at SomeProMCU@gmail.com.