Murder on the Justice League Express
Today’s post is a two-for-one Movie Review.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, my wife and I went to see “Justice League” and “Murder on the Orient Express”.
Rather than review each on their own, here’s a side-by-side, blow-by-blow, step-by-step rundown of our opinions (no real spoilers, but avert your eyes if you feel the need):
| (review section) | Justice League | Orient Express |
| Acting | The main heroes should have been the best actors. That’s not what we got. Instead of Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman, we got the Cardboard Knight, Wooden Woman, and the Man of Plastic.
I will say that many of the supporting characters were much better actors, and more interesting. These included Cyborg, The Flash, and Aquaman. Also Martha Kent, Lois Lane and Cyborg’s father. |
A very balanced cast. All very good actors in their individual roles. Nobody stood out as markedly better than anyone else, and each shone in different ways.
Overall, a wonderfully cast ensemble movie. |
| Plot | The plot was pretty thin, but this is more of an action movie, so I’ll let that slide. | The movie version stays kind of close to the original book. I only wish they had more character interaction and less one-on-one vignettes. Made it seem like they had problems scheduling so many stars. |
| Villain(s) | Uh, yeah… Way too simplistic for my tastes. Felt like a placeholder for the real villain. Or maybe just a setup for the next in the series. | Plenty of villainy to go around here, with some very complicated and implausible back-stories. So, suspend some of your beliefs… |
| Ending | No surprises here. It ends just like you’d suspect. I could even tell you and it wouldn’t be considered a spoiler. | … and this is where the train runs completely off the rails.
Rather than stick to the ending in the book, the movie goes for an extra twist. One that, in my opinion, doesn’t fit the plot or the characters at all. |
| Special FX | Phenomenal special effects. Well done and seamless. Makeup could have used a bit of help, though. | The special effects were invisible, which for this type of film is very important. I never felt like any of it knocked me out of the film’s reality. |
| Final
Judgement! |
Despite the above, it was a fun action movie. Worth seeing, but not worth paying full theater pricing for.
Plus, you’ll probably need to know the plot for the next one. And the next one. And the next… |
Great acting, a mostly by-the-book plot, and interesting special effects.
So… why didn’t I like this movie more? In the end, it all didn’t flow very well or hold my interest throughout. Wait until it comes to streaming or cable. And that’s a wrap! |
All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com