Parents' Guide to Justice League

DC's ensemble adventure works best when it's highlighting co-screenwriter/director Joss Whedon's signature team-building elements, which humanize each superhero. But it's ultimately not as cohesive or memorable as Wonder Woman. It is, however, better than Batman v Superman (though once more it's the melancholy Superman subplot that brings the story down). The cast, led by Affleck and Gadot, is certainly good, but the band of superheroes doesn't quite gel until the final battle sequence. Until then, they're all sizing one another up -- and, in the case of Aquaman, finding others (with the exception of Wonder Woman) lacking. At one point, Aquaman literally says to Bruce, in what becomes a running gag, "You have no powers, no offense."

A big part of the reason that the movie feels uneven is that it was directed by both Zach Snyder and Whedon (official credit notwithstanding), who stepped in after a family tragedy forced Snyder to withdraw from the film. Snyder is an action stylist (all those slow-motion shots of the superheroes mid-air, about to punch, stab, hit someone!), but he isn't exactly a master at realistic dialogue. Whedon, meanwhile, is a specialist in witty banter, ensemble relationships, and dialogue. Those familiar with both filmmakers' styles will find it easy to tell which aspects of the movie are Snyder's and which are Whedon's, but they don't always blend together well. On the bright side, the additions to the team are all compelling in their own ways, with Miller's The Flash as the punchy, adorkable teen of the bunch (like the new Spider-Man over at Marvel). This may not be the universal win DC wanted after the studio's Wonder Woman high, but there's a lot of potential for the sequel, as well as individual Justice League movies.