Peacemaker (Season 1)

The Suicide Squad is my favorite DCEU movie to date, probably even one of my favorite superhero movies of all time. While I didn't love Peacemaker as a character, I was more than excited to see James Gunn's wacky vision of DC expanded into a full series. And it was excellent!

Peacemaker is a show about the titular character (Christopher Smith) being dragged out of prison to stop a bunch of alien zombie butterflies trying to take over the world. He joins a team with two minor characters from The Suicide Squad, Vigilante, and Amanda Waller's daughter Adebayo, who's mostly just in it to make money. To be perfectly honest, I felt the show got to a bit of a slow start, as the "butterfly" threat wasn't made all that clear and the humor was a bit more hit-or-miss. Once the team actually starts trying to fight the alien butterflies, however, Peacemaker becomes a ton of fun, mostly because of how incompetent much of the cast is. Part of the charm of Peacemaker is seeing the team fail at pretty much everything they try to do, and then get mad at each other for screwing up. It simultaneously makes for great comedy and heightens the stakes by making things worse for the protagonists. 

Despite the bizarre premise, however, Peacemaker is actually a bit of a character study. When the show started, I was still pissed at Smith for killing off Rick Flag in the movie he was introduced in, but the script does a great job of making you understand why Smith does the things he does and even feel for him a bit. His relationship with his horrendously bigoted father makes for some of the most emotional moments in the show. The whole cast is great, though. Adebayo, Harcourt, and Murn are all complex and likable figures, but the big highlight aside from Peacemaker himself is definitely the straight-up sociopathic Vigilante. And while the humor is a bit spotty at first, it does get a lot better. I'm a big fan of those Seinfeld-ian conversations between the team that feel aimless to the point of doubling back over to being hilarious. Peacemaker is also willing to cross the line in some truly great ways. Like yeah, the "Aquaman fucks fish" joke is pretty overdone. But bringing in the entire Justice League just for The Flash to corroborate it was just simply genius. Similarly, the action is incredibly brutal but in a stylish way, not unlike The Suicide Squad or something like Kingsman.

Once Peacemaker gets good, it gets really good. Here are its highlights:

The Title Sequence: So I know this is a bit unconventional, but I had to bring it up somewhere. Peacemaker has the greatest title sequence of any TV show ever (not including anime OPs, those are on another level). Having the entire cast perform a musical number with stone-faced expressions is pure James Gunn and suits the show's tone oddly perfectly. It helps that the song is catchy, the choreography is legitimately impressive, and the opening is shot with so much energy. I usually skip title sequences but I just can't bring myself to do it for this one, it's just too mesmerizing.

Murn After Reading: Through much of the last few episodes, the characters have been keeping secrets from each other, some of which the audience knows and some of which the audience doesn't. Murn After Reading has pretty much all of those secrets revealed leading to the twist-iest episode of the show. Murn is a Butterfly but he's also good, Adebayo's diary is used to frame Peacemaker, and biggest of all, Peacemaker has been keeping Goff alive the whole time and accidentally causes him to hijack Song's body and turn the entire police station into butterflies. 

Stop Dragon My Heart Around: I think the moment I realized this show was amazing was when the last episode (Episode 6 out of 8) wasn't the climax of the series like much of MCU's television output. Murn After Reading was massive and James Gunn still wanted to heighten the stakes, so we get the most emotional episode of the show. Between Murn dying and Smith facing off against and killing his father, Stop Dragon My Heart Around was dark and made for a fantastic set-up for the finale.

It's Cow Or Never: I really don't want to keep trashing on Marvel like this but this is how you nail a finale to a superhero show. It's Cow Or Never pulls out all the stops, from the best action scene in the show (with a badass long take to boot), to some of the best jokes in the series, to surprise appearances from the Justice League and Amanda Waller, to some pretty massive status quo shifts (Harcourt's injury, Adebayo's public statement), to satisfying resolutions for pretty much all of the character arcs.

Overall, Peacemaker was a ton of fun. After a bit of a rough start, the show quickly evolved into a fantastic series with compelling drama, great character work, fun action, and excellent James Gunn humor. And the fact that it actually feels thought-out, cohesive, and has a genuinely satisfying finale makes this pretty much better than every MCU show we had last year.

4/5 Stars

Zack Snyder's Justice League

Reviewing Zack Snyder's Justice League is a massive undertaking, especially since I saw the original movie and I want to say everything that I need to say, so I'll be dividing it into chapters (since the film definitely should have been a miniseries instead, holy cow is this long!).

Prologue: The first nine minutes of the film make it very clear that this is a Snyder film in all of its glory. I especially love the claim that the 4:3 aspect ratio is necessary for Snyder's "creative vision". I won't deny it was a bit distracting at first, but I got used to it quickly since I own a whole bunch of games that use a smaller aspect ratio like that. Otherwise, I like how it established where all of the major players and MacGuffins are, but it went on far too long for my liking.

Don't Count On It, Batman: Pacing-wise, the first chapter of the Snyder Cut is probably the weakest. There are so many unnecessary scenes, instances of slow motion, and shoe-horned musical numbers. Why did we need to have a scene where a village sings a folk song for Aquaman while someone else sniffs his sweater? It made me so uncomfortable, I wanted to quit right there and then! I was surprised to find that the scene where the city mourns Superman's death was cut. I actually kinda liked that scene and thought Snyder shot it, but oh well. I was also surprised to find just how much of the dialogue was brought from the original! Where those lines actually written by Snyder or did he just have to carry them over? The action scenes were definitely an improvement, the special effects felt less cartoonish, and the slow motion did add tension to certain moments. The music was also way more intense, though some of the audial cues were annoying as hell, especially for Wonder Woman. It's a mixed first chapter all around.

The Age Of Heroes: This chapter was alright? The titular Age Of Heroes was a noticeable extension from the original, and definitely an improvement. A bit of special-effects overload, but it was really cool to see Darkseid in action. It actually felt like a large-scale battle and a scene of its own rather than random flashback nonsense. We also get to meet DeSaad and learn more about Steppenwolf's motivations to redeem himself in Darkseid's eyes. It's a pretty predictable motivation and still makes him a bit of a dull villain, but he's at least more interesting here, and it's nice that he's talking to an actual person rather than himself.

Beloved Mother, Beloved Son: This chapter was actually pretty good... almost. It added the most new scenes yet, and I was surprised at how much it ended up explaining. Barry Allen overworking himself to pay for his tuition makes him a bit more sympathetic this time around, along with the explanation of why Steppenwolf was holding people hostage (these aspects were seriously brushed over in the original). But obviously, the highlight here is Cyborg's backstory. It's amazing how just a few more scenes make him a much better character! Otherwise average scenes have so much more impact with that added context, Victor's cynicism is far more understandable, and Ray Porter's acting shines through so much more.

That backstory was necessary, it's a damn shame it wasn't in the original. Oh, and that scene with Diane and Alfred, that was adorable and necessary as well. The Atlantis fight scene was also a surprise improvement, I despised the original fight, but this version had some neat shots, cool moves, and a lot more impact to it. I didn't love the first two chapters, but I'll admit, this was a genuine improvement on the original film... except that introduction for The Flash. The scene was almost good, it was almost great even, but why did Snyder have Barry caress Iris's face before saving her?! It's so creepy and a perfect example of my main issue with this film, every time I start to get into it, Snyder just goes too far.

Change Machine: This chapter was alright. The battle in the tunnel was a lot better, and it felt like the movie did a better job of showing the team not working together. It was also pretty neat to actually get an explanation on how Cyborg got the Mother Boxes, along with the reveal of the Martian Manhunter. All in all solid chapter, but not too many noteworthy additions.

All The King's Horses: Okay, this is where the improvements really start to show. The original version of this part of the film was so incredibly flawed and nonsensical, but the Snyder Cut fixes so many of my complaints. The team didn't just randomly find Superman's ship, we see them break into STAR Labs. They didn't just leave the Mother Box alone out of stupidity, Silas had it and used it to sacrifice himself to help the League. Lois didn't appear out of nowhere to calm down Superman, she was in the area as shown earlier in the film. The fight with Superman was still pretty fun, even moreso with the better CGI, and I thought Silas's sacrifice was an amazing scene that I'm stunned wasn't in the theatrical release. The movie's "darkest hour" scene actually felt like a "darkest hour". Oh, and there's also the Knightmare scene which was definitely cool, but felt a bit oddly placed, especially since we learn all of this information in the epilogue anyway.

Something Darker: I actually liked Justice League's final battle already, but this was a massive improvement, and once again, not just because of the CGI improvements. Steppenwolf's defeat was more cathartic, the battle was far more tense, and I love how Cyborg and Flash saved the day and resolved their character arcs at the same time. Flash using time travel was a pretty sick scene, as was Cyborg facing his inner demons. I still don't like the DCEU's version of Flash, but this movie did make him a bit more important. Cyborg, on the other hand, completely won me over. Once again, it's an absolute tragedy he got as shafted as he was. As for Superman, all of his scenes were improved, and not just because there were no CGI mustache issues. I liked that he decided to help the team, and how his flight mirrored that in Man Of Steel. This was a great finale, probably one of DC's best, it's the rare time they actually stuck the landing... almost...

Epilogue: At first, this chapter was alright. The montage of everyone tying up loose ends with Silas's final message in the background was excellent, and actually emotionally resonant knowing the full context. Luthor escaping from prison was pretty neat, as was Martian Manhunter. However, I didn't love the Knightmare scene. It kinda felt like an edgy fanfic with the shaky close-ups, Batman cursing, Mera's accent, evil Superman, and all the character deaths. But even more, it feels like a scene from a different movie, a movie that we're likely not even gonna get. It was long, it halted the pacing, and it just felt unnecessary. I also don't like Leto's Joker, even with the new outfit, he just doesn't sit well with me. I get why Snyder included the Knightmare stuff, but this movie could have been both self-contained and shorter without it.

Overall, I enjoyed watching the Snyder Cut. Not only was it a fun watch, but I'd say it was actually kind of a good movie? Maybe one of the better films in the DCEU even ?! It's easily the definitive version of the Justice League, the effects are better, the action is more tense, it's far more tonally consistent, the emotional moments hit harder, and the added backstories, explanations, and lore made the plot far more airtight. However, it does suffer from way too much padding, some bizarre scene choices, and a rough first half. It probably should have been a miniseries, but I'm fine with calling it the most unbelievably ambitious superhero film I've ever seen.

3.5/5 Stars (Subtract .5 for the epilogue)

Wonder Woman 1984

I'm gonna be honest here. Wonder Woman 1984 wasn't great, as a matter of fact, it was probably my biggest disappointment of 2020. There were a lot of neat ideas here, but it just felt like a massive waste of potential.

WW1984's plot feels simultaneously convoluted and overly simple at the same time. The premise is technically just about a wish stone that Diana (Wonder Woman), her friend Barbara, and businessman Max Lord uses. However, each wish also takes away their most valuable things, so Diana wishes for her dead boyfriend Steve back only to lose her powers, and Barbara wishes to be like Diana only to lose her kind heart and humanity. I don't necessarily hate this storyline, but coming after the first movie essentially being a World War II epic, this movie just doesn't feel like a sequel. It's too small scale and goofy, the tonal inconsistency is just ridiculous. In addition, the wish stone storyline is just poorly handled. The entire storyline feels like it's built around this simple McGuffin, and once Max Lord becomes the stone, the sheer amount of wishes to keep track of is just overwhelming. Diana is never actually shown making a wish so when Steve appears, it feels confusing, and that's not to mention the awful implications of Steve taking over another person's body only to promptly make out with Wonder Woman. How did neither of them realize how gross that is?!

The pacing might be even worse. The movie starts with an overlong sequence at Wonder Woman's home island, but after that, there's no action until over an hour into the film. WW1984 is 2 and a half hours long, but it never feels like it earns that runtime. Frankly, this story doesn't even feel like it deserves a feature-length to begin with, let alone 2.5 hours. I don't think the movie is irredeemable, however, and decreasing the length to tighten up the pacing can already be a massive help. Even more, I think the acting is pretty great across the board, though I'm not sure how to feel about Pedro Pascal hamming it up as Max Lord. The villains were generally the better characters due to having the most depth of the cast, but even they just felt cliche. Barbara was well-acted by Kristen Wiig, but she's still just the "ugly" nerd who runs into a superhero, and Max Lord is your usual gross billionaire figure. The action scenes were also solid, though not as frequent or as good as in the first movie. I thought the car chase in Egypt and the White House fight were both great, mostly because Wonder Woman losing her powers meant she was actually in danger of dying which added tension. The final battle was pretty underwhelming, though, but at least it didn't undermine the themes of the film like in the original. I also really liked Hans Zimmer's score which was the one thing that I thought improved compared to the first film.

The worst part about WW1984 to me, however, is just how much potential it had. There are so many things that could've been really cool if it was just explored or well executed. For example:

• The movie having Wonder Woman lose her powers was a really good idea, but it didn't last for very long. 
• Wonder Woman gained some new abilities like turning a plane invisible and flying, but they appeared out of nowhere rather than feeling earned. 
• Similarly, Wonder Woman's golden armor also appears out of nowhere when it could have easily been set-up in the opening, and is rarely used for the fight anyway. 
• The opening also sets up a theme about lying, but that theme never comes up for most of the film. 
• Cheetah only appears in the final act of the film, and after Barbara makes a second wish about becoming an apex predator (that line made me laugh). Not only does this not make sense at all, but why couldn't they just have Barbara literally lose her humanity from that first wish? It makes so much more sense!
• Worst of all, even though the movie is set at 1984, it feels like they do nothing with the time period. Most of the film feels like it could be set at the current era with nothing changing. It doesn't even have the bombardment of superficial references that other 80s nostalgia trips like Bumblebee and Stranger Things have.

Overall, WW1984 just bums me out. It had a ton of potential, great acting, and solid fights, but it suffers from a convoluted, overlong, cheesy, and problematic plot, and some godawful pacing. I wish I liked this movie, I really do, but it was just a bore.

2/5 Stars