Board Thread:DC Universe Discussion/@comment-5624498-20140216234029/@comment-4928331-20140221021925

The problem with Darkseid is explaining his motivation. "Anti-life equation?" What's that? And you want to cram that, the mythology of the New Gods, plus the origin story of Cyborg and the Justice League in a one-hour movie?

Ludicrous.

I have issues with the following characters:

I have no beef with Flash, Batman, or Cyborg. Cyborg is sympathetic here, and the portrayal of Batman is adequate. As for the Flash, he doesn't really have enough moments to stand out.
 * 1) Green Lantern is a tad too cocky for my taste.  I mean, yeah, Hal should be pretty strong-willed as that's what fuels the ring, but he's a jerk here.  Unlikeable.
 * 2) I get that Shazam is a little kid, but c'mon.  The scenes where he was hitting on Wonder Woman were painful to watch.  Wasn't he supposed to have the wisdom of Solomon?  Billy's act of stealing the jersey might be characteristic of his new-52 personality, and I really, really dislike it.  Captain Marvel is the iconic big red cheese -- a bigger boy scout than even Superman.  Though come to think of it, he IS a saint compared to Kal-El here.
 * 3) Wonder Woman has two modes: naive outsider and bloodthirsty warrior.  The first instance is played for laughs (I LOVE ICE CREAM!!!!!!), and I cringed at it.  That's how a warrior princess acts on eating a new food?  As for the bloodthirstiness, I get that it's part of the source material, but it's NOT Wonder Woman.  Wonder Woman is strong, but she's also compassionate.  She doesn't charge into battle hitting everything she sees -- that's Guy Gardner's job.
 * 4) Superman is callous and arrogant here.  He's the most powerful being on Earth here, and if that's how he acts, then I'm all for arming everyone with kryptonite bullets just in case.  He is totally unlikeable, far divorced from his origin as an everyman raised in Smallville, Kansas.  He has blatant disregard for property damage, and even after knowing that parademons are based off other organic life forms, still tears through them without showing any hint of regret.
 * 5) Darkseid.  Okay, did Geoff Johns confuse him with Doomsday?  Because ugh, all he does is grunt, make generic I WILL KILL YOU ALL threats, shoot zigzag heat vision, and fly.  He's just a generic thug here who can be defeated if all the heroes hit him simultaneously enough times.

I hope this isn't a harbinger of what the Justice League live action movie is going to be. Because if it is, that's going to be a steaming pile of excrement.