Justice League Reviews: 12 Early Reactions You Need To See
2. Aquaman, The Flash & Cyborg Are A Mixed Bag
The new characters should be drawing the most attention in Justice League, since they're the very League the title alludes to, and they're obviously mentioned a lot in the reviews. Not always positively, sadly, but there's praise for each character in various outlets.
The Guardian digs Hason Momoa's Aquaman and The Flash (though the praise there is a little faint):
"Momoa brings some punch and humour to this film, especially with Aquaman’s inadvertent confession of a certain tendresse for Wonder Woman, and Ezra Miller does his best with the Flash, whose job it is to provide the nerdy, incredulous, alienated humour."
EW praise The Flash...
"Ezra Miller’s the Flash, on the other hand, is more overtly needy in his bid for laughs. Like Tom Holand’s Spider-Man, he gives the movie a energetically loose and nerdy shot in the arm. At first, his nervous, stammering character is a caffeinated breath of fresh air. He’s like a stand-in for all of the fanboys in the audience, geeking out over how cool the Batcave is."
The Telegraph isn't a big fan of Cyborg's presentation (agreeing with EW's mention of him drawing "the short stick" seemingly):
"As for Ray Fisher’s Cyborg, the film doesn’t seem to know anything about him: he has his hood up a lot, and that’s more or less all we get."
And Mashable aren't fans either:
"He's the team's straight man, he's kind of the DCEU's visual answer to Iron Man, he's even a bit of this movie's MacGuffin – but he's not character. Not even close. What a waste."
But then Forbes say he's "a standout as the unofficial heart of the team, since his own arc is one of initial reluctance and tension giving way to the necessity of fighting evil and eventually to heroic inspiration."
It's the chemistry that matters though, and Hoss Whedon has picked up praise for sewing them together, as in the EW review:
"The chemistry between the old and new castmembers being the main one, thanks to Whedon and co-writer Chris Terrio."
Mashable agree:
"And truly, the "team dynamic" part of Justice League – the very thing Joss Whedon was hired to come in and punch up when Zack Snyder was pointed toward the exits – arrives in OK shape. They got the one fundamental part right."