Honest Trailer - Justice League

Justice League is the 234th episode of Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr and Dan Murrell. It was narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. It parodies the 2017 DC superhero film Justice League. It was published on February 20, 2018 to coincide with the release of the film on home video and Blu-ray. It is 6 minutes 33 seconds long. It has been viewed over 7.2 million times.

Watch Honest Trailers - Justice League on YouTube

"How is it possible they ripped off everything from The Avengers EXCEPT the good villain? Come on, Joss; it's not stealing if you do it from yourself!" ~ Honest Trailers - Justice League

Script[]

Somewhere between the awful Suicide Squad, and the excellent Wonder Woman, a new DC movie will get it sorta down the middle. But when the best comic book characters ever unite for a film that's just okay... YOU BLEW IT!! AGAIN!! ARGH!! HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!

Justice League

In the midst of a production beset by tragedy (a The Hollywood Reporter article with the title "Zack Snyder Steps Down From 'Justice League' to Deal With Family Tragedy" pops up), Warner Bros. bravely forged ahead so executives could keep their bonuses (an EpicStream article with the title "WB Refused To Delay Justice League Release So That Executives Could Keep Their Bonuses" pops up), mixing Zack Snyder's trademark gloom, with the optimism of Joss Whedon, and the priorities of Brett Ratner's production company (RatPac Entertainment)...

Aquaman: (to Wonder Woman) Oof... You're gorgeous.

...that results in its own signature blend... of orange. Lots and lots of orange. (montage of orange-tinted shots) Man, I wish they'd release the Snyder Cut; also, man, I wish the Snyder Cut wasn't a made-up fanboy pipe dream.

Witness a film that looks like it's being rendered right before your eyes, where this CGI villain steals these CGI boxes from their CGI hiding places, uniting these CGI heroes in a big CGI fight on a CGI battlefield, until this CGI hero merges with this CGI box, while the CGI villain gets punched in the mouth by the hero with a mouth made out of CGI.

Clark: Yes, ma'am.

Ugh, that just looks... wrong.

Meet the Justice League, a bunch of sad losers...

Arthur: I wanna be left alone.

Silas: If you stay up here brooding...

Victor: I'm processing.

Bruce: Well, I wouldn't count on the tribes of men.

Barry: I need... friends.

...who occasionally make jokes now.

Flash: Dostoevsky!

There's Wonder Woman, the three-dimensional hero turned into girl hung up on her ex...

Diana: I lost someone I loved-- / I once knew a man who would have loved to fly it. / When it's your fault... they're all Steve Trevor.

...Broseidon, King of the Brocean...

Aquaman: My man!

...Cyborg, who's... there...

Cyborg: Booyah.

...Spider-Man, who in this movie goes by "The Flash"; Superman, a-uh-- <sigh> God, that mouth is so distracting! Poor Henry Cavill worked out for months for this role, but all I can look at is his weird fake baby mouth. They really couldn't just shave his mustache, or grow a beard, or, you know, delay the movie? (shows The Flash laughing); and of course, the Batman. He may not be that tough (shows Batman groaning in pain), or that smart...

Aquaman: So your genius move is dying?

...or that careful with his secret identity...

Arthur: Dressed like a bat. You're out of your mind, Bruce Wayne.

Bruce: --Bruce Wayne.

Barry: You're the Batman?

Barry: That's the Bat-Signal! That's your... Oh, sh... (softly) Sorry. That's your signal.

...but... Wait, there's no "but"? Well, that's a shame; he was the best part of the last one.

Prepare for the arrival of Steppenwolf, DC's scariest horn-helmeted minor god villain with a giant bladed weapon since the movie right before this one. (shots comparing Steppenwolf to Ares) He's got a generic look, a generic motivation...

Diana: He lived only to conquer.

...and super-generic dialogue...

Steppenwolf: Find the last one! Its power will cleanse this world! / You're all too weak to see the truth. / I am... the end of worlds!

...but no character since Buster Bluth has ever been this much of a mother-lover.

Steppenwolf: Mother. / I know, Mother... / Praise to the mother... / I see, Mother.

Lucille Bluth (Arrested Development): What the hell is that?

Buster Bluth: (while holding stuffed animals) These are my awards, Mother. From Army.

How is it possible they ripped off everything from The Avengers EXCEPT the good villain? Come on, Joss; it's not stealing if you do it from yourself! (shows Victor staring at Barry while digging up Superman's grave)

After all the intricate plotting of Batman v Superman, check out a sequel that says, "Whoops! Never mind!", pretending Batman knew Clark Kent for more than 15 minutes...

Bruce: And the team needs Clark.

...pretending the world didn't hate Superman before he died...

Martha: So much bitterness. Of course, I think it's all because he's gone.

...and pretending that bizarre Flash nightmare sequence never happened.

Flash: --too soon! / You have to find us! (Bruce wakes with a start)

I mean, that was clearly meant for when this movie was going to be a two-parter, right?

So where The Avengers felt like the end of the beginning for the MCU, experience DC's big team-up movie that... just kind of feels like the end, where they emptied out their Easter egg cupboard (shows a Green Lantern attacking Parademons), united all their biggest superheroes, and tried everything they could to make it look like they still cared.

Diana: You know you can't do this forever.

Bruce: I can barely do it now.

It's a shame, too; they were just starting to take some real steps toward heroism.

Batman: Save one.

Flash: What?

Batman: Save one person.

Okay, baby steps.

Starring: A Wad of Tin Foil Scrunched Around a Laser Pointer (Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg); Jason Moana (Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman); The Dark Nite Owl (Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman); The DCEU Hunger Games Champion (Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman); Super Side Eye (Henry Cavill as Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman); The Voice of Warner Brothers (Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth)...

Alfred: We might not have thought this through.

...Deathpool-- I mean, Deadstroke (Joe Manganiello as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke); Smashed Mouth (shows Superman smiling with a CGI mouth); Spider-Car, Spider-Car, Does Whatever a Spider-Car Does (the Knightcrawler); Oh Miles Dyson, When Will You Learn? (Joe Morton as Silas Stone); Mike Pence (Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf)...

Steppenwolf: I know, Mother...

...Speeder Parker (Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash); and They Recast Luthor?! Yay! (shows Luthor's body double)...

Luthor: Care for a glass of Goût de Diamants?

...Awww... (Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor) And Not Starring... All These Trailer Shots and Scenes That Weren't in the Final Movie: Aquaman consumed by water; Cyborg as a human in a letterman jacket; the "I didn't think you were real" scene...

Cyborg: Didn't think you were real.

Batman: I'm real when it's useful.

...Cyborg fighting a tank and talking to a cop...

Cyborg: You should probably move.

...Flash fighting a Parademon; Cyborg as a human playing football; the original blue color palette end sequence; Bruce looking at holographic Superman; Barry breaking glass; Alfred talking to a mysterious visitor...

Alfred: He said you'd come.

...and Lois and Clark discussing their engagement.

Clark: I'll take that as a "yes".

Lois: What?

Warner Bros. Presents Joss Whedon's Zack Snyder's Justice League Part One ...of One

So, uh... why does everyone in this movie have super smelling?

Batman: Fear. They can smell it.

Wonder Woman: The demons must have caught the scent of the Mother Box.

Steppenwolf: Her scent is on you.

Martha: --you could smell a story...

Aquaman: You recognize that smell?

Lois: You smell good.

Clark: Did I not before?

Trivia[]

Honest_Trailer_Commentaries_-_Justice_League — Honest Trailer Commentaries - Justice League

The Honest Trailers writers didn't think Justice League was an aggressively terrible movie, however they agreed it felt hollow and lacking in weight. They thought it was a studio over-correction from previous DC movies like Batman v Superman.

Honest Trailers have been produced for many other DC films, including Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Batman, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Superman (1978), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Superman Returns, Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Shazam!. See list of Honest Trailers for more.

Watch the full Honest Trailers Commentary on YouTube

Reception[]

Honest Trailers - Justice League has a 96.6% approval rating from YouTube viewers. Many media sites thought that while Screen Junkies' criticisms were harsh, the Honest Trailer succeeded because it used humor to highlight real problems with the film. Comicbook.com said "Like pretty much every Honest Trailer before it, the Justice League installment accurately points out many of the criticisms that audiences and reviewers had for Justice League, from the uneven look of the film (the jokes about how everything is just so orange are painfully accurate) to the observations of just how reliant the movie is on really bad CGI to the nightmare that is Henry Cavill's digitally erased mustache." In the same article, Comicbook.com said "Screen Junkies pulls no punches" and that "Even for the humor, the Honest Trailer stays true to the issues that kept Justice League from being the successful film many hoped it would be." CBR.com wrote that the Honest Trailer "looks at the movie in a brutal light, poking fun at the DC Extended Universe, the movie’s production troubles and the copious use of CGI." ScreenRant said "The better moments of this trailer come from breaking down each of the members of the Justice League."

Production credits[]

Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - Justice League — Video thumbnail for **Honest Trailers - Justice League**

Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey

Title design by Robert Holtby

Producers - Dan Murrell, Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, Max Dionne

Written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, Dan Murrell

Edited by Kevin Williamsen and TJ Nordaker

External links[]

Justice League Honest Trailer: DC Gets It Sorta Down the Middle - ScreenRant article
‘Justice League’ Honest Trailer: A Film Being Rendered Right Before Your Eyes - SlashFilm article
Brutal Justice League Honest Trailer Drags Lots & Lots of CGI - CBR.com article
'Justice League' Gets an Honest Trailer - ComicBook.com article