Justice League 4K Blu-ray Review

• Review Summary
• Review Specs

Pros	Dolby Vision looks fantastic with HDR, the soundtrack does a pretty decent job of immersion.
Cons	The story just drags along and introduces too many new characters to spend enough time on them.
Summary	Justice League doesn't rise to the level of Wonder Woman and just spends most of the time slowly going nowhere. With all of the characters now introduced, hopefully, the next film can spend more time on the current plot than introducing them.
Video
Audio
Movie

Studio	Warner Brothers
Title	Justice League
Audio	Dolby Atmos
Negative Formats	35mm, ALEXA 65
Digital Intermediate	4K
Peak Brightness	Dolby Vision
MPAA Rating	PG-13
Length	120 Minutes
Director	Zack Snyder
Stars	Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Godot, Ezra Miller
Review Date	March 15, 2018
Price	$19.96

Summary: Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.  Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Movie Review: After Wonder Woman nailed it for DC, people have had higher hopes for Justice League than they did before. Unfortunately what comes out is a story that is spread too thin and has to spend too much time on the backstory to leave enough for the actual plot. In introducing three new characters (Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg) that were not in prior films, much of the early and middle of the film is spent on their backgrounds and stories.

There is some humor thrown into the film but overall it is done quite seriously, more Nolan-era Batman than Guardians of the Galaxy. While the movie is fine in the end, it just slogs along and doesn’t reveal deeper information about the characters but almost serves as a setup for yet another sequel.

Technical Review: Justice League was shot mostly on 35mm, with notes indicating that some elements were shot on Arri Alexa digital cameras, but it is mostly 35mm. With a 2K DI you don’t get the finest details that a 4K can offer, but the overall image is quite good. There is a distinct look to the film that the cinematographer is after, and on the Dolby Vision disc it comes across. HDR is used quite well here, with multiple scenes including bright lightning or other explosions that stand out against the dark backgrounds. This is the first Dolby Vision disc I’ve watched all the way through in DV and it certainly seems to do the job. At no point did I feel as if something was being clipped at the bright end, even when it’s a very bright scene that likely would have clipped on HDR10. I did notice a couple of instances where there seemed to be some miscoloration that I’m not sure if it’s in the negative, or a weird Dolby Vision issue.

The soundtrack is Dolby Atmos but defaults to a standard DTS mix on the UHD disc. This becomes particularly annoying with Dolby Vision discs, as a receiver can’t overlay the audio details on-screen with DV content so at first I didn’t realize it wasn’t Atmos (DTS Neural X is enabled for non-Atmos/DTS:X sources for me). Voices are clear and detailed, and there is good low-end impact in many scenes, but the use of the height channels isn’t taken full advantage of during the film.

Special Features:

• Road to Justice
  • Journey alongside DC comic creators as they explore over fifty years of the Justice League, from comic books to animated adventures to their cinematic debut.
• Heart of Justice
  • Discover the heart, soul and mind of the Justice League, as the cast and filmmakers share their admiration for DC’s iconic Trinity: Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman.
• Technology of the Justice League
  • From Batman’s arsenal to Cyborg’s alien tech, interface with the Justice League database to learn their most advanced secrets.
• Justice League: The New Heroes
  • Join Ray Fisher on a personal tour to meet the newest members of the Justice League: Aquaman, the Flash and Cyborg.
• The Return of Superman
  • Bonus scenes not seen in theaters
• Steppenwolf the Conqueror
  • Join actor Ciarán Hinds and the filmmakers as they reveal the story behind mankind’s ancient enemy and the Justice League’s greatest challenge.
• Scene Studies: Revisiting the Amazons
  • Take a closer look at the filmmaking process behind Justice League’s most visually exciting and action-packed sequences
• Scene Studies: Wonder Woman’s Rescue
  • Take a closer look at the filmmaking process behind Justice League’s most visually exciting and action-packed sequences
• Scene Studies: Heroes Park
  • Take a closer look at the filmmaking process behind Justice League’s most visually exciting and action-packed sequences
• Scene Studies: The Tunnel Battle
  • Take a closer look at the filmmaking process behind Justice League’s most visually exciting and action-packed sequences
• Suit Up: The Look of the League
  • Costume Designer Michael Wilkinson explores the innovation and artistry that goes into creating the costumes of DC’s iconic heroes.

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Review System: Sony A1E OLED, Sony UBP-X800 UltraHD Blu-ray Player, Oppo UDP-203 UltraHD Blu-ray Player, KEF Ci5160RL-THX Fronts, Ci3160RL-THX Center, 2x Ci200RR-THX Surrounds, 4x CI200RR-THX Atmos Speakers, Anthem MRX 1120 Receiver, SVS SB-4000 Subwoofer.