We're a few weeks past the release of The Flash in theatres, and after watching the movie, it's safe to say that the DCEU really did need to die. The DCEU has been so all over the place in terms of quality that it's honestly confusing how many different directions it went in. For the most part, most of the movies were okay or worst, but there are a few gems in there. In all, there were 14 movies (if you count the Snyder Cut as its own movie) and only a few of those movies were really loved by most of the audience that watched them.
From the start, the biggest problem that seemed to plague this cinematic universe was how rushed everything felt. Unlike its counterpart in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DCEU did not try to take its time to establish the main heroes before trying to throw them together into a team-up movie. We got one Superman movie in "Man of Steel" and then in the next movie he was already fighting Batman and introducing Wonder Woman before she even got her own movie. After Wonder Woman got her own movie they jumped directly into a Justice League movie without establishing the characters of Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg. It took Flash 5 years to finally get his own movie after Justice League. All that would be easily forgiven if the movies had just been good... but no, most of them were not. So here's my list from Best to Worst because I feel like it's more fun that way in this particular case. Two things won't be included here and that's Peacemaker (because it's a show, but it's actually really good) and the Snyder Cut of Justice League because it's way too freaking long... like 4 hours too long. Though I've heard it actually does improve the original so maybe one day I'll try it out.
THE BEST. (13) The Suicide Squad (2021)
This is by far the best thing that came out of the DCEU, and the fact that it came after the first piece of trash Suicide Squad movie just shows that with the right visionary, you can make a great movie for all the DC characters. This movie had everything from heart to hilarious moments to some great action. It's probably the only DCEU movie you could argue for being a perfect comic book movie. Every actor does an amazing job with their characters. Even a bizarre character like Polka-Dot Man ended up being a favorite because of the great writing and performance. But taking a terrible character from the first movie in Rick Flag and completely redeeming his character was pretty impressive. All in all, it's one of the best comic book movies of all time and it stands way above all the other DCEU projects.
12. Wonder Woman
After a very mediocre start to the DCEU, it was this movie that really gave me hope for the future projects that were coming. This movie had everything that had been missing in the first three movies that started the DCEU. It was actually well-written and directed, which meant it had great characters and a ton of heart that was missing from this universe to that point. Wonder Woman felt like the first project in this universe that knew how to actually portray its leading hero. Gal Gadot played the part perfectly and had great chemistry with Chris Pine to make two really likable characters you root for in the whole movie. It's not a perfect movie, as it has some problems with its third act and the villains, but it's not enough to take away all the good things this movie did. The only sad thing was it gave me hope for a future that never came in the DCEU.
11. Shazam
Much like Wonder Woman, this was a movie that really understood what it was trying to do and did it well. The movie knows how to have fun with its characters while still having enough emotional moments to carry the story. The child-like performance by Zachery Levi was really fun and felt natural for a character that is literally a child in a man's body. It's a fun movie to come back to now and then, which is more than I can say for most of these movies coming up. There was real potential here for a nice side series in the DCEU that could have eventually tied into some of the other characters and movies, like a Shazam and Superman movie or Shazam Vs Black Adam, but... well we'll get to that later.
10. Birds of Prey
I would say this is the last good movie on this list, though it's known for dividing audiences. A lot of people don't love this one, but I really thought it was a fun ride with a great character in Harley Quinn. The supporting cast is actually great too and each of them had great chemistry with each other. The character of Harley Quinn is really likable though and it's her growth that really carries this movie. They do a great job at making you feel sympathy for what was a villainous character. Overall, a fun movie that's another good one to rewatch, but it certainly has its fair share of flaws. Fun fact though, this was the last movie I saw in theatres before the pandemic. Probably something a lot of people can say as it came out a few weeks before it all went down.
9. The Flash
Going into movies that were very OKAY. This might be the most okay movie I've seen in a while? The movie suffered from a lot of things, the main noticeable problem being the rushed CGI that oftentimes looks worst than a movie from the 90s. It was very distracting watching some of the outdated visuals just all over the screen with no shame whatsoever. That and a story that was just fine, with lots of missed opportunities for fun. The best part of the movie is seeing Keaton's Batman return to the big screen once again, he hasn't missed a step. But that nostalgia rush can only take you so far when most of the movie struggled to capture my attention. Aside from a few well-done moments involving Barry and his family, I mostly felt nothing watching this movie and the nostalgia bombs were not enough to make me feel anything more for this movie. It was all just OKAY. Supergirl was awesome though.
8. Man of Steel
If you want to talk about a movie that made me feel nothing, well here's Man of Steel. It's weird because I remember liking this more when it came out, but over the years I feel less and less for this movie. I think the sequel probably had a huge role in that, to be honest, and the way they handled Henry Cavill's Superman really left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. So much potential here was squandered as they picked the right man to play Superman, but never gave him a good movie to star in and really establish himself as THE SUPERMAN. This movie was all over the place in quality with some dumb choices by a lot of the characters being written into the movie. I'll still never understand his earth dad letting himself die just to prove some kind of dumb point. There are still enough decent moments here to keep this from being a truly terrible movie, but it's certainly not a good one.
7. Shazam: Fury of the Gods
I think I need to rewatch this film to really see how I feel about it. I think it honestly might be more enjoyable than Man of Steel, but my expectations were higher for this one after how much I enjoyed the first, maybe I was harsher towards it. So maybe after a rewatch it could go a few spots higher here, but it's still not quite what I was hoping for in a sequel. It doesn't help that this movie felt like it was destined to fail with the way the studio was treating it and the announcement of the new direction DC was about to go in with the new creative head James Gunn taking charge. That and The Rock as Black Adam not wanting to be seen in this movie despite being a huge part of the Shazam universe. It all just feels disappointing, to say the least. Maybe next time let the movie come out before you announce a restart of the whole cinematic universe.
6. Black Adam
Speaking of Black Adam, boy was this movie a mediocre mess. Honestly, this movie did more damage to The Rock's career than I thought anything could do. The man seemed untouchable, but after this flop of a movie came out his aura just seemed different. The man seemed like for the first time in his career he was defeated. He tried desperately to make this movie seem better than it actually was and at times even lied just to save face. Eventually, he would call it quits and confirm that he wouldn't be back to make any sequels to this crap movie. The worst part is the giant tease at the end of the movie where they were starting to set up a possible Superman VS Black Adam storyline with Henry Cavill returning. All that was just a big tease that is not even going to happen. That on top of this movie that felt like a generic comic book movie really made it clear that it was time for the DCEU to end and a new era to start. Now The Rock went crawling back to the Fast franchise to try and salvage his movie star career. Oh and a live-action Moana that definitely does not feel desperate at all by The Rock and Disney. Be sure to try his tequila though, it can't be worse than this movie?
5. Aquaman
Jason Mamoa's charm was not enough to make this movie anything more than a boring slog. This was by far the most boring DCEU movie out of all of them, but still not the worst. It wasn't really a terrible movie in that it didn't really do anything offensively bad, but it didn't have anything that made it stand out above an average action movie. The movie felt way too long and the story felt very slow at times with the few action scenes not really bringing anything that exciting besides more CGI-filled fights that just didn't really do it for me. The movie pretty much peaks at the start where they introduce Aquaman for the first time and he is very charming and likable. That charm is wasted on a boring story filled with a lot of characters that I can't even remember. Even the villain is pretty forgettable and almost feels like an afterthought in a movie that feels way too long. I literally had to fight sleep just to finish watching this one.
4. Justice League
Like I said before, the DCEU felt rushed and that was very clear when watching the first release of Justice League. There were some obvious problems with the movie like the reshoots that involved Henry Cavill getting his mustache removed with special effects. It was incredibly distracting and kind of hilarious. But the thing that made this movie really bad was just how all the characters were rushed together and had little to no chemistry with each other. It felt like they were just trying to catch up to what Marvel was doing without actually doing any of the work to set up their universe and build a big villain for the team to take on. It all happens so fast in just this one movie it all feels forced. It just shows how important it is to actually take time to build your characters and get the audience to like each of them individually before you throw them all together in a big team-up.
3. Wonder Woman 1984
The biggest disappointment by far in this whole DCEU mess. How do you go from one of the best comic book movies to one of the worst? Well, you make a mess of a movie that has no idea what it's trying to be in Wonder Woman 1984. The story is all over the place with confusing villains, dumb action scenes, and none of the charm of the first movie. So much talent involved in this movie it boggles my mind how this one came out so bad. You get Chris Pine and Gal Gadot back together with the addition of Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal and you somehow waste all their talent. The only thing keeping this movie from being the worst is the next two movies being somehow worse than this pile of garbage. That and Gal Gadot and Chris Pine do have some nice moments together at the very least, so at least that was nice to see more of.
2. Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice
The name of the movie sucks, the characters suck, the writing sucks, the action sucks, and the visuals suck... this movie is just the worst. Well, not the worst, because there's one more movie on this list, but still. I could probably go on and on about why I hate this movie, but it's probably not worth the energy to go that deep into it. I'll just say how disappointing it was to go into a big movie that tons of people had been waiting to see in live-action only to be completely blown away by how terrible it was. Batman kills people, Lex Luthor is a weirdo for no reason, Batman doesn't kill Superman because their moms have the same name, and the Justice League is announced through weird cam-footage. It's all just bad. The movie looks dark and ugly and it feels like a heartless corporate cash grab trying to get the most money it can by sticking its two most popular characters in a movie and not doing anything interesting with them. One of the biggest disappointments of my movie-going experience. The only reason it's not the worst movie is because there's somehow something even more soulless and pointless coming up next.
THE WORST: Suicide Squad (2016)
This movie is one of my most hated pieces of media ever created. Not just comic movies, but movies in general. It's a giant mess of a movie that has no idea how to be interesting or entertaining outside of being just terrible from start to finish. It's not even the kind of bad you can laugh at (okay maybe a few parts are bad funny), but the kind of bad that leaves you empty inside. I honestly had lost all hope for the DCEU after watching this movie, but thankfully Wonder Woman came after it and reminded me what DC movies actually look like when done well. This movie really seemed like it was trying so hard to be Guardians of the Galaxy with its quirky characters and use of licensed music. But everything Guardians did well, this movie struggled with. The characters all fell flat and felt like they had no real growth throughout the story. Most of the characters were one-note and forgettable with the exception of Harley Quinn who was the only decent thing this movie had going for it. It wasn't enough to make up for the terrible dialog and sloppy storytelling. The use of licensed music always felt out of place and didn't really seem to have a theme outside of just using as many popular songs as possible. The movie was dark and ugly with lots of over-the-top effects and fonts that felt like they were trying too hard to be quirky. At the end of it all you're left with an ugly, boring movie with no redeeming qualities outside of a few minutes of Harley Quinn. I don't know how James Gunn took this mess of a movie and made a sequel that was one of the best comic book movies ever made. Killing off almost all the characters probably helps? Some people just understand how to present these types of characters in a story and how to get audiences to like them despite how weird they may seem. This first movie got everything wrong and I didn't even talk about their version of the Joker... but I don't think there's enough time in the world to go into that disaster.
If these movies had taken more time to build their characters and find the right directors and writers to tell their stories, then there would have never been a need to restart the entire universe over. Lots of these actors were great choices for the characters they were playing and it sucks that we might never see actors like Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, and Jason Momoa in good movies playing their characters. Well, there is still another Aquaman movie coming out before the DCEU completely gets wiped out, so maybe that'll be good? Probably not...
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