After what seems far too long a time for opinions both negative and positive to percolate -and the back and forth has been at times intense!- the Justice League movie is officially being released and the reviews are… not terribly good.

While these reviews are better overall than the reviews of Batman v Superman and several high profile critics have offered very high praise, the fact of the matter is that once again a DC universe film is being released to generally negative reviews.

Predictably, there’s been screaming from some parts -the fanboys most certainly!- about bias and, perhaps, they have a point.  The question arises: Has the negativity associated with Batman v Superman permeated this new product to the point where a cold, neutral look at it is impossible?  There are those, after all, who seem sold on the idea that anything director Zach Snyder touches will instantly turn to crap, so perhaps they go into the film thinking this is inevitable in Justice League’s case?

Biases most certainly can exist.

Way back in the year 2000, Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu starred in the film Charlie’s Angels, a theatrical remake of the cheesy -but somewhat beloved- TV show involving a trio of very pretty female detectives who, along with their assistant Bosley, worked for the mysterious “Charlie” solving crimes each week.

The show made a mega-star of the late Farrah Fawcett but I doubt even the most ardent fans of the show consider it a “classic”.  Thus, when word came that a movie version was about to be released, many didn’t think it could possibly be any good.

I know this because I found it curious, at the time, how professional review after review I read had variations of “I can’t believe it… they made a good movie out of this!” in their positive reviews.

It was clear many critics went into the film (here comes the bias thing) thinking it would be absolutely terrible and were surprised when they found it to be good.  In their opinion, of course.

So I, who shared very similar negative thoughts –no way they could make a good film out of Charlie’s Angels, could they!?- read those reviews and, based on them, softened my negative (biased?!) opinion.  I figured that perhaps against all odds, the people behind this film made something good.

So off I trot to the theaters and see the film, now thinking I’m about to have a good time (another bias!).

I didn’t.

Charlie’s Angels, to me, wasn’t a horrible film, but the reviews elevated my hopes  to the point that when I saw the film and it didn’t deliver as I felt it would, I was very disappointed.

So, think about it: Many critics went in to see the film with very LOW expectations and figured the film would be awful (negative bias).  They were pleasantly surprised when they found it wasn’t.

I, on the other hand, expected the film would be awful but, after reading several positive reviews, changed my mind (positive bias).  I go into the film with high expectations based on the words of so many critics.  I wind up being disappointed.

Getting back to Justice League, clearly there are many, many people out there who really like characters like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.  They want any film featuring these beloved characters to succeed just as there are many, many people who feel so negative toward director Zach Snyder and his work thus far with the DC Superheroes (he directed Man of Steel and Batman v Superman) that they feel Justice League will be another bomb, no doubt about it.

Positive and negative biases formed even before seeing the actual film.

I’ve noted -far too many times!- that I enjoyed Batman v Superman and am unapologetic in that opinion.  In fact, I feel that in time and when emotions cool people may give the film a second chance and find it far better than the overall negativity it currently elicits.

Having said that, I’m also one who feels that people’s opinions are just that: Opinions.  Your opinion about movie/song/book X is YOUR OPINION and therefore cannot be wrong… to you, just as my opinion of movie/song/book X is MY OPINION and, therefore, cannot be wrong to me.

I haven’t seen Justice League yet, though I must admit I too have some pre-conceived notions about what it will be.

I’ve heard the film had about 1 hour of material cut from it before reaching theaters.  Given how much better Batman v Superman was in its “Ultimate Edition” versus the cut down theatrical version, I worry that Justice League, which runs a pretty tight 2 hours, may wind up being more disjointed than it should be and that when the inevitable “Director’s Cut” shows up, it will prove a better overall product.

As with so many other things, we’ll see.