Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck and Ezra Miller star in a scene from the movie "Justice League." The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. (CNS/Warner Bros.)

By Catholic News Service

With Superman (Henry Cavill) dead, and the world threatened by a giant alien (Ciaran Hinds) with a scheme to unleash apocalyptic destruction, Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) assemble a team of superheroes or, in DC Comics parlance, metahumans — the Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) — to thwart the invader.

Picking up where his 2016 feature, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” left off, director Zack Snyder deploys predictably outsized special effects. But the meager, been-here-before story laid out in Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon’s screenplay features a crucial plot development that may not go down well with Christian viewers and offers little in the way of human interest, though there are laughs to be had from the Flash’s socially inept persona.

Constant stylized violence, two uses of profanity, a milder oath, several crude and a couple of crass terms, some bleeped-out swearing. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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