Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is a wonderful conclusion to the New 52 DCAU which had its ups and downs but produced some good features, a few of which rival the live action side.
Even though I did find Justice League entertaining enough, there’s no denying there was a certain amount of disappointment leading to the build-up and not being able to see what was originally intended, not to mention the deleted footage seen in the various trailers. If you go in just expecting a insubstantial popcorn flick, it’s fine, but it certainly did not live up to the title.
Justice League Dark is a middle-of-the-road entry into the DC Animated Universe. It’s also a bit inside baseball in that probably die-hard fans of the comics will get something out if it while others will find it crowded and the magical elements even made it harder to follow.
LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Gotham City Breakout is pretty much in line with their other entries: the storytelling isn’t great, animation standard and the focus is primarily geared towards kids though adults will find it semi-entertaining.
LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash isn’t as good as its predecessors, and obviously a far cry from the LEGO feature films, but it’s a fun movie especially for younger viewers and at only 78-minutes (w/ credits), it at least flies by.
Note: This opinion piece may include major spoilers (based on trailers and online rumors/conjecture) to Batman v Superman.
“This may be the only thing I do that matters.”
For whatever reason, this line struck a chord with me upon hearing it in one of the TV spots that aired recently on Spike. It got my mind working that the Bruce Wayne in the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be something different than we’ve seen before. This Bruce Wayne could be more introspective not questioning the need for a Batman but instead a man who has spent his life living in the shadows, taking out Gotham City scum, seeing a friend/ward/sidekick beaten and killed by a psychotic serial killer clown and leading to it all, the murder of his parents right in front of his eyes.
LEGO Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom is another fun entry into the LEGO animated line with nice animation and good voice casting making for an all around entertaining flick serving as a good placeholder while we wait for LEGO Batman. The Blu-ray released by Warner Home Video offers solid video/audio transfers while the singular featurette is actually interesting.
LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League isn’t great and is even a notch below LEGO Batman: The Movie but is still a fun little adventure with impressive animation and it’s something comic book fans and young kids will enjoy. The Blu-ray released by Warner has a good video transfer and an OK lossless audio track.
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis is not DCUA’s best output to date but it’s a perfectly entertaining film with a few flaws, primarily the limited running time. But the voice casting is mostly good, even Jason O’Mara, and on the whole I enjoyed it and some of the darker humor and taking the PG-13 rating to the limits in terms of animated affair.
I’m happy that Warner, through their Archive line, released “Young Justice”: Invasion as a companion to the first season. It’s a great show through and through with excellent action, engaging storylines and nice animation. The Blu-ray release offers some good bonus material and solid video/audio transfers.
JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time, unlike its DCU counterparts, is a big downgrade in quality especially with the story, but I get what the filmmakers were after: a tongue-in-cheek comedy adventure and throwback to the old cartoon series; however the humor is pretty basic and really only anyone under the age of 13 might get anything substantial out of it.
Justice League: War might not be the best of the DC Universal Animated Movie line and a step down from Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox and The Dark Knight Returns, but it is entertaining enough though the voice casting this go around isn’t the best, though we might be stuck with them given War is to be the first of connecting DCUA movies.
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is another solid entry into the DC Universe Animated line. The movie have had quality voice talent to go along with a well paced and finely tuned adaptation work providing for provocative storytelling, unflinching violence that even Tim Burton would avoid and an all around entertaining experience that I only wish the future DC live action movies could live up to.
Justice League: Doom has some of the same flaws of other DCU Animated releases, one being a short running time, that it limits any kind of character development or arc. Even so, the action and adventure elements are both fantastic and compared with the other Justice League movies, this is probably the best.
“Justice League” remains one of the best animated series ever made with some great action scenes intermixed with compelling stories and character development rarely seen in the genre. This season is probably the best but the remaining two, under the title “Justice League Unlimited” are still fantastic viewing. With regards to the Blu-ray I’m happy to report we finally got a proper widescreen transfer.