DC Universe - Justice League: War

[Freedom]

I loved it! Sure it was a little rushed, you have to remember, Batman was a mystery and possibly a bad guy, Superman was an alien with unbelievable power who could be a worldwide threat and Green Lantern attacked both of them. I think it should get 4 & 1/2 stars.

 

[Destructus86]

I find it interesting how people how such a problem with the swearing, but not the violence.

Because the swearing felt forced. Like it was added just to make the film seem more edgy.

 

[Steamteck]

I loved the DCAU. This new one just leaves me cold and unsatisfied. Guess I can cross off Darkseid as my favorite villain in this continuity.

 

[brainchild81]

I just watched this today and thought it was really bad. While the character designs, animation, and some of the voice acting was really well done, the writing - both the character development and plot - was extreme poor. I understand this is based on the New 52 story, but what a clumsy and underwhelming way to assemble these heroes. I thought the Justice League would have more prestige and meaning, instead of a group of jerks, basically.

What I liked:
- The costumes and character designs
- The voice acting for Green Lantern, Superman, Flash, and Cyborg.
- Stellar animation and fight sequences.
- A more mature tone, including violence and swearing.
- Superman's action scenes.
- Wonder Woman taking the lead and being competent.

What I disliked:
- Heroes fighting heroes. The battle between Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern was unbelievably contrived and represents one of the stupider tropes of comic books.
- Green Lantern. Possibly the worst character. He was antagonistic with the other heroes, flat out stupid, chauvinistic ("dibs"), and his projections were weird. I have never seen a Hal Jordan that I have liked (mostly judging from the Ryan Reynolds movie and First Flight).

Not horrible IMO but easily one of the worst DC animated films & a huge letdown after Flashpoint. Ditto for the most part on Hal. Not a fan but he was @least tolerable or easily ignorable in animation most of the time. He was unbearable here & actually hurt the quality of the film. He was an *******...&not an entertaining one like Guy can be. Didn't like the most of the WW scenes. The one where she lassoed the guy & he talked about dressing like her was pretty funny tho.

I expect better from the Justice League, especially from a story where all these legendary heroes formed a team.

I expect better from DC when it comes to animation. I won't call this horrible, but I can't call it good either.

I loved the DCAU. This new one just leaves me cold and unsatisfied.

Ditto

 

[Lantern Venom]

I like this brash Superman. He's not yet the hero we respect and love, he's more akin to his golden age counterpart and how morrison wrote him in action comics. I think the movie was better than both superman/batman movies, because while the story was simple, the interactions between the heroes felt truer to me.

More often than not, I find Superman boring. He wasn't the soft-spoken statesman in JL:War, but a young guy more than ready to mix it up and menace people. I liked that he had an edge. I still loved the scene where he gave Hal the stink eye for hitting on Wonder Woman.

Loved JUSTICE LEAGUE:WAR. My favourite JL movie (that I've seen so far). Better than JLOOM imo. No complaints, really.

This is certainly one of the DCAU's best offerings. Even with the simplistic plot, it had a big, important feel to it with all of the heroes trying to co-exist for the first time. I really hope WB gets their act together for once and uses this as a template for the live-action JL movie.

My wife, on the other hand, is pretty tired of this movie. It has nothing to do with the flick itself, but she's a little annoyed that every time she's asked me to help her do something around the house, I respond with the line in my signature.

 

[Doppelganger]

I totally disagree. For me it is the worst DCAU movie ever.

The plot is a thin excuse to get all of them to punch something. The movie is filled with at best a cast of mostly one dimensional characters and the characterization of GL and WW is downright awful.

It feels like watching a bunch of arrogant, brash, and superpowerd high school kids.

I don't hate it. It is just that I cringed, facepalmed and felt downright embarrassed while watching the film.

 

[Nathan]

I get that everyone is supposed to be younger, but they are in their 20's. They aren't kids anymore. So seeing most of the characters act the way they did, really felt stupid.

 

[Lantern Venom]

I get that everyone is supposed to be younger, but they are in their 20's. They aren't kids anymore. So seeing most of the characters act the way they did, really felt stupid.

Wonder Woman's personality reminded me of her personality from the 2009 movie. Superman echoed the hot-headed Clark we saw during the nomadic period in MOS. Jordan has only been a GL for about 6 months in this continuity, so he's still the brave jerk he is in his various comic origins. So, I was expecting something like The Program with super powers.

 

[Nathan]

Wonder Woman's personality reminded me of her personality from the 2009 movie.

Wow... I did not get that at all. And the 2009 version is one of my favorite interpretations of Wonder Woman. The JL:W version to me is easily the worst.

Superman echoed the hot-headed Clark we saw during the nomadic period in MOS.

Yeah, when he was trying NOT to be a jerk and had to repress in anger the whole time. This Superman did not do that.

Jordan has only been a GL for about 6 months in this continuity, so he's still the brave jerk he is in his various comic origins.

Yes, he can be a jerk. But in the origin comics I've read, he's still more subdued and less anger inducing than the JL:W version.


These characters were supposed to be in their 20's, yet they acted like they were only 15.

 

[Kane52630]

I'll have a review up later, but I will say this.

I hated Batman's thin, curvy ears. Weird complaint I know, but still.

I hope that's just the tip of the colossal iceberg.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

I hope that's just the tip of the colossal iceberg.

Oh yes... bear with me, if you all can:

--------------------------------

Justice League: War is a considerably faithful adaptation of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's 2011-2012 story arc Justice League: Origin, which ran for six issues and not only kicked off a brand new monthly comic for the League but also the company wide relaunch of DC Comics known as 'The New 52'. Origin stories were altered, the time-line reshuffled, personalities tweaked and beloved characters with long, laborious histories re-thought from the the ground up. The reboot and this storyline in particular produced two sure-fire things: sales and disgruntled fan-boys.


My own opinion on the reboot was mostly one of indifference. My favourite character, Batman, was largely left untouched. Sure, they condensed his entire history (Robins and all) into an absurd five year time span, but he was still the gruff, intelligent Dark Knight who liked to dress in grey and black and fight bad guys, while being surrounded by a great supporting cast. After a few months, you don't even notice the 'stitching' on his new costume. However, other characters, such as Superman and Wonder Woman, were more radically changed and for better or for worse, it's all being shoved in my face with the latest DC Universe Original Movie.
Now, I've always considered myself as someone who is remarkably easy to please. I'm ashamed to say, I was watching Catwoman (2004) the other night and found myself saying, ''Huh, I can kind of see what they were going for in this scene... I mean, they failed, but I can still see it''. Horrendous, I know. However, at the end of the day, it boils down to one thing... Was I entertained? And yes, despite it's many, MANY flaws, I was mildly entertained by Justice League: War.


As the movie opens, it's clear what we are in for; action, action and more action with a few explosions thrown in for good measure. The story is essentially this – Darkseid decides to invade the earth and our seven heroes must find each other and overcome their differences to stop the world from being destroyed. Oh, and Cyborg gets and origin story as well. This tale has been told many times before and often so much more competently, such as in 2001's Justice League: Secret Origins. The story lacks substance and any kind of meaningful cohesion. The film's attempts at drawing some kind of emotional reaction from it's viewers is rather strained with a wafer thin father-son plot involving Silas and Vic. The whole thing certainly pales in comparison to the poignant and heartbreaking backbone of Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, concerning Barry and his mother.


As for the all important characterizations, the movie fares somewhat better. Batman Flash, Cyborg and Shazam are all pretty much what you'd expect and hit all the required beats admirably. However, Green Lantern is now an overly arrogant jerk, Superman comes across as a cocky bully (more 16 year old jock than 20 something superhero) and Wonder Woman is a blood-thirsty 8 year old who loves ice-cream. Naturally, you do get used to these new versions as the movie progresses but they are still quite jarring and, at times, unpleasant to watch.


The two plot points that I truly hated and which most definitely soured the movie for me was the sickening puppy dog love romance burgeoning between Superman and Wonder Woman and Superman the murderer rearing his ugly head again. First, the romance – I never liked the idea of Clark and Diana getting involved as it always seem highly forced and unnatural to me. I'm not saying it's a bad plot development, it's just one I don't particularly care for and hope is nipped in the bud as quickly as possible. As for the scene where Superman kills you-know-who, let's just say it was cheap and unnecessary and leave it at that.


While the narrative aspect of this production leaves much to be desired (None of which I blame Heath Corson for, but rather the intrinsic nature of The New 52), the animation fares much better. Not that I'm all that surprised as the rather fantastic Jay Oliva is handling directing duties. He seems incredibly intuitive about this sort of stuff and has a very smart and capable grasp of what works and what doesn't work for these animated features, all the while experimenting and pushing the envelope despite the limited budget. This line is very lucky to have him. The animation is fluid, dynamic and aggressive, expertly bringing the always entertaining (If at times exhausting) fight/battle sequences to life. The background and character designs are mostly adequate. However Gotham and Metropolis looked no different from each other and that can only be described as disappointing after the distinct looks we got in the Bruce Timm cartoons. Plus, as I mentioned before, I really disliked Batman's thin, curvy ears, but apart from that everyone looked quite good.


As usual, Andrea Romano does a pretty good job with the casting and pulls decent performances from all her actors. I found all the voices suitable, which is a relief considering we will soon be hearing more of them in future productions, schedules permitting. While I will always miss Kevin Conroy behind the microphone and believe no one can match his brilliance (certainly at his peak), Jason O' Mara, fellow Irish man, is off to a very promising start and got much better as he went along. Not to mention sounding totally on point in the Son of Batman preview. I can't say I enjoyed Darkseid's modified voice, but then they totally butchered his character anyway so it makes no real difference. A quick shout-out to Kevin Kilesch for a more effective score than his forgettable Superman: Unbound effort.


So ultimately, a disappointing entry in the DCU line, but by no means the terrible abomination I've heard some say it is. It's faults lie in the source material for the most part. I'm still intrigued that it's kicking off a DTV continuity, but it's a shame that it had to be with a League I don't much care for at the moment. A better developed villian and a deeper storyline for our favourite heroes and we could have been looking at a truly promising start. Oh well, here's to ironing out the kinks. In the meantime, I think I'll go watch Justice League: Starcrossed again.


6/10.

 

[Hush]

Man Starcrossed is awesome, when Wayne names off everyones secret ID's its epic. That is one of the Top Ten Batman moments of all time.

 

[charl_huntress]

Pfei-Pfan....I haven't read your post yet, but your avvy works so well in response to Kane's comment of tip of the iceberg....LOL...LMAO.

Kudos...

 

[Shikamaru]

Its faults definitely lie with the source material, which is why I think this was a huge waste of potential. If you're going to adapt a story that was poorly/mix received in the comics, why not make it better? Staying true to the source material isn't always a good thing.

 

[Two-Face=Badass]

Yeah, I agree that Wonder Woman and Superman always feel forced as a romance. Not to mention the sexism that comes with it - everytime they get together Wonder Woman magically becomes less competent and Superman must save her/protect her honour, because apparently writers can't conceive of a truly equal power couple.

 

[Nathan]

Yeah, I was really disappointed by how closely they adapted the comic. And any changes that were made, were actually for the worse.

 

[Shikamaru]

Shazam felt really forced in. As did the cussing.

 

[Nathan]

And the added neck breaker that wasn't in the source material at all.

 

[charl_huntress]

Ummmm

 

[Matt.S99]

Question. I have not seen the movie. I heard nothing but negative things about Wonder Woman's portrayal. Is it that bad?
I read the first 4 issues of the JL comic and I don't remember hating her characterization(didn't love it mind you).

 

[Kane52630]

Both Wonder Woman and Superman acted like Neanderthals throughout the movie. It was dumbed down and full of nothing but punching.

 

[Matt.S99]

I definitely don't remember that from the comics. Then again it has been two years since I've read it.

 

[Mad Love]

Yeah, they were too one-dimensional. The only character that had any development was Cyborg.

 

[Matt.S99]

I remember WW and Superman both being somewhat likable in the JL comic.


That's a shame they did that.

 

[Kane52630]

The love thing between Superman and Wonder Woman was awful

Wonder Woman: *saving the plane and fighting off Parademons*

Superman: "OOoo me Superman likey! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)"