DC Universe - Justice League: War

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

Surely I'm not the only one didn't enjoy Flashpoint Paradox that much?

I loveddddd all the Flash stuff (Both from a character level and the action), but throwing in the side-stories made the whole thing feel meandering and they took away from the core story. Endless battles between evil WW and evil Aquaman meant nothing to me.

TDKReturns = TDKT (awesome story, drama, atmosphere, etc)

JL WAR = The Avengers (Awesome eye candy and comedy, but will probably lose its luster in time due to a lack of a meaty story)

Wonder Woman = X2 (awesome first two acts. When we start getting into the plot/third act, I stop caring).

Flashpoint = Spider-Man 3 (decent amount of heart/eye candy interrupted by other stuff nobody cares about)

Doom, Crisis, etc = X-Men 3. (a whole lot of characters and a whole lot of nothing. Flat).

Just my opinion.

 

[Hush]

I think New Frontier could have been great. Had some really cool designs, I liked the characterizations (Martian Manhunter, Hal, etc) the atmosphere was great, etc, but the plot was far too rushed. Also had some decent acting. But again, I still have no idea what the Centre was.

I wish they would have like OVA series like the Japanese do for some of their animation.

I believe that the Centre was a figurative living symbol for communism, thats what Cooke said.

 

[Lord]

This is the second New 52 movie? I thought it was the first?

I think he is referring to Flashpoint Paradox which lead to JL War.

Uhm, guys, i didn't say that JL War was the second new 52 movie, i meant that Throne of Atlantis is probably going to be the 2nd one as the sequel to this one, in that case what will be the 3rd new 52 JL film? If they even make one?

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

This isn't out yet already, is it?

 

[Binker]

Seeing it again, maybe 6/10 should be changed into 6.5/10. I'm liking it more, but the flaws are still present.

 

[Nathan]

I'm actually thinking of dropping my score. There are enjoyable character moments, but those with bad characterization stand out too much. There's basically no plot, and action alone, no matter how badass, doesn't make a good movie.

 

[haephestus]

I liked it, but as others have said, it would almost one, long, repeating action scene.

At first it was cool, especially seeing Wonder Woman kicking butt and Batman's multiple gadgets, but then it just became dull. And it went on and on.

The characters seemed to be all over the place. Angry God Superman? Angry Naive Warrior Wonder Woman? Spoilt, surly and immature Shazam? Extremely big/hot headed Green Lantern? I thought Cyborg, The Flash and Batman generally came across okay, but there were a few moments that were odd, like when Victor delibrately disrupted his father's experiment by removing the motherbox from the containment field.

Wonder Woman as an over the top caricature of a "warrior princess" was probably the most grating. It was great to see her in battle scenes holding her own with Superman, but the ridiculousness of her drawing her sword at everything and everyone without the slightest provocation was beyond belief, even if she was a recent arrival from Paradise Island (or Themyscira as Wonder Woman should have called it).

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

I'm actually thinking of dropping my score. There are enjoyable character moments, but those with bad characterization stand out too much. There's basically no plot, and action alone, no matter how badass, doesn't make a good movie.

Raid Redemption?

 

[BobJM]

I still think Crisis was the best JL flick. This movie (like the comics) didn't do it for me. It was just a neverending fight against Parademons.

 

[kguillou]

I would have liked if the writers took more liberties with the story and maybe added more elements to it. I mean I thought it was a very entertaining flick, but if they tweaked the story and maybe added some stuff this could have easily been one of their best animated features.

 

[Czar Colossus]

In two words "It sucked" (but so did the story it was based on and the whole New 52 in general).
The New 52 redesigns that were used look even worse animated than on the comics page. The updated characterizations were horrible, but at least Flash, Cyborg, and Batman seemed to have their personalities from before this current mess intact. Yet Batman trying to form a bond with Hal, even though they seemingly hate each other, sucked in the comic and didn't fair better here. Superman and Wonder Woman gushing over each other was nauseating. The new Billy Batson is an absolute a**hole tool and hearing him as Captain Marvel refer to himself as SHAZAM made me cringe! Shoehorning Cyborgs origin into the formation of the Justice League is blatantly forcing the issue of increasing his status as a hero in the DCU. I love Cyborg, but he does not belong as a founding member of the Justice League. The Justice League is a gathering of the greatest individual heroes in the world (they are not the X-men or the Fantastic Four), Cyborg does not fit in here, he is much better suited for the Titans. His presence smacks of tokenism (no offense), but if you need a minority character make it J'onn J'onzz civilian identity. As much as I love Captain Marvel, his replacing Aquaman seemed a "force" too.
The heroes come across as more irritating than admirable. Clearly the New DCU is designed for the MTV generation (or fans of things like Jersey Shore or Real World). Well like sports or politics, I concede to you that I'm on the losing end. Yeah I prefer the classic look and the good guys being great role models, but that is just not popular or good enough for the status quo anymore. I sincerely do not mean any disrespect to any fans that do prefer this new stuff, I guess for now this world is yours; enjoy, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the end of the New 52 is something I hope I live to see.
One last thing, I suggest Justice League Adventures Trapped in Time; far from perfect but much better than wasting your time on War.

 

[p4poetic]

Surely I'm not the only one didn't enjoy Flashpoint Paradox that much?

I loveddddd all the Flash stuff (Both from a character level and the action), but throwing in the side-stories made the whole thing feel meandering and they took away from the core story. Endless battles between evil WW and evil Aquaman meant nothing to me.

Same. And I adore WW.

 

[cleverusername8]

To me, all of the problems with this movie resides in the issues that were present in the original story in the comic.

1) Darkseid didn't seem to have a real motivation other than "Oh look, a world that I haven't conquered. I should go do that". That's not a motivation, it's a vanilla excuse to have a bad guy in a story. I heard something somewhere that he was looking for his daughter or something, but this wasn't explained well in the comic or this movie.

2) The group came together a little too quickly and a bit randomly. They literally all happened to be in the same place at the same time out of convenience. I would have liked a more believable reason for them all uniting at the same spot before Darkseid even showed his face. Though having Flash in contact with S.T.A.R. labs in the movie was a step up.

3) Both Wonder Woman and Superman's portrayals bothered me in both the comic and the movie. Superman was way too jerky for who Superman should be, and Wonder Woman was just cringe worthy in the way she talks and acts. It didn't help that the voice was fairly terrible in the movie (in my opinion).

Speaking of voices, does anyone else feel that the voice work was a lot weaker in this one? The voices in Flashpoint Paradox were several steps above the cast in JL: War in my opinion. The one voice that I did like was Batman, but he's not Kevin Conroy. I'm alright with him coming back for Son of Batman though.

4) The actual fight with Darkseid was all sorts of messed up. First off, what's the deal with Omega Beams barely doing damage to people? They kind of knocked them on their butts after which they'd get up and hop back to fighting. I always remembered Omega Beams being what their name implied: Darkseid's end-all weapon against his enemies? Furthermore, there was way too much flip flop between Darkseid wiping the floor with the JL and vice versa. I understand the standard practice of having the heroes have their butts handed to them early on, then the tide reversing for the heroes to win. It just happened way too much for my taste. Lastly, what cured Superman after his indoctrination to the Parademon transformation? Was it intentionally not shown in the movie? I don't remember how that worked in the comic... The last twenty minutes of the movie seemed rushed to keep it under 80 minutes and featured lots of flash without substance.

5) Speaking of which, there was so little Flash in this movie. I was severely disappointed that he got less screen time than Shazam who shouldn't have even been here. Every scene that featured Flash prior to the battle was of little to no consequence to the actual story. And then when he did arrive, it was during the messy final battle that didn't have a lot of character moments anyway (unless if you count the Bruce/Hal exchange that felt weaker in the movie than it did in the comic).

6) Lastly, I was hoping that Shazam would be given a solid reason for being in the story since they swapped him for Aquaman. Sadly, I was disappointed to see that he really had no point in the story other than playing a supporting role for Victor's daddy issue subplot. It wasn't even well done in my opinion. I wouldn't say any of the characters were very well developed (Victor got more than everyone else, granted), but Shazam was probably the second least besides Flash. And Billy was a tad over the top (is that how he is in the New 52? I haven't read anything from him).

Anyway, that's it. I did enjoy some parts of the movie. The humor was pretty good. And the animation wasn't terrible. The characters definitely looked better than they did in Flashpoint Paradox. But FP had a much better story and better acting in my opinion.

I give this movie a 6.5/10.

 

[Nathan]

To me, all of the problems with this movie resides in the issues that were present in the original story in the comic.

1) Darkseid didn't seem to have a real motivation other than "Oh look, a world that I haven't conquered. I should go do that". That's not a motivation, it's a vanilla excuse to have a bad guy in a story. I heard something somewhere that he was looking for his daughter or something, but this wasn't explained well in the comic or this movie.

He did have slightly more motivation in the comic. It doesn't improve the story, but at least it makes him more than a simple conquerer, that stumbled upon a new Planet. I think in the comic he's looking for his daughter. It basically just adds another two words for Darkseid. Wonder Woman asks him why he's here, and he just replies with "For her". I guess another Event would reveal the purpose of his attack.

Going through the pages again, we get a little more info, as Batman is eavesdropping on Desaad talking about Darkseid's daughter. And his goal to find her, is the whole reason he keeps invading planets.

2) The group came together a little too quickly and a bit randomly. They literally all happened to be in the same place at the same time out of convenience. I would have liked a more believable reason for them all uniting at the same spot before Darkseid even showed his face. Though having Flash in contact with S.T.A.R. labs in the movie was a step up.

I thought it kinda worked in the comic. It all started out with Green Lantern meeting Batman in Gotham. Then they went over to Metropolis, because they thought Superman might have information. Which turned into a brawl, leading Green Lantern to call his friend Flash. That to me, seemed like an organic turn of events.

But then there are Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Cyborg. I guess the Movie did it better, by having Superman meet Wonder Woman on his own, as he saves Airforce 1 from crashing, and brings her with him to the rest of the gang. Which leaves Aquaman and Cyborg too conveniently meeting up with the group. Eh, can't have it all perfect.

Lastly, what cured Superman after his indoctrination to the Parademon transformation? Was it intentionally not shown in the movie? I don't remember how that worked in the comic... The last twenty minutes of the movie seemed rushed to keep it under 80 minutes and featured lots of flash without substance.

In the comic, it's completely different. They try to process Superman, but don't get far, when two Boom Tubes open, activated by Cyborg, and remove Desaad and Steppenwolf from the room. Batman goes to rescue him, and Superman isn't crazy and going berserk, he's simply hurt and exhausted.

 

[Visiting Arkham]

Yikes, the writing for this was sub-par. I've never read the comic this is based on, but if it is anything like the story betrayed in this, I will not ever be visiting it. Cliche after cliche, and another superhero film revolved around an alien invasion? I will try to scrub my brain of this and wait for Son of Batman. 4/10

 

[Kane52630]

Or like me...watching Justice League TAS.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

I'm waiting for the Blu-ray... but why do I have the feeling (based on all the reviews) that I'm not going to like this very much.

Plus, I'm currently going through a marathon of Justice League right now... so I know that won't help.

 

[Kane52630]

oh, you're setting up yourself for a miserable time. lol

 

[Nathan]

JLW is more enjoyable if you don't remind yourself of how the characters are supposed to act. So you better stop your marathon right now, and save it for after the Movie.

 

[HighFivingMF]

This has Hal, so it's better than Justice League.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

This has Hal, so it's better than Justice League.

Meh... I can take or leave Hal.

But seeing as I grew up on Timm's show, I tend to have a preference to whatever version they were using at the time. They made the right call with John Stewart.

 

[Drz]

My respects to you Pfeiffer-Pfan for sticking with your choice! Bravo!

 

[Binker]

I never liked John Stewart. They should've brought back Kyle, since they had a GL already. Their reasons for why John was in it, just feels like no would care or notice if they hadn't pointed it out.

 

[Czar Colossus]

Well Thank God we do have Bruce Timm's Justice League to revisit. It is the closest thing to a perfect comic book tv series that I know of; I wouldn't change a thing about it, not even John Stewart. t:

 

[Thundercrack85]

Honestly, I wish they would do more original DC animated movies.

I mean, there are comic story lines I would like to see adapted, but let these animation people be a little creative. Give them a carte blanche movie.