Movie Review: Justice League (2017 film)

I love the classic DC Universe. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, The Green Lantern, and others are icons for a reason. I've been wanting to see a live action SuperFriends flick my whole life. I never understood why Christopher Reeves, Adam West, and Lynda Carter didn't team up. I'm not a fan of what DC has done to their characters over the last 15 years, so I was very nervous for this movie.

Justice League is a 2017 action superhero movie featuring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and other DC Comics characters. It is rated PG-13 for language and intense action and is appropriate for most ages.

The Good

Characters. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash were all well cast and fun to watch. I loved their interactions. The characters playing off each other and fighting together are the highlights of this film and what make it work.

Zach Snyder Visuals. Zack Snyder puts some amazing visuals in his movies, and this film is no exception. Some of the cityscape shots at the beginning with Batman hunting a Parademon looked like a painting come to life.

Action. This movie is an action movie, and there is some great action with all characters showing what they can do. It really looked like a comic book come to life.

The Bad

Villain. In the comics, Steppenwolf is a pretty cool hunter and general for Darkseid. Whoever came up with this version has obviously never read the comic. He's portrayed as some lumbering giant that spends the movie mindlessly destroying and conquering for no real reason.

Cyborg and Aquaman. Cyborg was annoying and Aquaman acted like he was high. Neither were interesting characters.

Story. This is an action movie, and the story is no deeper than that of a typical action movie or Saturday morning cartoon. As long as you don't think too hard about what's going on and just go with the flow, the gaping plot wholes and logical inconsistencies won't disrupt your enjoyment.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the filmmakers had chosen a really great story from the comics to adapt instead of coming up with their convoluted mess. I also wish they hadn't replaced real League members with Cyborg who works much better in the Teen Titans.

Overall

Justice League is an entertaining movie filled with some fun characters, great action, and many nice visuals. The characters' interactions and fighting together are the highlights that make this movie work. The story makes as much sense as a typical action movie or Saturday morning cartoon--as long as you don't think too hard about it and just go with the flow, the gaping plot wholes and logical inconsistencies won't disrupt your fun. I give this film 4 out of 5 boxes of popcorn.

    

Comic Book Review: Dark Knight III: The Master Race (mini-series)

I know this will sound strange, but I was not a fan of Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns but loved Dark Knight Strikes Again! Now, before you start casting stones, let me explain.

Dark Knight III: The Master Race is a dystopian future, superhero comic book mini-series and a sequel to The Dark Knight Returns and Dark Knight Strikes Again! It's available in print and digitally and will soon be collected.

The Good

Artwork. Andy Kubert is the penciler on this series, and his work has never looked so good. He perfectly captures the Frank Miller vibe from the original mini-series, but infuses his own style and current artistic sensibilities into it to create a modern-looking homage with the fun and flavor of the original but none of the dated look. The inking and coloring are good, but not stellar.

Story. The story is really, really good. It's one I've never read before, which is surprising because now it seems so obvious and such an essential part of the mythos. It involves many characters from Dark Knight Strikes Again! and basically continues that story with a few nods to the original. Unfortunately, the story isn't well told. The idea is great; the execution not so much.

Mini-comics The mini-comics are the best part. The first three have varying artists, but by issue 4 Frank Miller takes over the artistic and storytelling chores, and each is a little masterpiece. They are bold. They are exciting. They fill in gaps of the main story further exploring the individual characters in this universe. Each one is very short, and yet tells so much story, much like the classic Will Eisner The Spirit comic strips in newspapers of the 50s. These are the reasons I rushed out to buy each issue the second it was on sale.

The Bad

Pacing. The story is very unevenly told with some scenes being cut short and not fully explored and developed and others being drug out too long just to fill a certain page count.

Filler Pages. The last half dozen pages or so of each issue are basically uncolored artwork from the issue. While it was nice to look out, the pages could have been much better utilized to tell more story instead of cutting so many scenes short.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish this comic had followed the pattern of the first two mini-series and had only three or four issues that contained two to four issues worth of story. That would have fixed the pacing issues, although I'm not sure how the mini-comics would have worked.

Overall

Dark Knight III: The Master Race tells a really interesting story that's never been told in DC lore with incredible art but not-so-great pacing rushing certain scenes while stretching others out way too long. The mini-comics were the real jewels of the mini-series and the reason I rushed to read each issue. I give it a solid 4 out of 5 eReaders.

     

Blu-ray/DVD Review: Justice League Dark

I've been a huge fan of superheroes for as long as I can remember. When I first hear DC planned to produce a series of direct-to-DVD movies adapting popular storylines, I was stoked. Then I saw them. While there have been a few gems such as Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Justice League: The New Frontier, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, Batman: Under the Red Hood, and Superman vs. The Elite, most of them have been very disappointing and hard to sit thru. So when I heard DC planned a film with secondary characters, and supernatural ones at that, I braced myself for the impending train wreck. Fortunately, it never came.

Justice League Dark is a 2016 direct-to-Blu-ray/DVD original animated movie based on the supernatural DC Comics characters John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Zatanna, The Demon, and Felix Faust. It's rated R, although I'm not sure why, because it has no more questionable content than any of DC's recent PG-13 movies. There are a few disturbing scenes so only the very youngest viewers shouldn't watch this.

Quick Summary

Several average citizens have visions of demons causing them to commit unspeakable acts. The Justice League investigates and realizes the cause is supernatural. Deadman inspires Batman to contact John Constantine, and a group of supernatural heroes is formed to hunt down and stop the menace.

The Good

Story. This movie had a solid story that was clear, easy to follow, exciting, and fun. Nothing felt forced or contrived. I was completely entertained from start to finish. Even the twist at the end--which was a pretty standard twist I've seen used hundreds of times--wasn't annoying. It wasn't surprising, but it did make sense to the story and helped tie threads presented earlier together. I was even impressed they let a main character die to add impact to the story instead of presenting a magical fix. And the death just happened, no big hyping to make it "edgy" or any other such nonsense.

Choice of Characters. This movie used some of the lesser known and more obscure characters in DC's pantheon: John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Zatanna, The Demon, and Felix Faust. Each one was presented with a back story, motivation, and given something important to do, and yet none of that felt formulaic or forced. It all fit naturally and smoothly into the overall story.

Action. This movie had some of the best action I've seen in an American animated film in a long time. The fight scenes were all big and felt like something was at stake, yet none of them felt too big or over the top. None were over too quickly or dragged on too long. There was a good mix of types of action and fighting as well so it never felt repetitive. All of the action added to the story and was necessary--no gratuitous fight scenes here, folks!

Pacing. This movie starts off with a bang and never lets up. I never found myself bored or checking the time to see if it was almost over. And yet it never feels rushed or like there is too much action. There are plenty of calmer scenes to space out and balance the intense fight scenes--the perfect mix of both.

The Bad

Character Designs. This film uses the movie version of the New 52 introduced in Justice League: War. I wasn't a fan of it then, and I am not a fan of it now. They are ugly and impractical. They make Superman's red underpants look sleek and fashionable. The New 52 has been over for almost a year. Let the ugly costume designs die with it.

Zatanna. I love the character Zatanna. I wish the director had stuck closer to the comic and previous cartoon versions, because this version is very generic and uninteresting. Her entire characterization is nothing more than a plot device, and not a very interesting one at that. In the comics and shows she is sweet, caring, and clever. They forgot all three of these traits and instead chose to portrait her as a

John Stuart. Green Lantern in the New 52 is Hal Jordan, and he's been used in all previous New 52 films when Green Lantern was needed. I'm not sure why he was on vacation with John Stewart filling in other than provide the usual "token black guy" every superhero project seems to need. And that's all he was. He was completely unnecessary to the movie and added nothing to the story other than the very racist stereotype of "token black guy".

What I Would Like to Have Seen

The only suggestions I have are pretty minor. I wish they would have shown Swamp Thing a little more and given him a bit more to do. He is an interesting character and didn't feel as fully used or fully fleshed out as the other characters. I also wish DC had made this PG-13. There really wasn't anything R-rated except for the bodies hanging in the shed, and those were mostly in shadow so you really couldn't see them, just sense them.

Overall

After years of disappointing original animated movies, DC finally delivers a thoroughly entertaining and action-packed movie worth 1 hour and 15 minutes of my time. Justice League Dark presented lesser known characters, made them interesting, and made me want more. I give it 4 boxes of popcorn out of 5.

    

DVD Review - JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time

I grew up on SuperFriends, waking up each Saturday morning before 6:00 and watching the countdown until the viewing day began with a patriotic montage and the national anthem. I remember when SuperFriends went off the air for a year, and then came back as SuperPowers. I was so excited. After two more seasons it disappeared again forever. I kept hoping it would come back, but it never did.

And then in college Justice League debuted and I was excited thinking SuperFriends was back. Alas, it was not so. Justice League was a miserable failure until the end of the second season when it started to pick up, and by the fourth season (Justice League Unlimited Season 2) it came close to capturing the magic of SuperFriends.

Then I was in Target one day and saw the cover on the left and wondered what this was. I had heard nothing about it, and I keep my ear pretty close to the ground when it comes to superheroes.

JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time is a direct-to-video animated action, adventure, science fiction, superhero movie staring the Justice League (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Robin). It was released as a Target exclusive for a few months before gaining a general release. It is appropriate for all ages.

The Good

SuperFriends is Back! After the disappointment of Justice League and DC Entertainments move to DC Original Animated Movies, I thought SuperFriends was gone forever. I'm so glad I was wrong. This movie had the classic heroes and villains we loved from the original series, the Hall of Justice, the Legion of Doom, a scientific fiction trope to drive the plot, and lots of action.

The Action. This movie opens with a giant brawl between the Justice League and the Legion of Doom, and has plenty more fight scenes before the story is over. The animation was well done with all the characters given a decent chunk of time to show what he or she can do.

The Cast of Characters. One of the things that was so fun about the original SuperFriends was seeing all of my favorite heroes and villains together, and being introduced to new ones. The producers didn't let me down. They included over a dozen heroes and villains and gave each a good chunk of screen time and opportunities to use their powers and abilities.

The Costume Designs. The character designs were very true to the original with a fun, modern twist to keep them fresh. While my preference would be for the classic looks, these stayed true enough to the originals that I actually kind of liked them.

The Bad

Robin. Robin was really annoying. They portrayed him as a bratty hyperactive kid with no self control. I suppose they were trying to make him edgy, but instead they made him unlikable.

Wonder Woman. I love Wonder Woman, but she is a hard character to get right. The producers of this show decided to go with the tough, fierce warrior instead of the kind, compassionate, strong woman that we fell in love with in the comics and Lynda Carter TV show. While she wasn't as angry and witchy as some interpretations, she wasn't as likeable as she could have been.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I enjoyed seeing the SuperFriends back in action. I wish the movie had focused on them instead of the two new characters, Karate Kid and Dawnstar, and Lex Luthor. While they were interesting characters, I really miss the heroes I grew up with. Hopefully the next one will focus more on the old heroes.

Overall

Overall this was a very enjoyable movie with a lot of action, interesting character development, fun new costume designs, and a bit of a twist on the time travel trope. The movie has a good pace and while it is skewed for younger viewers, there is enough story and excitement to hold an older audiences attention. I give it 4 out of 5 boxes of popcorn.