Justice League: War

Justice League: War is a animated movie that serves as the set up for the new DC animated continuity. What that means is, moving forward, the DC animated films will fall into the same universe. Similar to how Marvel's live action films all take place along side each other now. It also serves as a new Origin for the Justice League, and is based off of the "New 52" version of them. Two years ago DC decided to relaunch all their series, and most restarted with new beginnings or Origins. This film is establishing those changes, and does so in a spectacular way. If you are a fan of the comics, you will notice Aquaman is not present in this film. He was replaced by Shazam, another established hero who has been associated with the JL in the past. Also worth knowing, this is not really a kids movie. I assume most people will be renting it for children, but the language is fairly bad in this. While hearing Green Lantern call Batman a douchebag made me laugh, they do say shit a few times as well as some other words. Given the context it makes sense, these are supposed to be real modern people in horrible situations. But if you don't like your kids hearing some bad words, and seeing some blood, maybe keep them away from this one.

The story is very interesting in this, and features the villain DarkSeid. He is using a teleportation system to send his minions into our world where they are trying to plant various devices around the globe. The various hero's, who at this point are unfamiliar with each other, start to find the devices and are trying to figure out what they do. Batman being the genius he is, puts it all together pretty quickly. He also brings most of the Heroes together to form the team. It turns into a war of sorts, and the action takes off. There is a sort of Mystery vibe to it, but it never really focuses on that. Still we get to see a side of Batman that the live action films has completely neglected. Batman is after all the Worlds Greatest Detective, and even DC stands for Detective Comics because of him. This is one reason I think the animated films come out so much better then the DC live action ones do. They don't try to change everything, and that makes the characters really shine.

The animation style was....well it was alright. For the most part, everything looks really good. The faces were odd to me though, something about the spacing and the way they did Green lanterns mask. Still a minor complaint. The scenery though, and all the action sequences were very well done. It had its own style, and if this is how they continue to animate going forward, I would be very happy with it. You can tell a lot of pride and effort went into this, and it really helped further my enjoyment of it.

In movies like this, voice acting can make or break a character. Thankfully they got everyone pretty much right in this. Green Lanterns voice was very different from any of the other actors they have used before, but once I got accustomed to it, the voice actually seemed to fit him pretty well. The only real stand out was Wonder Woman. She talked with a weird speech inflection or cadence that just sounded odd and unnatural. They have toyed around with this before in the other movies, but it always came across sounding much more natural in those. It got to the point I would get annoyed if she said more then a few words.

The story was very well done, and there are a few emotional moments tossed in. Seeing each hero and be introduced to them was a treat. We are not given much information on them however, so if you are unfamiliar with anybody other then Cyborg, you may be lost. Cyborg is given a origin story however, and for me it was one of the stronger sequences in the movie. If you like animated films, action, and have any interest in the heroes portrayed, this one is for you. I would also recommend you check out DC's other animated features if you enjoy it. Also be on the lookout for "Son of Batman" which should be popping up in redbox over the next month.