As DC fans were fed with disappointing news of the Batman vs Superman movie release being pushed to 2016, DC’s release of Justice League: War is bound to satiate fans’ appetite and keep the fans from ranting for a while. Based on Geoff Johns and Jim Lee’s 2012 graphic novel “Justice League: Origin”, Justice League: War focuses on The New 52 story arc and tells the story of the origins of the Justice League and of the heroes coming together for the first time to defend Earth from an alien armada led by none other than Darkseid himself. Though the movie is set to release on Blu-ray/DVD on February 4, 2014, the Game Druid team were able to get an early watch of the digital release that hit the iTunes Store on January 21 and give you our exclusive review 🙂
Note: A special 2 Disc Collector’s Edition DVD will be available on March 18th, 2014.
Director: Jay Oliva
Voices by: Alan Tudyk, Jason O’Mara, Michelle Monaghan, Christopher Gorham, Justin Kirk, Shemar Moore
Based on: Justice League: Origin (2011–12) by Geoff Johns, Jim Lee and Scott WIlliams
Plot Summary
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) while investigating a series of suspicious abductions in Gotham City encounters a monstrous Parademon, which surprisingly takes the fight to Hal. Now you can’t possibly have a metahuman-monster fight in Gotham City and not have the caped crusader make his presence felt now can we? So not surprisingly Batman comes to Lantern’s aid, and begins to question the demon what is was doing at the docks. The Parademon breaks away and begins to flee with Batman & Lantern in hot pursuit. They finally follow the demon into the sewers, where it charges a Mother Box which explodes few seconds after. Batman and Green Lantern inspect the box, and figuring it to be alien, decide to ask Superman in Metropolis if he knows anything. We’re then taken to S.T.A.R. Labs where another Mother Box is being studied by Silas Stone whom we later learn is the father of Vic Stone, yes Cyborg. One by one we’re introduced to the rest of the superheroes – Flash, Cyborg, Superman, Wonder Woman & Shazam who all face the same Parademon invasion problem, as Boom Tubes open open throughout the world. The introduction of Superman clearly is the winner, as he goes up in an epic 1 on 2 handicap match against both Batman and Green Lantern, as he confuses them to be working for the Parademons (oh! I was clearly referring to Batman and Green Lantern being on the handicapped end ;-)).
As countless number of Parademons start appearing out from the tubes, attacking cities and abducting more and more civilians, the Box’s technology somehow ends up connecting into Cyborg’s cybernetic system. This gives Cyborg useful intel into Darkseid’s invasion plan. It’s only a matter of time before all 7 superheroes assemble together whilst battling the alien invasion, where Cyborg is able to reveal Darkseid’s plan to terraform the Earth and all its inhabitants, to the others. Finally Darkseid himself makes his way through one of the Boom Tubes and literally all hell breaks loose with the yet-to-be christened JLA team go up against Darkseid. Following an epic final battle, which would make the final 10 min of The Avengers movie look like a schoolyard fight were it brought live on the big screen, Cyborg manages to reopen the boom tubes to send Darkseid and the Parademons back to Apokolips. It takes the combined effort of all 7 superheroes to force Darkseid into the boom tube before it closes. With the world saved, and the abducted civilians returned, the once feared and hated superheroes are honored at the White House. Grateful to have met each other just like themselves, but debating if they should be a team even if a similar threat happens again, the President asks if they have a name for their group. The heroes groan when Shazam suggests the “Super 7” 😀
Taking a page out of Marvel movies, DC have included a post credits scene; that clearly hints at who will be joining the Justice League roster in the next DC animated movie to follow in this story arc.
Bottom Line
With the writing as strong as the action, Justice League: War is an absolute treat for DC and superhero fans alike, especially for those who love to see their favorite team of superheroes coming together. Little time is wasted on already well-known origin stories and the action, what we all expect from a Justice League movie, picks up right in the first few minutes. The quirky humour from Lantern, Flash & Shazam adds to the charm of the movie and is what has always made this team so awesome! Also, with DCAU there’s rarely ever a complaint about the animation and I’ve personally always been a fan of Jim Lee’s New 52 art which has been directly adapted into the movie 🙂
This is probably one of my favorite movies in recent times. Batman’s one liners, Lantern’s/Shazam’s jokes, and Superman abandoning the boy scout attitude just made the movie click! Still would have liked “Martian Manhunter” though… This Capt. Marvel re-invented as Shazam is ok, but he’s no MM!